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"meat protein has some of the highest biological value" By what standard? When I looked in to this for myself, it seemed like it's very unlikely for vegetaria

"meat protein has some of the highest biological value" By what standard? When I looked in to this for myself, it seemed like it's very unlikely for vegetarians to have protein deficiencies as long as they ate enough calories to sustain themselves and ate a decent variety of food (which they should be doing anyway, to stave off other health issues).

gavinray 6y ago
Ah, the term "biological value" probably sounds abstract, but no that's the pedantic/scientific term for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_value The tl;dr is that it boils down to amino-acid profile. There are 9 Essential Amino Acid's (EAA's) that human body can't synthesize from other amino acids. A food's biological value is determined (primarily) by it's amino acid profile. It's also not just about the overall amount, but also the ratio, since the way that amino acid absorption works is on a first-come-first-serve basis and so the proportion matters almost as much as composition. There's a list of common foods and their biological value on that page if you're curious. > "When I looked in to this for myself, it seemed like it's very unlikely for vegetarians to have protein deficiencies as long as they ate enough calories to sustain themselves and ate a decent variety of food (which they should be doing anyway, to stave off other health issues)." Ah, yeah. For the average person, it doesn't matter. You can pretty much eat anything and be alright. The grand majority of people have god-awful diets and seem to function just fine. I recreationally bodybuild so my dietary requirements are kind of an edgecase scenario.
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  Articles like these[1][2] imply that vegetable proteins provide all the amino acids the body needs, and the body can "mix and match" whatever it requires. As for bodybuilding, there are some vegetarian and even vegan bodybuilders out there. Have you looked in to how/what they eat? [1] - https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/ [2] - https://www.treehugger.com/myth-complete-protein-4858275 https://www.treehugger.com/myth-complete-protein-4858275

gavinray 6y ago

Ah, the term "biological value" probably sounds abstract, but no that's the pedantic/scientific term for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_value The tl;dr is that it boils down to amino-acid profile. There are 9 Essential Amino Acid's (EAA's) that human body can't synthesize from other amino acids. A food's biological value is determined (primarily) by it's amino acid profile. It's also not just about the overall amount, but also the ratio, since the way that amino acid absorption works is on a first-come-first-serve basis and so the proportion matters almost as much as composition. There's a list of common foods and their biological value on that page if you're curious. > "When I looked in to this for myself, it seemed like it's very unlikely for vegetarians to have protein deficiencies as long as they ate enough calories to sustain themselves and ate a decent variety of food (which they should be doing anyway, to stave off other health issues)." Ah, yeah. For the average person, it doesn't matter. You can pretty much eat anything and be alright. The grand majority of people have god-awful diets and seem to function just fine. I recreationally bodybuild so my dietary requirements are kind of an edgecase scenario.

pmoriarty 6y ago
Articles like these[1][2] imply that vegetable proteins provide all the amino acids the body needs, and the body can "mix and match" whatever it requires. As for bodybuilding, there are some vegetarian and even vegan bodybuilders out there. Have you looked in to how/what they eat? [1] - https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/ [2] - https://www.treehugger.com/myth-complete-protein-4858275 https://www.treehugger.com/myth-complete-protein-4858275