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Proteins in Vegetarian diet
Animal based foods contain complete amino acids. Different Plant foods contain different essential amino acids, necessitating to eat a variety of plant foods
Does Vegetarian diet lack protein?
Proteins are made of 23 amino acids. Nine of these amino acids are 'essential', meaning body can not make them. Animal based foods contain all the amino acids, while different plant foods have different essential amino acids.
In a Vegetarian diet, eggs and dairy products are main source of essential Amino acids. Eggs are high in Cholesterol and one should limit consumption to eight eggs per week. Dairy products are high in saturated fats and Cholesterol. Consumption of dairy products should be limited to equivalent of 3 low-fat or fat-free cups of milk per day.
Among plant foods, soybeans provide the most complete protein.
For Vegans, primary sources of protein are: Grains, Legumes, Nuts, fruits and vegetables.
To increase the quality of proteins, Vegans must eat a variety of different plant foods to get all the amino acids.
Proteins - Complementing for Vegans
What are the nine essential amino acids?
For adults there are eight essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and lysine. For children, histidine is also needed.
Is there a perfect protein?
For a perfect protein, it must have all the amino acids, and the amount of various must be in a right proportion. Egg is the best protein in nature. Egg is used as the benchmark to evaluate all other foods to determine their quality. In plant foods, soybeans have all the amino acids present as meats.