Concerns over protein deficiency caused by vegetarian diets have been greatly exaggerated. According to Harvard Health Publications, a rigid regimen of menu planning to match up "complementary" proteins is unnecessary. You can easily obtain enough protein by consuming a range of protein sources, without worrying about combining complementary proteins.
Proteins and Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. The foods you eat contain 20 different amino acids. Your body can synthesize 11 of these amino acids on its own. It is essential you consume the other nine amino acids from dietary sources, and these nine are referred to as "essential amino acids." If you do not obtain all of these essential amino acids, you may experience loss of muscle tissue, according to the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Vegetarian Diets and the Complementary Protein Myth
It was once believed that to achieve a healthy vegetarian diet, you had to carefully combine "complementary" proteins, such as rice with beans, to ensure you consumed complete proteins. This is now known not to be true. According to Harvard Health Publications, between 6 and 8 million Americans are vegetarians and this way of eating may help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
Types of Vegetarianism and Complementary Proteins
Whether you're a vegan or ovo-lacto vegetarian, it is not necessary to use a system of protein complementation as long as you are eating a variety of healthy foods. If you're an ovo-lacto vegetarian and include eggs and dairy products in your diet, you are consuming foods with complete proteins. If you're a vegan who eats no animal-based foods, these also contain all of the essential amino acids, but some in lower proportions than others.
Though both types of vegetarian can easily get enough protein without following a complex regimen of complementary proteins, vegans must rely more heavily on plant-based sources, such as legumes, beans, tofu and whole grains, while ovo-lacto vegetarians can easily meet their protein needs by consuming eggs and dairy products.
Theory of Complementary Proteins
Past misconceptions regarding the need for complementary proteins arose from the belief that to obtain adequate protein you had to combine foods to ensure all of these amino acids were represented in every meal. According to the Vegetarian Resource Group, such a strict eating plan is overly conservative and unnecessary.
Frances Moore Lappe, author of the vegetarian guidebook "Diet for a Small Planet," has repudiated theories of complementary proteins. Almost all plant-based proteins include all of the essential amino acids, according to VRG, and eating a variety of plant-based proteins will amply provide for your protein needs.
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