Another Real Food Quote Monday (RFQM), another Q & A… This question comes from a reader, Tiffany:
I was hoping you could explain about the proteins in beans and legumes. I’ve heard some vegetarian friends say you have to have a grain with your beans to make a complete protein out of the nutrients. It just doesn’t jive. If the nutritional content is 9g protein per serving, isn’t that what’s there? Thanks!
Great question! And here’s the answer, from Sally Fallon Morell in Nourishing Traditions:
“Proteins are the building blocks of the animal kingdom. The human body assembles and utilizes about 50,000 different proteins to form organs, nerves, muscles, and flesh. Enzymes — the mangers and catalysts of all our biochemical processes — are specialized proteins. So are antibodies.
All proteins are combinations of just 22 amino acids, eight of which are “essential” nutrients for humans, meaning that the human body cannot make them. When the essential amino acids are present in the diet, the body can usually build the other “nonessential” amino acids; but if just one essential amino acid is low or missing, the body is unable to synthesize the other proteins it needs, even when overall protein intake is high.
…
Just as animal fats are our only sources of vitamins A and D and other bodybuilding factors, so also animal protein is our only source of complete protein. All of the essential amino acids, and many considered “nonessential,” are present in animal products. Sources of protein from the vegetable kingdom contain only incomplete protein; that is they are low in one or more essential amino acids, even when overall protein content is high. The body must ingest all the essential amino acids in order to use any of them.
The two best sources of protein in the vegetable kingdom are legumes and cereal grains, but all plant foods are low in tryptophan, cystine and threonine [2 essential and 1 non-essential]. Legumes, such as beans, peanuts and cashews are high in the amino acid lysine [essential] but low in methionine [essential]. Cereal grains have the opposite profile.
In order to obtain the best possible protein combination from vegetable sources, pulses and grains should be eaten together and combined with at least a small amount of animal protein. Most grain-based cuisines instinctively incorporate this principle. For example, animal products plus corn and beans are staple fare in Mexican cuisines, as are chickpeas and whole wheat in Middle East and rice and soybean products in Asia.”
So, there you have it. Grains and beans don’t contain all the essential amino acids alone. But combined they can, although some combinations might still be low in certain essential amino acids – making a small amount of animal protein eaten alongside such a meal a tremendous benefit. Also, as Sally Fallon Morell points out here and elsewhere, grains and beans lack essential fat-soluble vitamins, such as A & D, and protein should always be eaten with fat for best assimilation.
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I had always heard that quinoa is the only complete protein in the plant kingdom but I’m surprised Sally didn’t mention that since she is master of everything she discusses. Maybe I had heard incorrectly?
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That’s why the old southern staple of beans cooked with a little bit of home cured ham and served with rice or cornbead has kept so many people alive and healthy for so many many years.
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We have been eating quinoa in our family for years…we always have 2 cups of cooked quinoa in the fridge to add to anything from scrambled eggs to sauces…quinoa is actually a seed, not a grain, but is generally put in the grain category because of how it looks and how you cook it…quinoa is indeed a complete protein because it contains all of the essential amino acids…it is also one of the easier ‘grains’ to sprout with the tails popping out in only a few hours…if you enter ‘quinoa’ in the search engine at WAPF, there are some articles that mention quinoa…also, to preserve the highly nutritious nutrients found in quinoa, it isn’t necessary to boil it, like with rice…just bring 2 cups of water to a boil and let it roll for 30 seconds, then add 1 cup of quinoa into the boiling water and shut off the burner, put a lid on the pot and it will ‘cook’ to perfection in 20 minutes…can you tell I LOVE quinoa?…LOL
Holly, thanks so much for your tip on effortless quinoa cooking! I usually drag out my steamer and do the whole rigamarole, but if it’s as easy as that, I’m definitely going to be making it more often. It’s one of my favorite breakfasts, laden down to a porridge-like consistency with some butter and a healthy dollop of cream, some dried blueberries (usually tossed in at the cooking stage) and some chopped almonds or other nut on top.
As far as Sally’s recommendation to eat proteins with our combined legumes and grains, you’d be hard-pressed to find a meatless meal at my house–ever. My sister is a vegetarian, though, but fortunately not a vegan. She will do the butter and cream thing (but not much, since she still buys into the diet dictocracy), but does anyone know if that “counts” as animal protein in this case? She’s awfully pasty, so I’d love to help her gain some health, even if she won’t eat what we all call “the good stuff!”
Wardeh,
I thought that I read somewhere that spirulina was a complete protein?
Life took over my last couple of weeks, I finally get to check out the e-course today! Yeah!
Just a note to anybody wanting to try quinoa for the first time. Rinse it several times, rubbing the grains between your hand.! It can taste soapy if you don’t. If I’m not mistaken, it actually has saponin (sp?) in it, but I’ll have to do some digging to find out if I’m remembering correctly.
This isn’t where I originally read it, but if you do a search using the keywords “quinoa rinse saponin”, you’ll actually get lots of results. Here is one:
Before cooking, the seeds must be rinsed to remove their bitter resin-like coating, which is called saponin. Quinoa is rinsed before it is packaged and sold, but it is best to rinse again at home before use to remove any of the powdery residue that may remain on the seeds. The presence of saponin is obvious by the production of a soapy looking “suds” when the seeds are swished in water. Placing quinoa in a strainer and rinsing thoroughly with water easily washes the saponin from the seeds. In South America the saponin which is removed from the quinoa is used as detergent for washing clothes and as an antiseptic to promote healing of skin injuries.
It is from http://chetday.com/quinoa.html
I loved reading all the comments about quinoa. We enjoy it, also. But one of our favorite meals: beefy beans and soaked cornbread with gingered carrots and a big glass of raw milk. That seems to fit right in here. It is nice to know that some of your favorite things are also truly healthy.
Connie
ThePrairieMom.com
Annette – Thanks for bringing up quinoa! And thanks to Holli, Dani and Kimber for the further details. Like Kimber, I agree that a good hard rinse to get rid of the saponin is a advisable. I used to not to do this out of laziness, but now I do.
Kelli – I know very little about spirulina. Glad you’re back with us!
Dani,
I am just curious if you know your sisters blood type? and your blood type?
Typically type A blood types don’t feel as good on lots of animal protein. Of course that doesn’t mean she should never eat animal protein, maybe just smaller amounts. That’s just an observation I have made lately with those around me.
Are any of you meat eaters type A?
I love quinoa as well. I have always liked eating meat, but I am learning to eat with the seasons. I believe that we should eat less meat during the summer months and more vegetables and fruits and soaked grains.
Tidbit about quinoa and saponins…since my family goes through so much quinoa, I learned over the years to experiment with different brands…we have been buying our organic quinoa for the last 5 years through the Bob’s Red Mill company. Luckily I now get the Bob’s Red Mill quinoa it in bulk through Costco…Bob’s Red Mill does a thorough job in cleaning off the saponins before packaging the quinoa…hope this helps anyone out who, through sheer laziness like me, got tired of the ‘prewash cycle’ as we used to call it in our family…lol
Bob’s Red Mill -
http://www.bobsredmill.com/organic-quinoa-grain.html
Tiffany,
I have no idea what our bloodtypes are–my sister’s a vegetarian because she’s very… influenced? by those around her, and she thinks that eating meat is bad because she heard about it when she went off to college. We grew up on a farm eating red meat more meals than not, so she’s off meat for “personal political” reasons (she’s also Buddhist, while the rest of us are Christians… oh, the list goes on). She’s definitely the black sheep in the family! Still, though, I try to get her to eat healthy when I can fix a meal for her. The rest of us still eat meat, and lots of it, every chance we get with no problems. I think she’d perk right up if she’d just have herself a hamburger!