complete protein

[donutz r evil]

Years ago I remember reading that on a vegan diet it is necessary to combine different veggies to get all the amino acids and make a complete protein. What needs to be combined? What goes with beans? What goes with soy? etcetera. Does it have to be done in the same meal, same day, same week?

donutz

[LisaS]

the need for careful calculated protein combining has been largely discredited.
most plant foods have some of all the essential a.a. - and if you eat sufficient plant foods to make your caloric needs, your need for essential a.a. will be largely satisfied as well.

here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_combining) is a pretty good (good for a wiki) explanation which agrees with most of the science I've seen recently.

[Gaelen]

donutz r evil, the one thing you'll want to be careful about if you're completely vegan (no dairy, and in the no-fish periods), then you should be supplementing B12, which you can't get if your protein is all plant-based.

As for 'protein combining,' LisaS is correct--the precise ratios of the 'Diet for a Small Planet' days have pretty much been shown to be not really relevant.

[donutz r evil]

Thanks. "Diet for a Small Planet" is where I first read about vegetarianism. I'd just forgoten the title; it's been so long ago.

[Viking Dan]

This is probably what you were asking about: http://www.dietbites.com/Diet-123/complete-proteins.html