No, that myth was debunked decades ago. You can get all essential amino acids from a normal variety of plant foods, and the body combines them naturally. Or in case of some all essential amino acids are in the same plant.
> it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids
No, that isn't possible. You could eat nothing but potatoes, or even mangoes, and still get enough protein. There isn't a single whole plant food which is completely lacking in any essential amino acid. How could it? Plants can't "hunt" and "eat" other plants - they must synthesize all amino acids themselves. The "complete protein" myth is one which has been debunked for decades, yet somehow refuses to die.
True, but you can combine plants to get the same collection (e.g: beans with bread).
Also, the overwhelming majority of amino acids is not important. For nutrition only the 7 essential amino acids matter (the ones not made by our metabolism).
> All plant foods contain all 20 essential amino acids including the 9 essential amino acids in varying amounts.
> Though historically, protein combining was promoted as a method of compensating for supposed deficiencies in vegetables as foods, studies on essential amino acid contents in plant proteins have shown that vegetarians and vegans typically do not need to complement plant proteins in each meal to reach the desired level of essential amino acids as long as their diets are varied and caloric requirements are met. The position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is that protein from a variety of plant foods eaten during the course of a day supplies enough of all essential amino acids when caloric requirements are met.
Basically all of your comment is false. Humans can synthesize many amino acids. That is the defining difference between non-essential vs. essential amino acids.
And there are lots of plant sources that are missing or insufficient in essential amino acids. Beans, for example, are lacking in methionine, which is why corn and beans are eaten together in some traditional diets.
>All plant foods contain all 20 amino-acids, essential and non-essential
I'm not sure about this point, as I understand it most plant sources consist of incomplete proteins, and in fact you have to consume appropriate combinations to avoid protein deficiency, e.g. eating rice or beans alone results in malnutrition, but together in proper proportion they can sustain a human indefinitely.
> All food may have protein, but all food does not have essential amino acids (which cannot be made by your body) in the quantities required to maintain health.
> the idea you can get sufficient protein by just eating any old plant is.... wrong.
You're quite mistaken. If what you say were true, a warning of it would be clearly made by medical and nutritional authorities. Alas, no respectable organization says it, precisely because it's a myth. You can easily search on Google to find evidence which contradicts your post. Here are just the first two results I found when looking at potatoes as an example:
> The high nutritive value of potato protein can be understood when its composition is compared with that of whole wheat (Table 2). Apart from histidine, it contains substantially more of all the essential amino-acids ; this superiority is particularly striking for lysine, the amount present being similar to that in a typical animal protein.
> For a 120 pound adult, five potatoes (960 calories) supply over 100% of the recommended intake for all essential amino acids.
> It's pretty difficult for an adult to eat a plant-based, vegetarian diet that doesn't provide all EAAs, as long as caloric needs are met.
> Finally - The pool of AAs that our body uses to manufacture its own proteins isn't limited by what we eat. Normal daily turnover of our cells provides a substantial pool from which to draw amino acids. Bacteria that line our colon also manufacture AAs, including EAAs, that we can utilize.
> It is a misconception that plants provide "incomplete protein", regardless of what Ms. Lappe advanced in her 1971 book, "Diet For A Small Planet."
Because plants are not animals, and we are? "Nearly all foods contain all twenty amino acids in some quantity... Proportions vary, however, and most plant foods are deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids."[1]
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein
"The amino acid distribution profile is less optimal in plant foods than in animal foods.[12][13] but it is not necessary to consume plant foods containing complete proteins as long as a reasonably varied diet is maintained.[14] Numerous pairs of different plant foods can provide a complete protein profile. Certain traditional combinations of foods, such as corn and beans, or beans and rice, contain the essential amino acids necessary for humans in adequate amounts.[15] The official position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is that protein from an appropriate planned combination of a variety of plant foods eaten during the course of a day can be nutritionally adequate when caloric requirements are met.[14]"
> So I basically see no way of the plant based "meats" ever (in my life time) succeeding in getting as good food source as the real stuff designed by millions of years of evolution..
Why is the takeaway not just that humans have evolved to be healthy on a huge variety of diets?
The nine essential amino acids are the acids people can't synthesize, but all of them are available in plants. Not only are they in plants, many plants like tomatoes, brown rice, potatoes, peppers, corn, celery, carrots, etc. contain various amounts of all nine essential amino acids.
> All plant foods contain all 20 amino-acids, essential and non-essential
Isn’t this well known? It’s the quantities that are vastly different. On the next couple slides it shows that you need 10 cups of broccoli to get 40g of protein, or 2 cups of edamame beans
All plant foods have a complete amino acid profile fit for human consumption.
That's a really weird phrase. I guess suggestions that a protein complete diet is easier when eating meat are also a bit overwrought, but it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids which is usually what is meant when "complete" is mentioned together with protein.
Quoting from your own source:
>Nearly all foods contain all twenty amino acids in some quantity, and nearly all of them contain the essential amino acids in sufficient quantity.
All amino acids originate from non-animals (plants, microbes). Where do you think other animals get their essential amino acids? They eat plants or eat an animal that ate plants. All plant proteins have all of the essential amino acids. The only truly “incomplete” protein is gelatin, which is missing the amino acid tryptophan, so the only protein source you couldn’t live on is Jello.
I don't know the details but look at what Slippery_John said in his comment:
> Well yes, but actually no. Not all proteins are equal, they have different quantities of different kinds of amino acids. Humans need 9 distinct amino acids for a healthy diet, and animal proteins are by far the easiest source of "complete proteins" from a single source. It's absolutely possible to get plant-based complete proteins (e.g. soy or quinoa), but often that involves deliberately mixing different protein sources to get a complete balance.
>Proteins are vital for making enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. They are needed for muscles, hair, skin and all of the internal organs. Proteins are the only food source of nitrogen, essential to all life on earth.
>Being built from amino acids, different proteins contain specific amino acids in specific order and amount. Proteins from meat are different than those from milk, for example. There are twenty two different amino acids, and nine of them are called the essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are somewhat specific, because they cannot be made by the body and they can be provided only through the diet.
>A complete protein is a protein that contains all of the essential amino acids, in an adequate proportion. Not all of the proteins containing all essential amino acids may be called “the complete proteins”. Correct proportion, sufficient to support the biological functions of the body, is what makes one protein complete.
All whole foods have protein. All plant foods have all essential amino acids. The eating meat for protein argument is extremely trite and disproved with ease.
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