Lots of protein necessary to build muscle?

[PoppinFresh]

Something that I've been wondering about since I recently had a conversation with a friend. He told me that needing a lot of protein for muscle growth is essentially a myth, and pointed out that many of the strongest animals are grazing animals, and chimps and gorillas which are closely related to us are very strong and have no problem building muscle on low protein diets.

Are there any studies definitively showing the benefits of eating more protein, or does anyone know why humans would need lots of protein to build muscle while other animals seemingly don't?

I'm not considering changing my diet, just more curious than anything. Thanks

[Big Poppa Smurf]

Poppin fresh,

chimps and gorillas eat a lot of leafy greens which have a bunch of protein in them. I believe 100 calories of spinach has more protein than 100 calories of beef. At any rate they do get a lot of protein, it is just derived from plant sources.

[SmileyEH]

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I believe 100 calories of spinach has more protein than 100 calories of beef. At any rate they do get a lot of protein,

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Spinach is about one third protein by calorie, beef about half. Considering that to get 100g of protein from spinach you'd need to eat about 7 pounds of it, against about half a pound for beef. . . i'd say spinach is a poor choice for getting protein in your diet.

[igetjokes]

Vegetation does not contain complete proteins. Herbivorous animals have evolved to process what few amino acids are available in grass and leaves, whereas omnivorous species such as ourselves have evolved to absorb complete proteins more readily available in meat. Your friend is an idiot. Tell him to go eat some grass.

[PoppinFresh]

Thankee

[Big Poppa Smurf]

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I believe 100 calories of spinach has more protein than 100 calories of beef. At any rate they do get a lot of protein,

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Spinach is about one third protein by calorie, beef about half. Considering that to get 100g of protein from spinach you'd need to eat about 7 pounds of it, against about half a pound for beef. . . i'd say spinach is a poor choice for getting protein in your diet.

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yeah I know, I just think it's kind of an interesting statistic. No one's saying to go out and eat the world's spinach supply.

[SmileyEH]

Poppa,

By "no one" you mean everyone except that percentage of vegetarian/vegans who are completely retarded, than yes I agree with you completely. It was interesting to me too, thats why I looked that stuff up.

[kyleb]

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He told me that needing a lot of protein for muscle growth is essentially a myth

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Tell your friend to use some common sense.

[Colt McCoy]

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He told me that needing a lot of protein for muscle growth is essentially a myth...

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Define "a lot". My opinion is that a lot of people that workout and supplement get a lot more than they need.

Yeah, and what igetjokes said.

[RushnRocket]

Also, you may note that those chimps and gorillas you mentioned are generally very active throughout their lives, hence they are very lean and show their muscles well.