Let's Demystify Plant Proteins

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heykatieben
heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey yos - I'm still confused on plant proteins vs. animal proteins. Could some knowledgeable folks chime in with either your expertise, or good reliable links/resources to learn what the deal is? Specifically:

-- What's the difference between plant & animal protein?

-- Is plant protein just as good as animal protein? Or are they each good for different things? Or is it just as good when eaten in combination with other foods (is it something to do with making it bioavailable?)

-- What are the best sources of good plant proteins?

Thank you! :)

Replies

  • McGruber03
    McGruber03 Posts: 113
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    There are a certain number of amino acids (aa). Some are essential, some non essential. Essential aa are ones that your body cannot make, you have to eat them. Non essential aa are made by the body. All aa work together to make proteins that are then used for muscles, immunity, enzymes, hormones, etc. Animal proteins are complete proteins, meaning that they have all of the aa. Plant proteins are mostly incomplete, but can be complete when paired, such as beans and rice, pasta and peas, etc. Does this help? I am not a vegetarian, but I do believe that a vegetarian diet can be healthier because if done correctly, will have less saturated fat than us meat eaters. But carnivores can be healthy as well by eating lean meats (grilled/baked chicken, sirloin, turkey, pork tenderloin) and avoiding processed and fried meats (fried chicken, bacon, sausage, hotdogs, bologna, etc). Beans are great sources of plant proteins, as well as tofu. All non starchy vegetables have about 2 grams of protein per serving and starchy vegetables have about 3 grams of protein per serving. Beans have about 8-10 grams of protein per serving.
  • SamDanielleB
    SamDanielleB Posts: 71
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    no idea, but bump!
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
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    Hey McGruber03, that does help - amino acids, that's the ticket to learn about. Thank you! Not a vegetarian, but I'd like to learn how to use plants to get complete proteins, for a different strategy - it seems like the more whole plants I eat, the less I crave crap, and I have a theory that it's because they're filling in more nutrients than meat/processed stuff. Thanks!
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Animal proteins are phylogenetically very close to human protein. So when you eat animal proteins you get all of your essential AA's and you get them in the exact ratio that your body needs them to build muscle. When you eat plant proteins, you aren't getting all the essential AA's. And even if you do get all the essential ones, you're still probably getting too much of some AA's like Methionine (which can be unhealthy in excess), and possibly not enough of other important AA's like Leucine.

    Also, in order to actually get the optimal amount of protein for building muscle from a vegan diet (approx 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass) you'd pretty much have to over eat legumes every day, which may not be healthy.

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