Making complete proteins

[Professor]

I posted this on another thread, and thought it would be useful here as well.

An important but little-known fact about vegetarian diets is that you have to combine to incomplete proteins (each lacking different amino acids) to make a complete protein.

There's a chart for vegetarians with three columns of foods, each column equates to a different amino acid that's lacking for these incomplete proteins. So you just make sure you put something form different columns together (i.e., beans and cheese) to make a complete protein.

http://www.bodyforlife2.com/incompletprotein.htm

Examples: Grains plus legumes. Try black beans and rice.
Nuts and seeds plus legumes. Lentil soup with a serving of almonds on the side. Corn plus legumes. Try pinto beans in a corn tortilla.

[cshinaberry]

Prof:

Not bad advice, but the need to adhere to strict protein combining has fallen generally out of favor in recent years (the idea was first advanced by Frances Moore Lappe in her seminal 1971 book Diet For A Small Planet). Eating a consistently varied diet is generally viewed to be enough. I've been vegetarian (more recently vegan) for years and have never had any issues (nor known anyone who did) with protein, and none of us make a real effort to combine apart from being conscious to get a wide variety on a daily basis.

Here's an article aimed at vegans, but more broadly applicable as well:

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

And some more:

http://www.ivu.org/faq/protein.html
http://www.fatfree.com/FAQ/protein-myths

GF is strict enough without scaring people away from the potential additional benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet because they believe it's going to be one more hurdle of measuring, strategizing, label checking, etc.

[NoahsWife]

Glad to see that there are more GF Vegetarians out there. I've read the other posts and understand that many people beleive that you must combine food to maintain a proper protein level. This is old data. Most vegetables have plenty of protein all on there own. Here is a few for example:

Spinach 49% Protein
Green Beans 26% Protein
Lemons 16% Protein
Tomatoes 18% Protein
Almonds 12% Protein

Most people get way too much protein for there needs.
More info can be obtained through: Dr. Lorraine Day, MD
_________________
Never let your fears become the bounderies of your dreams!

[jim]

I recently stumbled upon Quinoa. I am your average guy not great in the kitchen so excuse me if this is old news to some of you. It is one of the oldest grains, easily digested, and a complete protein in itself(at least according to the box). Check out this website for nuitritional comparisons to other grains etc. http://www.quinoa.net/Quinoa_Pasta/quinoa_pasta.html
The box I bought from ancient harvest had several receipes ranging from breakfast eggs and onions to stuffed peppers, and chicken salad. The salad was awsome. I haven't tried the gf pastas on this website, but plan to. The stuff I got you boiled like rice and it expanded from 1/4 a cup dry to 1 cup cooked thats 30 cabohydrates for the diabetics among us. It had a texture like oatmeal, but looked like little round balls. It was very filling and took on the flavor of the food mixed with it. It comes from Bolivia. And looks like a great grain for vegans and celiac and related as it is Gf. It is also great for diabetics as it has a low glycemic value, but I'm stealing from the above website .




Jim
_________________