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Cost by Protein Source
(lemmy.ca)
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this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2024
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Great post!
I wanted to add that this isn't quite how proteins work. Those protein-rich legumes aren't what you would call 'complete proteins.' There's a number of amino acids our bodies use as proteins and while legumes are a good source of many of them, there's a couple proteins you won't get enough of from just the beans. Fortunately, brown rice- while not as rich in protein- gives you the proteins that the beans are lacking. That's why beans and rice are a match made in heaven.
Herbivorous animals are just better at metabolising proteins from plants and of course they're capable of eating much more than us. That's why they're able to live off of grass.
This just stuff I read up on a few years ago so if I've gotten something wrong please say so
The infos in your comment aren't wrong, but it's missing a crucial point: If you live in a developed country, you're likely eating 2-4 times as much protein as you actually need.
Even when a certain legume has only 70% as much content of a certain amino acid, if you eat double than what you need, you still reach 140%.
I'm not sure what the implication of living in a developed country is. People can have vastly different diets in developed countries and people may have different protein needs. Just because you live in a developed country doesn't make you immune to malnutrition.
I think it's just something that has to be considered in a wider context and people are bad at that in general.
See my friend who is quite obese and suffering from diabetes including kidney issues and bad liver enzymes, because he was obsessed with being big and lifting heavy things and obsessing about cramming as much 'protein' as he could thinking that weight lifting would burn off all the 'bad stuff'. He got way more protein than even any body builder could possibly need but was still always making a big show at gatherings of eating so much stuff to maintain his physique (which didn't look muscular, he always looked fat, but said his muscles weren't for show and that's why he looked fat not muscular).
So when some post seeks to help folks by indicating good sources of protein, it can trigger people that have no protein issues to make worse decisions, and it's worth pointing out that most people concerned about getting lots of protein almost certainly already have plenty of protein.
Well, if you're actively starving, then obviously you won't get enough. And if you're only eating e.g. rice, then you'd likely be satiated before you have enough of certain amino acids. But aside from that, it's quite difficult to not get enough protein, as carb-heavy food also contains protein.
I can recommend listening to this podcast/video for a more detailed explanation: https://zoe.com/learn/podcast-should-i-eat-more-protein