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This is starting to change but yeah, it is saddening how many people think you need meat to survive and grow. Bill Gates left his intelligence behind on this on

This is starting to change but yeah, it is saddening how many people think you need meat to survive and grow. Bill Gates left his intelligence behind on this one. All protein on this planet was created by plants via photosynthesis.

maxerickson 12y ago
You are leaving off exotic bacteria (extremophiles) and ignoring or papering over the fact that animals can synthesize amino acids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis The great majority of energy in the biosphere is certainly captured by way of photosynthesis, but it is silly to complain about an oversimplification and then turn around and make one.
- astazangasta 12y ago
  Amino acid "synthesis" in animals works by ripping apart existing amino acids and sticking on new side chains. Animals cannot create an amino acid from nothing. To do this requires fixing nitrogen, which can only be done by certain bacteria, plants that have a symbiotic relationship with them, or the industrial Haber process for making ammonia.
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Yeah, I wish I had thought to mention how much industrial nitrogen ends up in our food. I guess you could twist that around and say that it is produced using photosynthesis that was captured in the natural gas that is used, but I don't think the poster meant readers to unpack all that out of 'created by plants'.
slayed0 12y ago
Yes, (most) protein on this planet was created by plants, but not all protein is equal. Most proteins from plants are not complete proteins and cannot sustain a human being. This is not true of animal protein. Yes you can combine various plant proteins together to form complete proteins, but the answer is not as simple as: just eat plants.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > Most proteins from plants are not complete proteins and cannot sustain a human being. There are many individual plant protein sources that are not complete proteins, and some of the ones that provide complete proteins provide a low ratio of protein to other macronutrients and may not, for that reason, be suitable alone as a primary protein source. But there are plants that individually supply complete protein without this problem, and more importantly there are well-known and combinations of plant protein sources that do this -- they are often the staple foods of various cultures, since in pre-modern times very most agriculture societies didn't produce meat in sufficient quantities for it to be the main protein source, so if adequate plant sources didn't exist, neither would civilization. (That being said, the heavy focus on soy in the market means there aren't as many convenient options meat-avoiding, soy-allergic/intolerant people as for either meat eaters or soy-tolerant folks.)
- astazangasta 12y ago
  This is incorrect. What, pray tell, is a "complete protein?" There are no amino acids in animals that are not found in plants. You appear to be wholly misinformed on this subject.
  - slayed0 12y ago
    "A complete protein (or whole protein) is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the dietary needs of humans or other animals" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein Many plants have "complete" amino acid profiles but one or more amino acids are too low to be completely adequate for humans. In this case, another protein source with a supplemental amino acid profile is required in order to balance out the deficiency in the first.
    - astazangasta 12y ago
      Quoting from your own source: >Nearly all foods contain all twenty amino acids in some quantity, and nearly all of them contain the essential amino acids in sufficient quantity. You don't need to eat meat to get your protein.
refurb 12y ago
All protein on this planet was created by plants via photosynthesis. This isn't accurate. The grass that cows eat doesn't contain enough amino acids to support the cow's growth. It's actually the bacteria the cow's gut that digests the grass (mostly carbohydrate) and converts some of it into amino acids that the cow absorbs. That's not all amino acids, since the cow's body can create some of it's own (just like humans).

maxerickson 12y ago

You are leaving off exotic bacteria (extremophiles) and ignoring or papering over the fact that animals can synthesize amino acids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis The great majority of energy in the biosphere is certainly captured by way of photosynthesis, but it is silly to complain about an oversimplification and then turn around and make one.

astazangasta 12y ago
Amino acid "synthesis" in animals works by ripping apart existing amino acids and sticking on new side chains. Animals cannot create an amino acid from nothing. To do this requires fixing nitrogen, which can only be done by certain bacteria, plants that have a symbiotic relationship with them, or the industrial Haber process for making ammonia.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Yeah, I wish I had thought to mention how much industrial nitrogen ends up in our food. I guess you could twist that around and say that it is produced using photosynthesis that was captured in the natural gas that is used, but I don't think the poster meant readers to unpack all that out of 'created by plants'.

slayed0 12y ago

Yes, (most) protein on this planet was created by plants, but not all protein is equal. Most proteins from plants are not complete proteins and cannot sustain a human being. This is not true of animal protein. Yes you can combine various plant proteins together to form complete proteins, but the answer is not as simple as: just eat plants.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> Most proteins from plants are not complete proteins and cannot sustain a human being. There are many individual plant protein sources that are not complete proteins, and some of the ones that provide complete proteins provide a low ratio of protein to other macronutrients and may not, for that reason, be suitable alone as a primary protein source. But there are plants that individually supply complete protein without this problem, and more importantly there are well-known and combinations of plant protein sources that do this -- they are often the staple foods of various cultures, since in pre-modern times very most agriculture societies didn't produce meat in sufficient quantities for it to be the main protein source, so if adequate plant sources didn't exist, neither would civilization. (That being said, the heavy focus on soy in the market means there aren't as many convenient options meat-avoiding, soy-allergic/intolerant people as for either meat eaters or soy-tolerant folks.)
astazangasta 12y ago
This is incorrect. What, pray tell, is a "complete protein?" There are no amino acids in animals that are not found in plants. You appear to be wholly misinformed on this subject.
- slayed0 12y ago
  "A complete protein (or whole protein) is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the dietary needs of humans or other animals" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein Many plants have "complete" amino acid profiles but one or more amino acids are too low to be completely adequate for humans. In this case, another protein source with a supplemental amino acid profile is required in order to balance out the deficiency in the first.
  - astazangasta 12y ago
    Quoting from your own source: >Nearly all foods contain all twenty amino acids in some quantity, and nearly all of them contain the essential amino acids in sufficient quantity. You don't need to eat meat to get your protein.

refurb 12y ago

All protein on this planet was created by plants via photosynthesis. This isn't accurate. The grass that cows eat doesn't contain enough amino acids to support the cow's growth. It's actually the bacteria the cow's gut that digests the grass (mostly carbohydrate) and converts some of it into amino acids that the cow absorbs. That's not all amino acids, since the cow's body can create some of it's own (just like humans).