TIP 1: Proper Protein Combining...

Q.. How do I combine (vegetarian) protein sources to create COMPLETE proteins my body can use?


Firstly lets look at why Protein is ESSENTIAL In our bodies... there are many reasons - to name a few;

Protein builds:

- Hormones
- Immune cells
- Hair / Skin / Nails
- Muscles
- Red Blood Cells
- Digestive Enzymes

Also protein is responsible for:
- Our Wound Healing and Repair

It is for this reason that we require a minimum of 0.8g of protein for every 1k of body weight in order to maintain strong healthy bodies.... if we do any regular exercise (ie. walk/run a few times a week, take a boxing or cardio class, play a sport regularly) then that need increases to 1g of protein for every 1k of body weight.
If you happen to be a peak athlete or a pregnant woman the intake required increases to 1.2g for every 1k of body weight.

Here's the catch on the protein story ...

Alot of people aren't aware (I was oblivious for many years) that although there are many vegetarian sources of 'protein' such as nuts, oats, seeds & legumes, unless these sources are combined to contain the 9 essential amino acids (essential = our bodies cannot make these, therefore we need to obtain these from our diet)... then our bodies cannot use it as a protein source. Let me explain why.

Protein molecules are formed in our bodies by the liver as it creates polypeptide chains with amenio acids. These chains are made with up to 20 different amino acids, not the least of which are these 9 essential ameno acids that the body needs to receive from our diet.

Our liver stores these ameno acids for any where up to 2 hours... hoping to collect all 9 essential amino acids (creating in the body itself the non-essential amino acids it needs) .... in order to connect the dots as it were, with these 20 some amino acids, to form complete proteins the body can use.

With sources such as meat, eggs, dairy, fish - these are already complete proteins - they contain all 9 essential amino acids. So once the body ingests these and sends it to the liver - it can happily go ahead and make up the necessary protein molecules to build hair, skin, nails, hormones, immune cells and much much more.

With vegetarian sources however - they only contain a limited amount of amino acids - they DO NOT contain all 9 essential ameno acids.... this is why we have to COMBINE these sources with other vegetarian foods that contain the remaining essential amino acids until we have all 9 present in our meal and in our body.

For example - say i have a handful of sesame seeds, containing 4 of the 9 essential amino acids.... then I have some chick peas containing the remaining 5 of the 9 essential amino acids. If we combined these together - for example Hummus, ... we would have present all 9 essential amino acids our body needs...so the liver could go on it's merry way using this protein and sending it throughout the body.

If we just ate the chick peas however.... these 5 essential amino acids would go into the body head to the liver and then wait there for the remaining 4 to be ingested so it could become the complete molecule.... the liver can only store these amino acids for somewhere in the vacinity of 2 hours... so if this time is exceeded the body will NOT be able to make a complete protein..... we will have missed the opportunity! Although some of these ameno acids will be used for other processes in the body (not protein related), the rest will be excreted - without any protein molecules being formed.

So our task is to learn how to protein combine with the appropriate vegetarian sources. In order to do this I have included below a simple protein chart which shows which food 'sources' to combine in order to create a COMPLETE protein.

Protein Combining Chart:



ie. combining dairy with grains = complete protein (ie. Oatmeal)
combining grains with legumes = complete protein (ie. lentils on rice)
combining legumes with nuts/seeds = complete protein (ie. hummus)

So I hope from this weeks Tip you have gleaned why it is important to choose wisely our sources of protein and ensure we are combining them properly to ensure our bodies are able to use these sources and build our bodies to be strong and healthy.

Yours in Health!

Angela