Is my dad's friend right about protein?

Question

My dad's friend is a scientist and my dad told him I am a vegetarian and the scientist guy said that even if you eat soy which is a complete protein and if you complete the protein with like rice and beans, you still don't get all the amino acids and stuff in meat and u will die sooner than a meat eater. This really worried me since he is a scientist. Is it true?

Answer 1

No according the American Diabetes Assoc vegetarians and vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, and strokes

Answer 2

That's not true. There are some animo acids you won't get but none of them are essential for humans. Just because he is a scientist doesn't mean he knows everything.

My mother in law is vegetarian and she will be 85 this year, there are several vegetarians in my wife's family who are in their 80s. My wife's grandfather was vegetarian and lived to be 96.

If that guy if correct, then most meat eaters must live to be over 100. I know that isn't true.

Answer 3

No, he's not right.  And I presume that he's neither a nutritionist or a registered dietitian.  Every single essential amino acid required by the human body is available in plant form.  And, statistically, vegetarians live longer than meat eaters by 6-10 years.  Just because someone studied one branch of the sciences, it doesn't mean they are an expert on all the sciences.  The American Dietetic Association, the world largest organization of nutrition professionals (i.e. scientists who specialize in human nutrition) approve of vegetarian and vegan diets for all life stages.

Answer 4

If you eat right, then you don't have to worry about this. There are two types of protein: complete and incomplete. You can combine incomplete proteins to form complete protein. Complete protein sources include soy, eggs, and dairy. Incomplete sources include whole grains, and nuts or beans.

Vegetarians and vegans also need to other nutrients in addition to protein. Specifically, vegetarians needs iron and calcium.  Get a vegetarian complete multivitamin and make sure to eat lots of incomplete proteins and you'll be fine :)

Answer 5

Read this from www.goeggless.com, the artilce is written by a nutritionist:

Getting enough protein as a vegetarian or vegan is not as hard as it may seem. With a little knowledge and planning, vegan and vegetarian diets can be well balanced and provide you with the nutrients your body needs. In fact, the American Dietetic Association states "plant sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of essential amino acids if a variety of plant foods are consumed and energy needs are met."

To calculate how much protein per day a healthy adult needs based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances, you can use the following formula:

Females: 0.8 x body weight (expressed in kilograms) = amount of protein in grams

Males: 1.0 x body weight (expressed in kilograms) = amount of protein in grams

For example, a 120-pound (55-kilogram) woman needs approximately 44 grams of protein per day, and a 160-pound (73-kilogram) man needs about 73 grams of protein per day. The average American consumes more than enough protein than he/she needs. Although the research is not conclusive, several studies have shown that diets that are high in protein may increase the risk of osteoporosis1 and kidney disease2.

Below is a list of foods and the amount of protein they contain:

Lentils (cooked) 1 cup 18 g

Kidney beans (cooked) 1 cup 13 g

Veggie patty 1 patty 12 g

Tofu, firm 4 oz 11 g

Quinoa (cooked) 1 cup 9 g

Almonds 1/4 cup 8 g

Peanut butter 2 tbsp 8 g

Soy milk, plain 1 cup 7 g

Eggs 1 large 6 g

Whole wheat bread 1 slice 3 g

Source: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18; 2005.

As you can see, with a little planning you can meet your protein needs from plant and grain sources. Below is a sample menu for a 138-pound woman who needs 50 g of protein per day:

Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal 6 g

1/2 cup cow's milk 4 g

1/2 cup sliced

bananas 1 g

Lunch: Vegetarian sandwich (2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 slice cheddar cheese, vegetables) 13 g

1 cup soymilk 7 g

1 apple < 1 g

Dinner: 1/2 cup lentils 9 g

1/2 cup cooked spinach 2.5 g

1/2 cup brown rice, cooked 2.5 g

1/2 cup yogurt 6 g

Total 51 g

You may have noticed in the above examples that 1 egg and 1 cup of milk appear to be about the same in their amount of protein. However, although they are similar in grams, they differ in protein composition. I'll discuss what the term "complete protein" means and how to get this in a vegan or vegetarian diet in part two.

Footnotes:

1. Sellmeyer DE, Stone KL, Sebastian A, et al. A high ratio of dietary animal to vegetable protein increases the rate of bone loss and the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;73:118-122.

2. Knight EL, Stampfer MJ, Hankinson SE, et al. The impact of protein intake on renal function decline in women with normal renal function or mild insufficiency. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:460-467.

Answer 6

Just because he is a "scientist" doesn't mean he is a nutritionist.  And he's wrong, wrong, wrong.  Most people, even educated people, don't have the knowledge to discuss the complex science of food.

What about all of those omnivores who die of cancer and heart disease?  Plant foods do not contribute to heart disease.

Answer 7

Don't worry, he's wrong. While it's true that plant foods don't contain amino acids in the same combinations and abundance as meat, you can still get everything you need. It just takes a little bit more work. As for the earlier death, he's way off base.

Answer 8

bull sh*t. that scientist dude knows nothing. I'm vegan and this is wat i think.. this is off topic from your question but... look at the human body and compare it to lions or other carnivores. we have thumbs and perfectly shaped hands to grab *FRUIT and VEGIES* with, and are teeth aren't very sharp, lions don't have thumbs and they have several canines because they have to survive off meat. We don't need the meat to survive, and if you want protein eat beans they have tones of protein...

Answer 9

The Beans+rice= Complete Protien thing is a myth:

1) "Another myth is the idea that you need to combine different

plant foods to form complete proteins. The idea was that

most plant foods only contained some of the essential amino

acids, so you'd have to combine “incomplete” foods like

beans and rice to form meals that contained complete

proteins. This idea was put forth in the 1971 book Diet for

a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé. It was a

million-copy bestseller. Unfortunately, many people still

aren't aware that this theory was later found to be

completely false, as Lappé herself recanted her original

theory in later works that were far less popular. "

2) " In Frances Moore Lappe's 10th anniversary edition of Diet for a Small Planet, she writes:

"When I first wrote Diet for a Small Planet in 1971, the idea that people could live well without meat seemed much more controversial than it does today. I felt I had to prove to nutritionists and doctors that because we could combine proteins to create foods equal in protein usability to meat, people could thrive on a non-meat or low-meat diet. Today, few dispute that people can thrive on this kind of diet. In fact, more and more health professionals are actually advocating less meat precisely for health reasons, reasons I discussed in 'America's Experimental Diet.' In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein (without consuming too many calories) was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods."

Answer 10

That's nonsense, he was probably trying to belittle your choice of diet/lifestyle. He is a scientist after all!!

Answer 11

That doesn't even make sense.  Soy is a COMPLETE protein.  Other foods contain proteins which can be mixed and matched to provide complete protein.

That means, you get all the essential amino acids!

As far as living longer, there are a lot of factors involved, but generally vegetarians do live longer.

Answer 12

LOL, some "scientist" he is.

Is he a mechanical engineer? What kind of scientist is stupid enough to spew misinformation with absolutely nothing to back it up?

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG...

Only professionals such as biochemists and dietitians should give any advice on what to eat as if they are an authority. Anyone can give the truth if they actually know what the truth is.

Answer 13

NO that is The PROTEIN MYTH.

Just today I read a new study out on B-12. Basically stating that they are find flesh eaters just as low on B-12 as Veggie/Vegans.. WHY 1) Unless they eat the meat raw they are killing everything in it. 2) Many humans digestive systems just don't work to ideal levels.

If cooking Meat kills B-12 what else is it wiping out? Many RAW Foodies eat meat & fish RAW. Under the beleivef that if how they get all it can offer thier bodies.

There is nothing in cooked animal flesh we can not get from out sources. Look into algaes, seaweeds, raw veggies you will be amazed. A education is only as good as the "field" that person studied in, such as your Father's friend. Plus there are amazing new studies being released all the time. The science of health is not standing still.

Slainté (to your health)