Protein Sources

"I need to eat animal meat to get protein?"

Protein sources is the subject of this article. Ever since the high protein diet became popular, the basic understanding is - protein comes from animal meats or foods that have “Protein” on their wrapper.

Because of this incomplete understanding, it causes confusion with a diet that is primarily composed of plant foods such as a raw food diet.

Everything I do with my work with nutrition comes from one question: What does one cell or one culture of cells need to survive at its optimal levels? In searching for answers to this question, I found answers to diet and healing that are very effective.

Protein Sources: Amino Acids

A cell in a peri dish or in your body does not need a steak or chicken. What they do need are amino acids. The “protein” foods you eat like animal meats are broken down in the digestive tract into amino acids. Amino acids are what the cells need. Amino acids are what make proteins proteins.

When you hear that you need proteins, what that actually means is you need amino acids.

Here’s the basic scoop on amino acids:

There are 22 amino acids and the human body can produce most of them. Out of the 22, the human body needs to get 8 of them from diet because it cannot produce it.

Most animal sources and certain vegetable sources have the complete complement of all the essential amino acids in adequate proportions. However, it is not necessary to consume a single food source that contains all the essential amino acids, as long as all the essential amino acids are eventually present in the diet.

Protein Sources: Complete Protein

A complete protein (or whole protein) is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for the dietary needs of humans or other animals.¹ This does not refer to the protein source only containing all the essential amino acids, but also containing them in complete proportion for use by the human body. A source may contain all essential amino acids, but contain one in lower proportion to the others, making it an incomplete protein.

The following table lists the optimal profile of the essential amino acids, which comprises a complete protein²:

Consuming foods of different varieties allow you to get all the amino acids you need. Fcusing on only one type of food is not a good idea.

But what should be know here is that fruits and vegetables do contain these amino acids and they are veyr boiavailable.

References

1. "Protein in diet". Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia. U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health. September 2, 2003. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002467.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
   
2. recommended by the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/4576/4340.aspx http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/analysis-help#protein-quality

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