Differences in Plant and Animal Protein

Combining proteins helps a well balanced diet.

Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids that make up body protein. Of these 22, nine are essential amino acids.

Protein is a part of all body cells and is involved in the growth, maintenance and repair of body tissues. Foods containing protein should be an important part of your diet.

Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids that make up body protein. Of these 22, nine are essential amino acids. These essential amino acids must enter the body as food, because the body doesn't make enough of them to meet its need for growth.

Sources of protein

For the body to use protein for building, repairing and maintenance, all amino acids must be present in the right amounts. Foods which contain all of the essential amino acids in the needed amounts are called complete proteins. Complete protein is found in animal food sources, including meat, poultry, fish, milk and milk products.

The protein in many plant foods doesn't have all of the amino acids or has inadequate amounts of some of them. These incomplete proteins include plant foods such as vegetables, grains, beans, peas and nuts. Complete proteins are considered to be higher in quality than incomplete proteins.

Because all incomplete proteins do not lack the same amino acids, you can combine them in ways that will improve their quality. In other words, eating a food that is lacking in one amino acid with another food that has plenty of that particular amino acid will give you a complete protein. The incomplete proteins will complement each other.

Put together protein combinations

You can make these complimentary combinations by putting certain vegetable protein foods together or by putting a vegetable protein with a small amount of animal protein. Macaroni and cheese is a great example of combination plant and animal protein. Vegetable proteins which can be combined to increase protein quality include such popular foods as beans and rice, beans and corn or baked beans and brown bread. Many of our favorite foreign foods are protein combinations. Oriental dishes combine rice, soy and small amounts of meat. Mexican foods combine beans and rice and beans and corn products in tacos or refried beans. This mixing and matching of foods will give you complete proteins which are nutritious and economical.

Since meats and other protein foods are often expensive, you can cut back on your protein costs by using less expensive complimentary proteins.

For more information about food and nutrition, contact your local county Extension office.