Broccoli is high in protein but health writer, Max Lugavere has taken to Instagram to debunk a popular claim in the broccoli vs meat protein debate.
Anyone who spends a fair amount of time on social media, especially Instagram, has undoubtedly come across the picture that claims broccoli contains more protein than meat, and therefore, meat-eaters should definitely become vegetarians/vegans if protein intake is the only thing holding them back.
Most of these images are accompanied by the statistic that 100 calories of broccoli contains more protein than 100 calories of beef, which is true but is also completely misleading, as Max Lugavere – a New York Times bestselling health and fitness writer – pointed out recently on Instagram.
Lugavere wrote, “You’d only need to eat 1.5 ounces of beef to get 100 calories, whereas you’d need to eat 10 ounces of broccoli to get 100 calories! I made this post to show just how silly it is to compare plants to animal foods.”
Along with Lugavere’s caption is an infographic that highlights his point.
The picture emphasises that you’d have to eat six whole cups of broccoli to get the same amount of protein as one small chicken breast – for context, the recommended vegetable intake is two to three cups, per day.
Lugavere went on to clarify that he believes broccoli is healthy but it shouldn’t be the only food people eat; it’s all about balance.
“Broccoli IS healthy… Eat broccoli if it agrees with you. Just don’t kid yourself into thinking it would be easy to get all of your protein, iron, zinc, or any number of other important micronutrients with it. On the other hand, broccoli provides vitamin C, fibre, folate… you’d be hard-pressed to find those super important ingredients in beef!”
Max Lugavere
The Genius Foods author, who is known for criticising plant-based and vegan diets and promoting low-carb diets of grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and eggs, also wrote that people should only promote “nutritional ideologies” with facts.
“Both [animal products and broccoli] are healthy. You NEED nutrients found in both. How you get them, well that’s up to you! But let’s try to be a little more truthful with our campaigning for our respective nutritional ideologies, how bout it?”
Max Lugavere
We applaud Lugavere for asking for more transparency on social media, although we do wonder if these people who promote swapping out meat for broccoli are actually satisfied with their eating habits… As Homer Simpson wisely once said, “you don’t make friends with salad.”
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