The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [215]
Step 2. Ensure that all of your meat is pasture-raised, grass-fed, or sourced within 50 miles of your home.
Step 3. Eat meat only after 6:00 P.M. (what Mark Bittman and others refer to as the “vegan till 6” plan) or eat meat only on the weekends or on cheat days.
Step 4. Remove all meat except fish (pescatarian) and/or eggs and dairy (lacto-ovo vegetarian). Bill Pearl won Mr. Universe in 1967 and 1971 as a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and he built 20 3/8-inch upper arms at 218 pounds. Red meat is not a requirement for growth.
Step 5. Eat a 100% plant-based vegan diet.
Removing too much, too quickly leads to abandoning positive changes. Skipping steps in this process usually creates a caloric void that makes you (1) feel terrible and revert to old habits or (2) fill the void with vegetarian junk food like processed fake meat, french fries, agave nectar, and sugar milk labeled as soy or almond milk.
Take it one step at a time, and stop when you’ve reached your sustainable threshold. I have experimented up to #5, but most consistently operate at #2.
Getting Organized
Make no mistake: In a world of ubiquitous meat and cheap animal protein, you will need to be more organized than your carnivorous cousins.
How organized depends on your ambition. Becoming a fit “vegetarian” requires much less diligence than becoming a record-breaking vegan athlete.
We’ll look at the entire spectrum with real-world examples, including a slow- carb dieter, one of the most famous ultraendurance athletes of all time, and an omnivore scientist who tested veganism on himself for 28 days.
My goal is to help you follow your own ethical or environmental guidelines without causing undue damage to yourself or your wallet. This chapter will also answer the most popular questions submitted by vegans among my 100,000+ Twitter followers:
How do I get enough protein on a vegan diet?
How can I do it without soy?
What can I eat as a vegan while traveling?
Which supplements should I use to prevent deficiencies?
Since these are the greatest concerns, let’s address them before jumping into the case studies:
HOW DO I GET ENOUGH PROTEIN ON A VEGAN DIET … WITHOUT SOY?
Answer: first, we must define “enough.”
By most carnivorous standards, the endurance athletes profiled in this chapter consume insufficient protein, yet they are able to compete at the highest levels in their sports. It’s not limited to running, either. Mike Mahler, one well-known vegan strength athlete, consumes 100–130 grams per day on training days and approximately 90 grams per day on nontraining days. Given his bodyweight of 197 and assumed lean body mass of 177.3 pounds (10% bodyfat), this computes as a high end of 0.73 grams per pound of lean bodyweight on training days and 0.51 grams per pound of lean bodyweight on nontraining days. Dr. John Berardi, whom we’ll meet later, consumes a great deal more, but let’s adopt Mahler’s range as a target.
How do you consume enough if you’re aiming for a minimum of 0.5 grams per pound of lean bodyweight? To estimate this and err on the high side, just divide your bodyweight in half, (e.g., 150 lbs. → 75 grams of protein).
A high percentage of vegans use soy as their primary source of protein. This is a bad idea.
Based on all of the literature I’ve reviewed, the phytoestrogens in soy are dangerous for adults and, to a greater extent, children, even when used in moderation. Studies have demonstrated that just 30 grams of soy per day (about two tablespoons) for 90 days can disrupt thyroid function, and that’s in Japanese subjects. The Swiss Federal Health Service equated 100 milligrams of isoflavones (phytoestrogens) to a single birth control pill in terms of estrogenic impact. How many birth control pills are you inadvertently eating each day?
FOOD TOTAL ISOFLAVONES
(IN 100 G SERVING)
Instant soy beverage 109.51 mg
Raw soybeans (Japanese) 118.51 mg (in less than half a cup)