A question about protein:?!
Answers:
Most vegetables/legumes are not complete proteins. Although there are some that are, Millet, and Soybeans (Soy Products as well, Tofu, Tempeh) for example. But typically to receive a complete protein that is needed by the body it much contain all necessary amino acids to form a complete protein bond. Everyday I pair my protein (Legumes, Tofu, Tempeh) with Short Grain Brown Rice/Black Rice paired with an assortment of vegetables and another grain such as millet/buckwheat/quinoa. Pretty much every meal I eat is made on this basis of Rice/Beans/Veggies. You cannot fully assimilate a piece of meat either, a piece of Tofu is more bio available in protein than any piece of meat.
No, vegetarian protein is harder to absorb.
Protein is made up of amino acids. Meat and other animal products contain all the amino acids necessary for complete proteins. Most veggies only contain some of them. IF you eat a wide variety of veggies every day (including some legumes), your body will combine those amino acids into complete protein.
Humans evolved to get many of their nutrients from meat. Iron is another nutrient that is harder for your body to get from veggies. Many of the calcium rich veggies also contain oxalate. Oxalate makes it harder for your body to absorb calcium. Our body treats several nutrients from veggies differently than those in meat.
More at the link:
"Animal proteins, such as eggs, cheese, milk, meat, and fish, are considered high-quality, or complete, proteins because they provide sufficient amounts of the essential amino acids. Plant proteins, such as grain, corn, nuts, vegetables and fruits, are lower-quality, or incomplete, proteins because many plant proteins lack one or more of the essential amino acids, or because they lack a proper balance of amino acids. Incomplete proteins can, however, be combined to provide all the essential amino acids, though combinations of incomplete proteins must be consumed at the same time, or within a short period of time (within four hours), to obtain the maximum nutritive value from the amino acids. Such combination diets generally yield a high-quality protein meal, providing sufficient amounts and proper balance of the essential amino acids needed by the body to function."
http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Pre-Sma/Pr…
This is an interesting question. I would love to answer this myself but I think this summary of the book "The China Study" would be much more informative;
- http://tctutoring.net/pdf/ChinaStudy.pdf
If you can, you should buy the full book. It's very interesting (I bought it recently and am about 1/3 into it). There's a lot of information about protein, and health in general, especially in relation to mainstream diets versus plant-based diets.
- http://www.thechinastudy.com/
Generally, protein from vegetables isn't as good for us because quite often it doesn't contain all 9 essential amino acids, in the correct proportions. To answer your question though, i don't think the body absorbs it any differently.