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Eating Too Much Protein Makes Pee a Problem Pollutant in the U.S.
Scientific American ^

Posted on 07/30/2022 5:20:07 AM PDT by FarCenter

In the U.S., people eat more protein than they need to. And though it might not be bad for human health, this excess does pose a problem for the country’s waterways. The nation’s wastewater is laden with the leftovers from protein digestion: nitrogen compounds that can feed toxic algal blooms and pollute the air and drinking water. This source of nitrogen pollution even rivals that from fertilizers washed off of fields growing food crops, new research suggests.

When we overconsume protein—whether it comes from lentils, supplements or steak—our body breaks the excess down into urea, a nitrogen-containing compound that exits the body via urine and ultimately ends up in sewage. Maya Almaraz, a biogeochemist at the University of California, Davis, and her colleagues wanted to see how much of this nitrogen is being flushed into the U.S. sewage system because of a protein-heavy diet. The researchers combined population data and previous work on how much excess protein the average American eats and found that the majority of nitrogen pollution present in wastewater—some 67 to 100 percent—is a by-product of what people consume. “We think a lot about sewage nitrogen. We know that’s an issue,” Almaraz says. “But I didn’t know how much of that is actually affected by the choices we’re making way upstream—when we go the grocery store, when we cook a meal and what we end up putting in our bodies.”

...

Their new study, published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, broke down protein requirements by age (adults 50 to 70 years old need the most) for the current U.S. population and projected future populations out to 2055. By midcentury, the country’s population is expected to be larger overall and to have a greater percentage of older people. The researchers calculated the amount of nitrogen that would enter the environment if people ate today’s average American diet and if they instead reduced their protein intake to only what is nutritionally needed. This shift in diet alone could reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching aquatic ecosystems by 12 percent today and by nearly 30 percent in the future, according to the study’s results. Such a change could also help reduce damaging nitrogen pollution while wastewater infrastructure catches up.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: agriculture; atkins; dietandcuisine; ecoterrorism; ecoterrorists; food; gardening; globalwarminghoax; greennewdeal; supply
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To: oldasrocks

That’s a capital idea. Capture the chemicals and sell them. We enjoy the island of Aruba. The entire island enjoys delicious drinking water because the Dutch government built a huge de-salinization plant and processes the sea water; and then markets the sea salt, which is all the rage now. The current idiocy of the Dutch government in the Netherlands merely indicates thst the wise elders that once built the salt plant in Aruba, have passed on; and the woke idiots are now in charge.


61 posted on 07/30/2022 6:19:05 AM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible so to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington )
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To: FarCenter

GATES DEPOPULATION FORMULA


62 posted on 07/30/2022 6:19:36 AM PDT by GailA (Constitution vs evil Treasonous political Apparatchiks, Constitutional Conservative.)
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To: FarCenter

Time for a fully-catered meal to be sent to Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Liz Cheney and Joy Behar - BugBurgers made with approved liberal bread-like substances. Eat hearty, girls, and try not to make faces like the chick in the 2nd Indiana Jones movie at dinner in the palace.


63 posted on 07/30/2022 6:23:16 AM PDT by Bernard (“the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." JFK 1-20-61)
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To: HandBasketHell

Not just meat eating, they also include lentils in the description.

So it includes the plants proteins too like lentils, beans, peas, garbanzos, and soy.


64 posted on 07/30/2022 6:25:16 AM PDT by EBH (Let God Sort Them Out. 1776-2021 May God Save Us.)
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To: lgjhn23

We don’t have to resources to instituionalize all of them, there are SO many

Sterilization, abstinence and assisted suicide are their best options


65 posted on 07/30/2022 6:25:48 AM PDT by A_Former_Democrat ( Liberty Valance Time. The point of a gun is the only law the left understands)
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To: FarCenter

“Eating Too Much Protein Makes Pee a Problem Pollutant in the U.S.”

OK, I’ll get right on that. After I finish my steak sandwich.


66 posted on 07/30/2022 6:26:00 AM PDT by Brooklyn Attitude (I went to bed on November 3rd 2020 and woke up in 1984.)
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To: FarCenter

the goal is to build a world that nobody likes except the exempt elites


67 posted on 07/30/2022 6:28:38 AM PDT by joshua c (Dump the LEFT. Cable tv, Big tech, national name brands)
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To: mad_as_he$$
Insects are the next food source!

Under this theory, you wouldn't even be allowed insects. Protein is the problem. Even soy beans would be off limits as would milk, eggs and cheese. Go VEGAN!

68 posted on 07/30/2022 6:29:11 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: FarCenter

That explains a lot. Scientific American isn’t even American anymore.


69 posted on 07/30/2022 6:31:55 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: mad_as_he$$

Insects are high in protein.


70 posted on 07/30/2022 6:35:53 AM PDT by rey
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To: A_Former_Democrat

“..Sterilization, abstinence and assisted suicide are their best options...”

Works for me....LOL


71 posted on 07/30/2022 6:36:13 AM PDT by lgjhn23 (Pray for America....)
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To: FarCenter

So it begins over this side of the pond.

They are demonizing NITROGEN. The atmosphere is 79.9% NITROGEN.

They are trying to convince the public that nitrogen is a pollutant.

It worked with another plant nutrient (CO2).

We are SO screwed.


72 posted on 07/30/2022 6:37:04 AM PDT by Don W (When blacks riot, neighborhoods and cities burnSeriouslyhites riot, nations and continents burn)
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To: jeffc

That does it. Time for men to find their pee spot in the yard. Let the sun break it down. Or better, pee in a 5 gallon bucket, and add water for the lawn and flowers. I ain’t no scientist, but somebody needs to send me a reward.


73 posted on 07/30/2022 6:38:50 AM PDT by healy61
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

Exactly.


74 posted on 07/30/2022 6:44:20 AM PDT by Eagles6 (Welcome to the Matrix . Orwell's "1984" was a warning, not an instruction manual.)
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To: oldasrocks

It appears that Mother Gaia just doesn’t like us humans.


75 posted on 07/30/2022 6:50:32 AM PDT by odawg
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To: FarCenter

“…what is nutritionally needed.”

And what, pray tell, is that? (And WHO gets to calculate it?)


76 posted on 07/30/2022 6:50:38 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: cpdiii

I prefer to call it hydroxylic acid. That sounds even more dangerous.


77 posted on 07/30/2022 6:56:14 AM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: FarCenter

Mandatory, weekly urinalysis for all humans, or maybe an implant that provides constant urinalysis to headquarters.


78 posted on 07/30/2022 7:07:15 AM PDT by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
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To: rey; AndyJackson

I understand about insects being a protein source. Perhaps I need a “/s”. The next post on my feed was something about we need to embrace insects as a food source. The sheep will follow because it isn’t “meat”.


79 posted on 07/30/2022 7:09:02 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: mad_as_he$$

SHEEP AREN’T MEAT? WOO HOO!!


80 posted on 07/30/2022 7:24:06 AM PDT by rey
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