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It's easy to get all the protein we need without eating meat. While it is not easy or inexpensive to store meat, plant protein can be stored very economically for a long time.
Important points to remember about protein:
(From the National Academy of Sciences
Recommended Dietary Allowances 9th ed. 1980)
Requirement of Essential Amino Acids (per kg body wt) mg/day.
Amino Acid Required | 4 - 6 months | 10 - 12 years | Adult |
Histidine | 33 | ? | ? |
Isoleucine | 83 | 28 | 12 |
Leucine | 135 | 42 | 16 |
Lysine | 99 | 44 | 12 |
Methionine & Cystine | 49 | 22 | 10 |
Phenylalanine & Tyrosine | 141 | 22 | 16 |
Threonine | 68 | 28 | 8 |
Tryptophan | 21 | 4 | 3 |
Valine | 92 | 25 | 14 |
Understanding the following table:
Food | Limiting | Grams Req. @ 100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | LBS Req. @ 100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | Calories | Protein Calories |
Chicken, Roasted | M | 74 | 0.2 | 174 | 46% |
Rabbit, Roasted | V | 75 | 0.2 | 148 | 59% |
Turkey, Roasted | T | 76 | 0.2 | 157 | 55% |
Beef, Lean, Cooked | V | 77 | 0.2 | 224 | 41% |
Tuna, Canned in Oil | V | 81 | 0.2 | 150 | 57% |
Cheese, Cheddar | M | 102 | 0.2 | 409 | 25% |
Fish, Mackerel, Raw | I | 111 | 0.2 | 227 | 36% |
Ham, Canned, Lean | I | 123 | 0.3 | 177 | 50% |
Amino Acid References:
It's not at all surprising that the meats would be first listed as the most protein dense foods. In fact, dried lean meat is almost 100% protein. We as a society enjoy our meats, but there can be a problem with eating too much protein. Some researchers today suggest that anything over two times the RDA of protein begins to be hard on our systems. This alone is good reason why meats are to be used sparingly. If we ate only chicken, for example, to get our 2900 calories, we would get 16.6 times the protein we needed. This would have negative consequences for any of us. Too much meat protein contributes to osteoporosis, gouty arthritis, cardiovascular disease and stresses the kidneys. Most researchers believe, however, that meat isn't bad for us if not used in excess. Of course, with meat, our theory about 2900 calories of food meeting the minimum amino acid requirements holds true as the lowest protein meat in the sample, mackerel, only requires 227 calories to give us a complete protein. Now back to the table.
Food | Limiting Amino Acid | Grams @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | LBS @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | Calories | Protein Calories |
Soy Beans | M | 73 | 0.2 | 304 | 35% |
Split Peas (dry) | M | 127 | 0.3 | 432 | 29% |
Peanut Butter | M | 128 | 0.3 | 753 | 17% |
Kidney Beans | M | 129 | 0.3 | 431 | 28% |
Lentils Beans | M | 130 | 0.3 | 441 | 33% |
Lima Beans | M | 130 | 0.3 | 441 | 33% |
Peanuts, Dry Roasted | M | 133 | 0.3 | 777 | 16% |
Oats | L | 135 | 0.3 | 526 | 17% |
Navy Beans | M | 136 | 0.3 | 457 | 27% |
Pinto Beans | M | 146 | 0.3 | 496 | 25% |
Egg, Whole, Raw | T | 156 | 0.3 | 232 | 34% |
Whey, Sweet, Dried | P | 164 | 0.4 | 579 | 15% |
Rye | I | 173 | 0.4 | 578 | 18% |
Great Northern Beans | V | 189 | 0.4 | 640 | 26% |
Next in protein density comes the legumes. Hopefully, you remember the tables are sorted by the weight of food required to give 100% of the protein required. This is why you see a couple of non-legume items scattered in with the above sample. The grains oats and rye are excellent protein sources when looking only at the essential amino acids, as are the eggs in this sample. Legumes are great protein sources and contain many other important ingredients as well. Even though legumes are low in Methionine, they contain enough to require very little of the food to give enough amino acids to meet daily needs. Again, our theory holds true. Our least dense protein food, great northern beans, only requires 640 calories, equaling 189 grams or 7 ounces of food. Keep in mind that for all the legumes, this is dry weight. To determine what the weight would be if they were rehydrated raw, multiply the dry weight by 2. Of course, the amino acid content and calories will remain the same. For cooked and drained legumes multiply the dry weight by a factor of 2.2. (Kidney beans were used for the sample.)
Food | Limiting Amino Acid | Grams @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | LBS @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | Calories | Protein Calories |
Amaranth | M | 189 | 0.4 | 708 | 15% |
Buckwheat | P | 194 | 0.4 | 666 | 15% |
Macaroni | V | 203 | 0.4 | 753 | 14% |
Barley | I | 208 | 0.5 | 736 | 14% |
Wheat, Hard Red | L | 235 | 0.5 | 772 | 19% |
Egg Noodles, Enriched, Dry | L | 248 | 0.5 | 943 | 15% |
Triticale | L | 260 | 0.6 | 873 | 16% |
Wheat, Hard Red Winter | L | 283 | 0.6 | 925 | 15% |
Quinoa | M | 302 | 0.7 | 1,128 | 14% |
Rice, Brown | L | 313 | 0.7 | 1,158 | 9% |
Wheat, Duram | L | 313 | 0.7 | 1,061 | 16% |
Rice, White | L | 367 | 0.8 | 1,341 | 8% |
Corn, Dry | T | 447 | 1.0 | 1,596 | 8% |
Millet | L | 447 | 1.0 | 1,690 | 12% |
And now we have the grains as the next protein dense food. Grains are traditionally low in the amino acid Lysine. This block of foods also represents the foods that we should be eating the most from in our diets. They are generally rich in complex carbohydrates giving us good sustained energy over a long period of time. And they are mostly over the 10% protein calorie to total calorie figure. They are low in fats and cholesterol, and have a good ratio of many of the B vitamins and essential minerals. Does our theory still hold true? Yes. Millet, our lowest food in the above category requires 1,690 calories and 447 grams or 1 lb. to meet our RDA for protein. And at least half of the grains require only half of this amount.
Food | Limiting Amino Acid | Grams @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | LBS @100% RDA Limiting Amino Acid | Calories | Protein Calories |
Cottage Cheese | M | 484 | 1.1 | 410 | 82% |
Kidney Bean Sprout Raw | I | 510 | 1.1 | 148 | 28% |
Milk | M | 687 | 1.5 | 341 | 27% |
Mushrooms, Dried | T | 765 | 1.7 | 2,263 | 13% |
Potatoes, Raw | M | 1,339 | 2.9 | 1,058 | 10% |
Broccoli, Boiled | M | 1,386 | 3.0 | 388 | 42% |
Sweet Potatoes, Boiled | M | 1,463 | 3.2 | 1,536 | 6% |
Corn, Sweet, Canned | T | 1,972 | 4.3 | 1,597 | 13% |
Brussel Sprouts, Boiled | M | 1,975 | 4.3 | 770 | 26% |
Asparagus, Canned | M | 2,079 | 4.6 | 291 | 51% |
Yams, Cooked | M | 2,079 | 4.6 | 2,412 | 5% |
Carrots, Boiled | M | 2,146 | 4.7 | 966 | 10% |
Green Beans, Boiled | M | 6,633 | 5.8 | 685 | 21% |
Banana, Raw | I | 2,873 | 6.3 | 2,643 | 4% |
Squash, Boiled | M | 3,435 | 7.6 | 687 | 18% |
Rutabagas, Boiled | M | 3,591 | 7.9 | 1,400 | 13% |
Onion, Raw | V | 4,096 | 9.0 | 1,557 | 12% |
Cauliflower, Boiled | M | 4,198 | 9.2 | 966 | 32% |
Tomatoes, Whole Canned | V | 4,608 | 10.1 | 922 | 19% |
Turnips, Boiled | M | 6,077 | 13.4 | 1,094 | 16% |
Pumpkin, Boiled | M | 7,900 | 17.4 | 1,580 | 14% |
Celery, Raw | M | 7,900 | 17.4 | 1,264 | 19% |
Cucumber, Raw | M | 7,900 | 17.4 | 1,027 | 21% |
Here are many of our vegetables. Again, we've thrown in a couple of non-vegetable items as this is where their sort order falls within the table. Vegetables are also very good in our diets in rounding out many of the missing vitamins, minerals and roughage we haven't seen in large amounts in the tables above. They add great variety and some of them are even staple items, like the potato. Does our theory still hold true? Yes. But bananas come closest to busting our 2,900 calorie theory, requiring 2,643 calories to give us a complete protein for the day. However, at this point another problem rises to the front burner. And that is the food is so scarce of calories and protein that to get the 2900 calories or the needed protein it would be almost impossible for anyone, except maybe a teen-ager, to eat that much. For example we would have to eat 6.3 lb. of bananas. We'd be banana eating son-of-a-guns (not to mention if our one food was celery or cucumbers requiring us to eat 17.4 lbs.).
In theory and practice, if we eat our RDA of 2,900 calories from any of the above foods, we will get the protein our bodies need. This is true if we eat only one of them, or a mix of them in any amount. It almost goes without saying that this also holds true for women as the RDA per kilogram of body weight is the same between the sexes. A 63kg (138 lb.) woman requires 2,200 calories. She needs proportionately less protein than a man. Now we move into much less friendly territory.
Food | Limiting Amino Acid | Grams RDA Limiting Amino Acid | LBS RDA Limiting Amino Acid | Calories | Protein |
Apples, Raw | M | 3759 | 8.3 | 9134 | 2% |
Peaches, Light Syrup | L | 6771 | 14.9 | 3657 | 3% |
Watermelon, Raw | M | 9875 | 21.7 | 3160 | 8% |
Apricots, Light Syrup | M | 15800 | 34.8 | 9954 | 3% |
Grapes, Canned | I | 23700 | 52.1 | 9480 | 5% |
Pineapple, Canned | V | 715977 | 1575.1 | 229113 | 5% |
Grapefruit, Raw | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 8% |
Pears, Light Syrup | T | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 1% |
Plums, Light Syrup | T | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 2% |
Sugar, Brown | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Sugar, Granulated | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Fat, Beef Tallow | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Fat, Mutton Tallow | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Fat, Pork Lard | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Oil, Peanut | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Oil, Vegetable Canola | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Oil, Vegetable, Corn | A | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite | 0% |
Fruits, refined sugars, and fats and oils. Does our theory hold out now? No. Of the fruits that have all the amino acids, we would have to eat much more than the daily caloric intake of that food to get enough protein. And that's if we could even eat that much fruit. Is this a problem with fruits? Not really, unless we are on a fruit intensive diet and eat no high protein foods. Do we then need fruit in our diets? Of course, for a multitude of reasons.Fats, oils and refined sugars give us a much greater problem when it comes to protein. And that's because we are so addicted to them. Fats, oils and refined sugars have no proteins (or hardly any other nutrients, for that matter). Fats and oils are the most calorie rich foods there are by weight, with 1 gram giving us 9 calories of energy. Incidentally, protein, and carbohydrates including sugars and starches, are considered energy rich yet only have 4 calories per gram. It is possible, though difficult, to have a protein deficient diet by eating nothing but fatty or sweet junk food (not to mention all the other deficiencies we would have.) Fats aren't all together bad, however, as we need some saturated and unsaturated fats in our system.
Protein, and their building blocks, the amino acids, are some of the most important nutrients we need on a daily basis.