The Protein Myth

One of the most maddening things about the government’s new Dietary Guidelines—which the physician David Katz unpacked for us ​earlier this year​—is the increased emphasis on animal proteins. The confusion and fallout about this extreme recommendation brought me back to the following discussion from my 2013 book, ​VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00​. Dubbed “The Protein Myth,” the section compares plant-based versus animal-based protein, and uses nutritional and consumption data to make a case for replacing at least some of the latter with the former.

Today we’re eating even more animal protein than we did then, when I advocated that we tip our diets more towards fruits and vegetables and away from meats, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs: Americans eat an average of 226 pounds of red meat and poultry and about 22 dozen eggs a year. Fruit and vegetable consumption is already down a bit over the last few years; projections for 2026 add another pound of meat and a dozen more eggs.