Getting protein while eating vegetarian?

Question

I understand about combining things to create a whole protein, but I'd like to know if you can get sufficient protein by eating high protein, but not whole protein foods throughout the day, also? My mother had always said you need to have the combined proteins together at one sitting, but can a person also get good healthy amounts of protein by eating incomplete proteins NOT together also? I'm not sure if this makes much sense, but the issue here is making sure my toddler gets enough protein when she's not a big meat eater. So if she has, say, cottage cheese with breakfast, then has a snack later of a peanut butter (the real stuff) and crackers, then at lunch has corn, and so on through the day--is she going to be able to cumulatively get enough protein even if she isn't having alot of combined things?

Answer 1

Yeah you don't have to have it all in one go. As long as you get the recommended amount throughout the day your fine. Beans are the best source of protein for vegetarians!

Answer 2

No, you do not need to combine foods in one sitting, the woman that first came up with that idea came out long ago and denounced those recommendations as unfounded.

You have 3-4 days to complete the protein from an earlier meal.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/prot...

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/preg...

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/veg_d...

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index...

Answer 3

the incomplete proteins that you eat throughout the day will combine with the other incomplete proteins you have already eaten to make complete ones. or at least that's what someone told me

Answer 4

First, combining proteins is a myth.  Even the author (Frances Moore Lappe) who first proposed the concept later admitted it was erroneous.  

It is almost impossible to become protein-deficient outside of famine conditions. A varied vegetarian diet with adequate calories ensures adequate protein.

Your child is getting plenty of protein.

Answer 5

WAY TO GO MOM!  you must be a great Mom.  education is the key.  example:peanut butter & crackers is combining beans & grains that makes a complete protien.  And cottage cheese, is that all she ate? or was there fruit & ceral.  i raised 4 boys and 2 daughters all veggies ( still veggies now that they are grown )3 of the boys played organized youth sports - all boys way over 6 fett and my youngest daughter is almost 6 feet - oh and she went out for football in 7th grade and made the team.  protiens are not the only thing young growing bones need - calcium is almost as important.  from what you have written above it sounds like you are on the right track.  you could check at local health food store for some protien alternatives, like tofu & T.V.P. - good luck  Mom - keep up the great work!  :)

Answer 6

No..you don't need to combine proteins in one sitting.  That is ridiculous.

Answer 7

I've been a healthy vegetarian for over 20 years and I've never once thought about combining proteins to create a whole (except for that one time when I read 'Diet for a small planet').  I've even gone through 2 full term pregnancies, producing healthy, big, strong babies, while still not thinking about combining proteins.  

The person above was right, who said something like -  if you're eating enough calories of healthy, well balanced foods, you (and your child) will be fine.

Answer 8

look!!!

If you've never been a veg. Then you should know we still eat meat just not regularly and not much. The most meat we eat would be fish. there are diff levels of a vegetarian. Another substitution would be beans.

Answer 9

beans

Answer 10

The protein combining thing is a holdover from the 70s when Frances Moore Lappe first published Diet for a Small Planet.  That theory has been debunked since then and even Ms. Lappe will tell you so.

All you have to do is eat enough calories to meet your energy needs, include a variety of foods from all of the vegetarian food groups and call it good.  Proteins are broken down by the body into component amino acids and are recombined as the body sees fit. "Extra" amino acids are just stored in the extracellular fluid until more protein comes along to be processed.  This could be later in the day or later in the week.  Unless you have access to only very limited sources of protein (as in areas of the developing world) it would be really difficult to be protein deficient or deficient in individual amino acids.

If you're feeding your daughter dairy, eggs, legumes, grains, vegetables (and nuts and seeds if she can have them) she should be fine as long as she's getting *enough* protein.

Answer 11

you do not have to eat the complete protien in one meal but there are many ways to get it in one meal but need to get it within 24 hours.

here are some options for meal planing and not being stuck on any one food for a week or lifetime

1. you will have to get the calories and best not from fat.

here is one alternative that is tasty.

Mac and cheese alternative for pizzas also

1 cup water

1 cup cashews raw

1/2 tsp salt or smoke seasoned salt

1/4 cup oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

4 ounces of pimentos in jar untrained (or if you like and this is my preference 1 - 2 tsp paprika non hot style.)

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

3 tab nutritional yeast flakes

1 tab corn starch

blend till smooth. pour over pasta and bake

or put in a pot and cook till thick

pour over pizza or pasta or use instead of cheese in lasagna and bake it is wonderful not the flavor of cheese but it is a wonderful pimento cheese sauce for vegetables also.

that will help with the cheese option of fat foods that taste good but the fat comes for food and oils.

2. you need to get a complete protein and I am not sure how to make this simple but the principle is

When you mix these in pairs you will get a complete protein.

both will get to be complete so you get the advantage of both complete protiens.

Corn and beans makes 2 complete proteins.

Rice and beans = 2 complete proteins

Nuts and grains = 2 complete proteins

Tofu and grain soup = 2 complete proteins

Ground nuts on pasta = 2 complete proteins

Beans + seeds + grains = 3 complete proteins

these are only a few of the simple options for protein mix and match for the best results.

Answer 12

it needs to be within two hours of each other. well its highly recommended to be within two hours of each other.

usually you would eat rice/bread/pasta. with beans/vegetables/and so on.