This was something my mother always told me. “Dairy + legume + grain” but now i”m reading that all you need are the grains and the legumes. What’s the actual science here?
You’ll be fine as long as you are eating a balanced diet (meaning you don’t have to mix and match veg/meat/grain/dairy just don’t only eat one single food item):
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-i-need-to-worry-about-eating-complete-proteins/
Legumes and grains are “complete” proteins by themselves. Every plant is a “complete” protein, as in, all plants contain all essential amino acids that the body can’t make on its own. However, all plants contain these amino acids in varying amounts. So, as long as you eat a diversity of plants you’ll end up with more than enough of all the essential amino acids without having to track what foods you’re pairing. https://nutritionfacts.org/2018/12/20/do-you-have-to-combine-plant-proteins-at-a-meal/
There is no such thing as ‘more’ complete. If you’ve got all 21 amino acids from any combination of foods you’re good. Animal products have all 21 on their own. Most plant products need other combinations.
Dairy can be great for those that can tolerate it. I use to add in lots of dairy into my diet, but I found out that I cannot tolerate it. You can gain protein from quite a few sources, I always research what I can add to my diet based on my nutritional goals.
Dairy is actually terrible for your body, even if you are not lactose intolerant the long term effects are not good for anyone. Next time you see a study talking about the benefits, look and see who it’s funded by. 99% of the time it’ll be someone who would stand to benefit from selling more of that product, and that goes for most of the things that are commonly eaten/recommended in the standard diet
grains are a complete protein. legumes are too. every plant food is a complete protein with all 9 amino acids. an incomplete protein comes from a midunderstanding from the 70s.
edit. all 9 essential amino acids in apple
> Essential Amino Acids. An apple contains 9 milligrams of histidine, 24 milligrams of leucine, 22 milligrams of lysine and valine, 2 milligrams of methionine and tryptophan and 11 milligrams of threonine, phenylalanine and isoleucine.
“Rice+Beans=Complete Protein” was literally a myth started in Cosmo magazine about recipe ideas to cook for your husband. Nearly every whole food has every essential amino acid. Essential in the sense that the human body can’t make it itself. Hell, you could get enough protein by eating nothing but oranges. You’d probably explode before reaching that point, but you get the idea. Different foods have different ratios of those essential amino acids, but not low enough that you could say you MUST eat these foods together. As long as you’re eating a decent variety of foods, your bases will be covered without needing to think about it.
It’s equal and feels better at least for me.You have mostly to combine several foods. Some plants have the full profile of the essential amino acids. Hemp and oats have it, and are delucious in the right dish!
The thing about complete proteins is it is a relative term. Nevertheless, as an example, comparing 500 calories of whole wheat pasta plus 500 calories of pinto beans on the one hand and 667 calories each of pinto beans, whole wheat pasta, and skim milk, the beans and wheat pasta combo has a more complete amino acid profile, and better meets requirements for each essential amino acid, despite providing 24% less protein overall (2/3 more than the RDA anyway).