Because of calories. 1 serving of prepared beans is 110 calories and has 8 grams of protein. 1 serving of light tuna is about 60 calories and has 13 grams of protein. An egg has about 7 grams of protein at about 70 calories. Take Cashews as another example; 160 calories and only 5 grams of protein.

Further, as you point out, non-animal sources of protein are incomplete unless coupled with grains. Grains are deceptivelly high in calories; a single slice of whole wheat bread is roughly 100 calories (and contain about 4 grams of protein).

So, you could have: 1 slice of whole wheat bread & one serving of beans, and get 12 grams of protein and 210 calories. Or you can have 1 serving of light tuna, get 13 grams of protein, for 60 calories.

This is why meat is superior for building lean muscle; you can get large amounts of protein while still operating at a caloric deficit. So you can both build muscle and loose weight simultaneously; this is one of the reasons why Keto diets are so effective at rapid weight loss.

I'm familiar with the arguments; regarding the link to cancer, let's say there was a huge increase in potential for colon cancer, like a 200% increase. Does that make it a significant health risk? No, because the chance for colon cancer is still extremely low. The two biggest factors for determining health are body weight and activity level; paying attention to the latest single study that show Food X has an effect on Cancer Y or how Food G has ____ effect on metabolism....

Regarding eggs & the link between dietary cholesterol and heart disease; this is controversial. As the page you linked to so noted, studies on low-carb diets have produced mixed results, including in regards to heart disease.

This is literally the entire basis for this 3 year old, 27 page thread?
What a JOKE!

Well if you can get 32 pages out of Katy Perry I Kissed a Girl it doesn't take much.

E-high five.

There are some ridiculous threads and some amazing threads on MB. If anyone wonders why Lady Gaga's thread is so big it's because of people constantly arguing whether shes a) a good singer b) run by a group of money-crazed men c) a facade. Hardly any of it actually discusses the music she produces.

I can see, based on your explanation, why relying on beans and grains rather than tuna or eggs as a protein source may make building lean muscle more difficult.

I read online that an effective diet for putting on lean muscle mass has 40% of calories from protein, 40% of calories from carbohydrates, and 20% of calories from fats (40:40:20). Most plant sources of protein have less than 40% of calories from protein and so could not support such a diet.

Black beans, for example, have 26% of calories from protein, since 1 cup of cooked black beans has 227 calories and 15 g protein (15 x 4 = 60 calories).

A whole wheat bread slice with 50 calories has 4 g protein, which is 32% of the total calories according to this source of data on protein content: Calories in Nature's Own - Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat | Nutrition Facts and Information.

Tofu is one bean-derived food with high quality protein that has slightly more than 40% of calories from protein (Calorie Counter | Free Online Diet Program | Nutrition Data )...but that is still much lower than tuna's percentage of calories from protein.

So, if someone is wanting to put on lean muscle mass, such a person might have a good argument for eating a fish that has washed up onto shore and thus died of natural causes! (I'm trying to relate our conversation to the original poster's question. :))

However, I wonder whether the 40:40:20 rule truly *is* the best ratio of protein:carbohydrates:fat calories to eat to put on lean muscle mass. Do bodybuilders who eat beans and grains for protein actually *have* a harder time putting on lean muscle mass than meat-eating bodybuilders?

Also, note that beans and grains would be better than some meats for building lean muscle mass based on your criterion of the ratio of protein calories to total calories in the food.

For example, a 266 calorie hamburger has 13.3 g protein (13.3 x 4 = 53 calories), or only 20% of calories from protein. A pork sausage has only 23% of calories from protein. Both have a lower percentage of calories from protein than black beans (26% calories from protein) and whole wheat bread (32% calories from protein, according to my source).

So this disproves your claim that "If you want to build lean muscle mass, meat is the way to go." Not all meats provide a higher ratio of protein calories to total calories compared to plant sources of protein.

I agree with you, though, that many meats do out-perform plant sources of protein if one is considering only the percentage of calories from protein.

I understand your point that it is a personal assessment whether health risks due to foods one eats are big enough to be concerned about them.

As for eggs and the Harvard School of Public Health's recommendation to eat no more than 6 eggs per week to avoid an increase is risks of heart disease, it looks to me as if the evidence for that is getting pretty strong, although studies often have limitations that require researchers to say the results "suggest" rather than prove without a doubt.

I haven't located any studies that found that eating more than an egg per day *helps* heart health, but there appear to be quite a few studies that find it is associated with a non-trivial (in my opinion) increase in the risk of heart problems.

Here's one of the sources Harvard cited, which you can view online in its entirety:

what? i never said eating meat was immoral.

You said it goes against the bible, apparently.

Sooo make up your ****ing mind

Yes, but then... If Hitler was such a luminary, and brilliant man... How did he possible keep in shape, and maintain enough nutrition to operate his godlike cerebrum on a vegetarian diet?

After all, he's the ultimate hippy destroyer.

do animals even feel pain in the human sense?

that's what I like to know

Mammals definitely do