Don't all plants have all 8 essential amino acids?

I've never seen a plant that didn't have at least some of all of them. Ask her which ones don't.

Different plants have different amounts of each essential amino acid. But, as odizzido said, I can't think of any plant that doesn't have at least some amount of each essential amino acid.

Bananas have all 8 essential amino acids, but not much of the amino acids methionine and cysteine (and not much protein, period): http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2 (click on the "More Details" tab under the "Protein & Amino Acids" section in the lower part of the webpage).

Brown rice has all 8 essential amino acids, but has less than optimal amounts of lysine: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5707/2

Lentils have all 8 essential amino acids, but have less than optimal amounts of methionine and cysteine: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4338/2

Even an apple has all 8 essential amino acids, though it doesn't have much tryptophan, threonine, methionine, cysteine, phenylalanine or tyrosine (and not much protein, period): http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1809/2

Sweet fruit generally doesn't have much protein - all mainstream vegan organizations recommend that people rely on protein from legumes and whole grains, not from fruit.

If you choose to consistently eat nothing but beans, or nothing but grains, as a protein source (not recommended by any mainstream vegan organization), you'll get more of certain amino acids, and less of others. Depending on which bean/grain you're talking about, if you eat enough calories' worth of that bean/grain, you can still get enough of every essential amino acid (along with more than you need of other amino acids, which is OK).

On websites like http://www.cronometer.com, you can easily plan different meal types, and see how much protein you get. It's free to join and use. Here's a video that shows how to use cronometer - very easy:

^ I was blown away by my levels the first time I used cronometer.

Every amino acid that cronometer lists under protein is 147% or more (95g total protein) for an average day of my diet.

Seems if you eat a wide variety of foods that your body's needs will be met.

I haven't researched a ton about essential and non-essential amino acids to know if cronometer is accurate to trust - I feel fine though!

I still believed that there were amino acids that only meat contained, but that humans could formulate from a balanced diet!
Am I thinking of amino that are part of the protein chain?

I found this by McDougall written for the AHA that clears that up-
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/25/e197.full

What about things like l-carnitine?

So there are 20 amino acids--
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid

silva said:

What about things like l-carnitine?

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The human body can make its own L-carnitine, by biochemically-combining 2 other amino acids: lysine and methionine (both of which are supplied by plants): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnitine

silva said:

I still believed that there were amino acids that only meat contained, but that humans could formulate from a balanced diet!

Click to expand...

There may be certain amino acids that only meat contains. However, humans only need to consume 9 of the amino acids (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid), and all 9 of these are available from plant foods. (I was mistaken before, when I stated that there only 8 essential amino acids)

there will come a time when people are afraid of getting too much methionine. it's linked to higher igf-1 levels which in turn are linked to higher risks for cancers and mortality. plant proteins are safer in excess of needs than animal proteins precisely due to their lower levels of sulfur-containing amino acids.

in short: the problem is generally an excess of protein, rather than too much. unless one is severely restricting calories in the long term.