I've been looking over the "protein combination" charts; most sites claim that both grains and nuts are missing the two amino acids found in legumes, so without an animal product, you would absolutely have to include legumes in your diet.  I am not currently a vegetarian.

 

Now, I could easily combine grains and nuts, but since those two things are pretty much identical in terms of amino acids - needing legumes to round it off - there's a problem: I don't cook, and nobody here will convince me to.  I don't have time nor will I.  Legume is apparently just a fancy word for bean, and there is not a single bean in existence that can amiably be eaten raw, unless sprouted, from what I hear, which is another thing I won't be doing.

 

All of my meals consist of either milk and cereal, canned fish, or sandwiches with ready-to-eat "lunch meat," as they call it.  I've read that peanuts are actually a legume, so does that mean I could mix, say, pistachios and peanuts and be getting the protein found in both legumes and nuts?

 

I'm confused, because peanuts even have the same nutritional spectrum as "true nuts," having lots of fat, while all the other legumes do not, which leads me to a skeptical state concerning their "protein identity."  Are they really complementary to "true nuts," having the necessary missing amino acids, or do they contain the same types of amino acids just as they have the same nutritional spectrum?

Hi. How about some fruits and veggies?

All of the lists I've seen contain only Grains, Nuts, and Legumes.  Is there one that includes fruits and vegetables and which amino acids they are missing?

I just meant adding some plant foods for your general health, not just the protein. This article has good information about amino acids and protein combining. http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/get-enough-protein-veg-diet.php

...However, vegetarians and vegans don't need to worry about complete and incomplete protein. It is NOT NECESSARY for vegetarians and vegans to combine specific protein foods at one sitting to make complete protein.

Complementary Protein Theory Debunked:

Scientists used to think that vegetarians, and especially vegans, would develop protein deficiency if they didn’t get eight or nine essential amino acids all together in proper amounts at every meal.


Frances Moore Lappé, author of ‘Diet For A Small Planet’, is well known for the theory of combining complementary proteins at each meal. In the 20th Anniversary Edition of her book, she has altered her views in light of new knowledge about amino acid storage.

Whenever we eat, our body deposits amino acids into a storage bank, and then withdraws them whenever we need them. So, it’s no longer considered necessary to eat complementary proteins together at one sitting, to make complete protein. Your body does that automatically, from all the foods that you eat over the course of a day or so.

We still need a healthy variety of good protein building foods, so the body can make enough complete proteins to be happy, even though you don't need to worry about how and when you combine them.

What Vegetarians Should Eat To Get Enough Protein:

Each plant food has its own unique amino acid profile, from green leafy veggies to tubers, from barley to quinoa, from lentils to tofu, from macadamias to brazil nuts. By eating a variety of plant foods with 'incomplete proteins' throughout the day, we can easily get enough 'complete protein.' For lacto and ovo-lacto vegetarians, any food can be complemented by the high quality proteins in dairy products or eggs, but it isn't at all necessary to include animal foods to get enough protein in your diet...."

You are right. I have been a vegetarian during my whole life. Never thought about complete protein.

i can only speak for myself, but i've never once given a thought to protein and my protein levels are exactly where they're supposed to be

with how concerned you are about protein, have you tracked all your other important vitamins and nutrients on that diet? are you getting everything you need?

I would also second the addition of fresh fruits and veggies to your diet. You don't have to cook those, you can just eat them

 

Also, the canned meat and processed food might not be so good for you either, high in salt and all sorts of bad stuff. there are many healthier things that you can eat easily without much preparation.

 

Don't worry about the "complete" protein thing, it isn't necessary. A varied diet rich in whole grains, fruits and veggies is all the protein you need. There is a bit of protein in most everything!

Yes, I am most likely not the healthiest person in the world, I could always use more vegetables and whatnot, but regardless of that, I'd still like to know if a peanut has the amino acids of a legume or a nut :-).

 

The savvyvegetarian article actually lists "peanut-coconut dressing" under the "nuts" category, so...

Hi abdulmuzee. I found this article about how great peanuts are, and it talked about amino acids, etc. It is a long article, and has interesting thoughts about peanuts' implications in aiding world hunger. Anyway, http://www.peanutbutterforthehungry.org/peanuts-natural-health-food-for-all.html?start=6

" The components in peanuts are highly digestible. The true protein digestibility of peanuts is comparable with that of animal protein, but since plant proteins are usually low in one of the essential amino acids (called the limiting amino acid), their digestibility is less than that of animal products.44 The limiting amino acid in peanuts varies based on the study (i.e. lysine, methionine, threonine).45,46,47 Wheat and rice share lysine as a limiting amino acid.
Protein quality is defined based on the amino acid pattern and percent of digestibility of protein.
A score for protein digestibility termed “protein digestibility corrected amino acid score” or “PDCAAS” is determined by comparing essential amino acid requirements based on age to the essential amino acids that are still available to the body after food digestion. It reflects the amino acid content in comparison with an ideal protein.
Protein requirements are based on consuming foods with a PDCAAS of 1.0, which is the highest score. The PDCAAS for peanuts has been estimated to be about 0.70. Table 3 shows percent digestibility and the average calculated PDCAAS for peanuts and other selected grains."

Thanks, that's very informative and exactly what I was looking for.  It seems peanuts are somewhere in the area between nuts, grains, and legumes in terms of their protein composition.

That's what it looked like to me, too.

Take care of yourself.

ummm, this forum is for vegetarians and those trying to be vegetarian....

 

please don't discuss eating lunch meat and fish, its against the TOU.

Hi, abdulmuhsee. I've read up on Lappe too- I have the original "Diet For A Small Planet"- but as other posters have pointed out, vegetarians don't need to be quite so careful about eating certain foods together as was originally thought. It is true that most plant proteins do not have an ideal (for us) ratio of amino acids, but they still can be used for protein. It's just that they won't be used as efficiently, and we might have to eat more of a plant protein.

 

About legumes: there are a few legumes that don't take so long to cook- specifically, lentils and split peas. I don't know if you would like them, and maybe you don't have the time or inclination to cook those either. I just thought I'd mention them. Tofu is another legume (soy) product that doesn't take so long to cook- the process of making soybeans into tofu makes them more digestible- but it normally does take some preparation to make it at least palatable, and some folks don't care for it.

 

We have a lot of recipes in the recipe forum, if you ever change your mind about cooking (I don't like to cook either, but sometimes I have to). Good luck!