Plant Protein

Question: Is there a difference between consuming plant protein and animal protein? Hi My friend wants to be a vegetarian, but is there anything different if you eat plant protein instead of animal protein?

Answer: No, the complete vs incomplete is NOT a myth. Protein from animal sources (meat/dairy) contain a complete set of amino acids needed for daily intake. Essential amino acids (ones that cannot be synthesized by the human body) include: histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan and Valine. Protein from plant sources are incomplete (lacking in one or more amino acids), and rely on protein complementation. (combining proteins from different sources so that the correct proportion of amino acids are met) Animal proteins are considered to be of higher quality source of protein, simply because it is complete and available in large concentrations.

Question: Is plant protein powder the same as whey protein powder? I am starting a diet on Monday that says to drink smoothies of plant protein mixed with fruit twice a day. All I could find at the local store (without going to a health food store and spending a fortune) was whey protein powder. Are these the same thing? Can I interchange them for my diet? Are there any drastic differences that I should be worried about?

Answer: Typically whey protein will be a higher concentration of protein and will have less carbs. It will also be more complete in Amino Acid profile and is usually considered the most easy to digest. I would suggest using the whey if you are OK with milk products. If you can drink milk with no problems like allergies or intolerance then you will probably do well with whey protein. I hear your cost concerns. Seems like so many of those "health food stores" are total rip offs! Try www.buybulkwhey.com as they have some great prices on whey protein and their quality and flavors are good. Also they have some smoothie recipes on their blog.

Question: The protein quality in grains would be most improved by the addition of a plant protein rich in? In general, the protein quality in grains would be most improved by the addition of a plant protein rich in 1. glutamic acid. 2. phenylalanine. 3. lysine. 4. tryptophan. Thanks!!!

Answer: Grains are low in the amino acid lysine.

Question: How is plant protein calculated? Plant Protein Calculation? I have looking in the USDA National Nutrient Database. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/se... It shows the amount of protein in various plants, etc. Plant proteins are often incomplete in that they do not have the full range of essential amino acids. How is the USDA nutrient database calculating the amount of protein in plants if the proteins are incomplete?

Answer: Just because most plant foods lack all the essential amino acids doesn't mean they don't have any proteins. Everything needs protein to live. The USDA measures the amount of nitrogen in food to get an estimate of protein since most nitrogen is bound up in protein. If you are looking for a plant food with all the essential amino acids then try quinoa: http://www.healthaliciousness.com/recipes/quinoa.php

Question: What are the top 5 sources of Animal protein and top 5 sources of Plant protein? and what are the grams of protein in each? Anyone who could help I'd greatly appreciate it, I've been trying to find information on this for over three hours.

Answer: Per 100 grams the plant and animal sources of protein (followed by protein grams) are: ==== Soybeans, mature seeds, raw -- 36.490 Pork, fresh, leg (ham), rump half, separable lean only, cooked, roasted 30.940 Chicken, broilers or fryers, light meat, meat only, cooked, roasted 30.910 Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat and skin, cooked, roasted 29.800 Winged beans, mature seeds, raw 29.650 Turkey, all classes, breast, meat and skin, cooked, roasted 28.710 Lamb, domestic, leg, whole (shank and sirloin), separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, roasted 28.300 Lentils, mature seeds, raw -- 28.060 Finfish, halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, cooked, dry heat -- 26.690 Peanuts, spanish, raw -- 26.150 Broadbeans (fava beans), mature seeds, raw -- 26.120 Finfish, salmon, chinook, cooked, dry heat -- 25.720 Beans, kidney, royal red, mature seeds, raw -- 25.330 Mungo beans, mature seeds, raw -- 25.210 Peanuts, virginia, raw -- 25.190 Pumpkin and squash seed kernels -- 24.540 Beans, kidney, california red, mature seeds, raw -- 24.370 Nuts, walnuts, black -- 24.350 Yardlong beans, mature seeds, raw -- 24.330 ==== But by percentage of calories (followed by % of protein): Seaweed, spirulina, raw -- 91.1 Watercress, raw -- 83.6 Finfish, halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, cooked, dry heat -- 76.3 Chicken, broilers or fryers, light meat, meat only, cooked, roasted -- 71.5 Seaweed, laver, raw -- 66.4 Pumpkin leaves, raw -- 66.3 Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat and skin, cooked, roasted -- 60.5 Turkey, all classes, breast, meat and skin, cooked, roasted -- 60.1 Pork, fresh, leg (ham), rump half, separable lean only, cooked, roasted -- 60.0 Lamb, domestic, leg, whole (shank and sirloin), separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, roasted -- 59.3 Beans, kidney, mature seeds, sprouted, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt -- 58.6 Beans, kidney, mature seeds, sprouted, raw -- 57.9 Winged beans, immature seeds, raw -- 56.7 Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw -- 55.0 Fiddlehead ferns, raw -- 53.5 Spinach, raw -- 52.0 Squash, zucchini, baby, raw -- 51.6 Mushrooms, raw -- 46.4 Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw -- 46.3 Mushroom, oyster, raw -- 44.8 == Eggs and beef are quite a ways down on both and the bonus of plant based protein is that it comes without cholesterol and little to no saturated fats. No added mercury, PCBs, arsenic, estrogenic hormones and antibiotics either. Animals are fed GMO grains (and other junk including stale candy and potato chips) which are treated with herbicides, pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers while the animals themselves are often treated with pesticides and fungicides. Also, It takes 2 to 16 pounds of feed to get one pound of meat. A meat diet versus a soy diet? http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2005/10/12/meat/ ==== Meat production took more land (6 to 17 times as much), water (4.4 to 26 times), fossil fuels (6 to 20 times), and biocides (a lumped-together category of pesticides and chemicals used in processing -- 6 times as much). ====

Question: Is plant protein easier to digest and thus more efficient than animal protein? Pink Lentils: 50 (cough cough) grams of protein per cup. And dirt cheap. Super easy to cook/boil. Chicken Breasts: A little less. But super expensive and come with a lot of uninvited stuff including cholesterol. Hard to cook/fry. Fried food is not good for you anyway. So, should I conclude that Pink Lentils are better than chicken tit-ties for protein intake? I know pink lentils are a mystery to Americans.

Answer: I can't say if the type of protein is easier to digest but Pink lentils are very good and healthy. They contain many other nutrients beside protein also. I still wouldn't exclude chicken as a healthy choice though. You don't need to fry chicken to cook it.

Question: What recipes are there with plant protein? For food class at school, i have to make a savoury dish in one hour with plant protien. If you have any suggestions or website that could help me please please answer!!

Answer: Considering the fact that all foods, except oils, contain protein, as long as you don't just hand someone a glass of oil, you'll be fine. I'm a fan of making stir-frys with buckwheat noodles (buckwheat is a complete protein), chili, various pasta dishes, and rice/bean dishes...you know, stuff that freezes easily so I can make it in bulk.

Question: Do you need to eat equal amounts of incomplete plant proteins to complete a protein? This might be too nit-picky of a question, but do you need to add the same amount of incomplete protein (in grams) to complete a protein. For example, if I eat a piece of bread (an incomplete protein) that has 6g of protein, do I have to eat 6g of protein worth of peanut butter (the complement incomplete protein) to complete the protein profile? (If I'm not mixing the right proteins together, plz forgive and still answer the question, I'm sure you get the jist (haha))

Answer: Nope. You don't even have to eat "complementary" foods at the same meal. Just eat a balanced diet of varied foods, and you should be fine.

Question: Hello! How would the use of plant protein in place of meat protein affect the protein quality of the diet? I have to answer this question and would appreciate an answer from someone with a background in nutrition. Thanks very much!!

Answer: Assuming no other significant sources of protein (like dairy), the protein quality of the diet would decrease. Plant proteins are typically not complete proteins, usually lacking in specific amino acids (lyseine, methionine). To get complete protein quality from plant sources, one must mix and match certain foods (beans, rice, corn) to get the full protein benefit.

Question: How can i find out how much animal and plant protein is in certain foods i eat? Also how can i find out how much animal and play fat is in those foods?

Answer: you can try the follwing web site. www.nutricoach.net. It also has other links. I am an ABC person and hate words that start with XYZ, so this site was perfect and really helpful.

Question: What are the ecological and econmic consequences of relying more on animal protein than plant protein? if this is the trend of a country, how does it effect the country economically and ecologically

Answer: haha ohh Bkoz, Joseph will eat you.

Question: Most plant proteins are incomplete. What must vegetarians do to ensure they get complete protein?

Answer: First, you have to make sure that you get enough of the essential amino acids... the ones you can't biosynthesize yourself. Even with a carnivorous diet, you have to do that. The trick with being a vegetarian is not actually getting the amino acids: that's relatively easy. Getting the minerals you need - especially iron - is more challenging. There's nothing like red meat for delivering iron in an easily-assimilated form, for example. To get the iron you need from veggies isn't quite so easy. Same goes for a number of other minerals, but Fe is the big one. It's not hard to understand nutrient requirements and to come up with a (very enjoyable) vegetarian diet that gives you what you need... but don't focus just on the proteins: the minerals are extremely important, too!

Question: Is it the same enzyme that digests animal protein vs plant protein?

Answer: proteins are made of amino acids, there are 20 of them. only 20. in all plants and all animals. so in a way, the answer to your question is yes, plant protein and animal protein are digested in the same way. however there isn't just one enzyme that does this, there are many that all work together. each one can cut a protein at a specific point, depending on the amino acids at that point. hope that helps!

Question: Why is the protein content of plant matter zero, when all cells have DNA, which codes for proteins? DNA is in all cells, both plant and animal, and, via RNA and ribosomes, codes for the production of proteins - the proteins have various functions. If this is the case, then why is it that in nutritional analyses of foods, specifically vegetables, there is no mention of proteins?

Answer: Plant foods in the US are often labeled as having no protein because of the weird US labeling laws. Just because the label says zero protein It doesn't mean they actually contain no protein. The thing is that US labeling laws only allows a food to list proteins if it is COMPLETE. In simple terms that means that the food on its own has to contain protein in a form that the human body can use for everything. In contrast plant proteins are INCOMPLETE. They lack certain essential amino acids so the body can't use them on their own. No matter how much proteins these foods may contain if you tried to live on them you would still die of protein deficiency. Note that this doesn't mean that plants contain no protein. It also doesn't mean that people can't get all their protein requirements from plants of they want to. All it means is that for a plant food to be able to list protein on the label it has to be made of a mix of plant foods, usually a blend of beans and cereals. That blending makes the protein complete. This weirdness in US labeling laws isn't just restricted to plant foods. Take a look at the label of gelatin or pork crackling some time: zero protein. And that is despite these being animal products and chock full of protein. But once again the protein in gelatin and pork crackling is incomplete so the law says it can't be listed on the label.

Question: Whey protein powder and plant protein powder facts? is there a difference between the quality of plant powder protein and whey protein? i saw the plant protein powder in a health store and i want to know whats the difference, and which is more safer. thanks

Answer: Plant protein powders typically are not as concentrated as why. for example in a 70 cc scoop of plant protein powder you may only get 13 grams of protein, where as in whey you may get 22 grams of protein. So you get more bang for your buck with whey. It's also very easy for the body to assimilate and has tons of health benefits. Our whey protein is made in the USA and is a pure and natural form with no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, no artificial sweeteners, no fillers, etc.

Question: What's better quality protein? Meat protein or plant protein? The common belief out there, is that animal protein is better quality than plant protein. However, I've heard some people say it should be the other way around: plant protein is superior. What do y'all think?

Answer: From what I know, animal protein are better than plant protein. Only protein from tofu / beancurd products have comparable quality with animal protein, other than that the rest of the plant protein should not be better coz they will lack of 1 or more type of amino acids, which is the basic component of protein.