Vegetarians and Protein

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Misty L. Trepke

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Vegetarians and the proteins

by Dr. D.P. Atukorale

 

http://origin.dailyfidylnews.lk/2001/08/10/fea04.html

 

It is an astonishing fact that the 'sacred cow' of proteins is still

a major problem for most of the laymen and health professionals such

as doctors and dieticians when they consider the meat-free way of

life.

 

Many laymen and professionals in Sri Lanka have various

misconceptions about vegetarianism and the proteins. One such

misconception is that vegetarians don't get sufficient quantity of

high quality proteins. Other misconception is that vegetable proteins

are inferior in quality when compared to animal proteins.

 

Whenever I tell my friends and relations that I am a vegetarian their

first reaction is " how do you get enough proteins? " Vegetarians need

not worry about proteins and it is almost impossible for a vegetarian

to be protein deficient.

 

It is common knowledge that protein is of primary importance to good

health as it plays a crucial role in every cell of our body. All

enzymes are proteins. Antibodies, many hormones and bones all contain

proteins. Proteins are capable of yielding some dietary energy (4

Kcal/gm), help to transport fats and vitamins and help to control

body's self-regulatory system (homeostasis).

 

We were taught in our schools and Medical College that eggs, meat and

milk are first class proteins and plant based proteins are second

class proteins Dr. John Harvey Kellogg who was an ardent vegetarian

warned that abundant animal proteins was in fact killing us. He said

that diets high in meat contributed to premature liver and kidney

failure. He was certainly closer to the truth.

 

When calories are adequate protein deficiency is virtually

non-existent. This is because good quality proteins with all the

essential amino-acids (E.A.A.) are abundant in grains, vegetables,

beans, nuts and seeds. It is true that in the under-developed

countries sometimes you come across protein calorie malnutrition.

This is not due to vegetarianism but due to lack of adequate amount

of food.

 

It is true that vegetarians consume less proteins than meat eaters.

But they easily meet their protein needs and protein deficiency is

extremely rare among vegetarians. Vegetarians should take variety of

plant fidyl foods and don't need to consume carefully planned food

combinations at every meal as was believed earlier.

 

Plant protein is healthier than animal protein and excess animal

proteins are associated with increased heart diseases, loss of

calcium from bones and poor kidney function.

 

One reason why some people in Sri Lanka have become fixed on animal

proteins is that fish, meat, eggs and poultry are expensive and that

makes them more socially desirable. As above food items are very

expensive, majority of Sri Lankans especially those in rural areas

can't afford to eat animal food very often. In Sri Lanka consumption

of meat, eggs and dairy products is somewhat a state symbol.

 

In developing countries such as Sri Lanka, the rise in standard of

living is often accompanied by changes in life style and dietary

changes. It is frequently seen that the " new rich " and the people who

migrate to urban areas from villages and who have never taken beef,

mutton, and pork and eggs emulate the eating habits of the " urban

rich " and consume more protein-rich animal foods and this trend leads

to chronic diseases such as heart attacks, cancer, kidney diseases,

hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

 

Protein chemistry

 

A protein molecule consists of long twisted strands of aminoacids,

the building blocks of protein. Every aminoacid contains nitrogen.

The food we consume contains about 20 different aminoacids of which

we can make 11 of them in our body and these are called non-essential

amino-acids. The other 9 are called essential amino-acids (E.A.A.)

and these we must get from our food.

 

All proteins such as meat, milk, eggs, beans, nuts and grains contain

all E.A.A. Gelatin is the only protein which is lacking in most of

the E.A.A. Some of the plant proteins do not contain all the E.A.A.

in sufficient quantities, but as vegetarians take a variety of foods

they don't get any deficiency of E.A.A.

 

Protein quality also depends on how well i.e. how easily a particular

protein is digested and broken down into its individual amino-acids.

Plant proteins are about 85% digestible and those based on animal

proteins are about 95% digestible and that is a small difference.

 

How much proteins do we need

 

This depends on many factors such as age, body size, climate,

activity level and overall health. Number of calories in the diet

also affect protein needs. When calories are low, body burns proteins

for energy and overall protein requirement goes up.

 

Protein needs depend on the nitrogen balance. Nitrogen balance

studies tell us how much protein we must consume to meet our nitrogen

needs. Nitrogen balance studies have been used to establish the

protein R.D.A. (recommended dietary allowance) R.D.A. for protein is

63 grams for an adult male and 50 grams for an adult female. These

are American figures and Sri Lankan figures should be very much less.

Protein requirements depend not on the actual body weight but on the

ideal body weight. The more specific R.D.A. for proteins is 0.8 grams

for every kilogram of ideal body weight.

 

Vegetarians and proteins

 

Vegetarians usually have diets that are lower in proteins. As

vegetable proteins contain less proteins than animal proteins and as

they contain limited amino-acids, vegetarians have to consume more

proteins. A better R.D.A. for vegetarians (excluding lactovegetarians

and lacto-ovo-vegetarians whose protein needs are like that of

omnivores) is 1.0 gram of protein per kg of body weight compared to

0.8 grams recommended for non-vegetarians.

 

Vegans (pure vegetarians) get about 11-12% of their calories from

protein whereas omnivores get about 15-17% of calories from protein.

Surveys show that vegans get plenty of proteins.

 

Vegetarians don't have to do anything special to meet their protein

requirements. Just eat enough calories, maintain your ideal weight

and include a variety of plant foods such as soya, lentils (dhal)

other legumes such as beans, lima beans (mekaral) potatoes, spinach,

tofu, wheat bread, red rice and peas. Some of the vegetarian foods

such as broccoli are superior to animal foods such as beef and are

more protein dense.

 

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