POWER RANGERS AND PROTEIN: A LOOK A COMPLETMENTARY PROTEINS
Patrick Martin
You’d be surprised by how many foods have protein in them. Obviously at different degrees, but even your hummus and pita chips have some level of protein.
Now what is protein?
Proteins are large molecules made up of smaller building-block units, called amino acids (AAs), that are necessary for your body’s structural (muscle), regulational (hormones), and functional (enzymes) needs [1].
There are 20 different AAs that are commonly found in the body and combine in various ways and amounts to build and shape a protein for its specific function [3].
Remember how power rangers combined their fighting machines to make a huge awesome robot: the Megazord?
Imagine there are 20 different colored power rangers, and they can combine their fighting machines in various ways to create several different types of Megazords.
While some AAs can be produced by the body, there are nine essential AAs that you can only get from your diet [2, 4].
Animal protein (meat, dairy, seafood, eggs, etc.), considered a ‘complete protein’, provides the essential AAs at adequate proportions for protein production [4].
When your body does not have all the essential AAs in similar quantity, as with most vegetable protein sources, excess above the quantity of the AAs at the lowest concentration will be broken down into energy [5].
You’ll see what I mean in the table below.
In the peanut essential AA profile, two AAs (tryptophan and methionine) are quite low. If nothing else is consumed along with the peanuts, the excess of the other AAs above the drawn line (greyed out) will be broken down.
Therefore vegetable based dishes rarely only include one staple crop (corn, rice, beans, soy). When consumed together, grains, legumes, and nuts/seeds can form what are called complementary proteins [4, 6].
Wheat compliments the AA content of peanuts, which is why peanut butter and bread is such a popular combo [6]. Other basic combinations include rice and lentils, corn and beans, or those pita chips and hummus (chick peas).
Just as the Megazord can’t be complete with all the power rangers combining, proteins cannot be constructed completely in the body without a complete collection of the AAs.
Thus, the concept of complementary proteins is especially important for vegetarians, to maintain a complete AA pool in the body.
Although it may not be essential to have the combinations within a meal, ensure to complement protein sources within the meals of the day [4]: Cereal for breakfast; lentils at lunch; nuts and seeds in a salad for dinner.
Next time you are cooking some pasta or rice, make sure to invite some of the other power rangers to the party, incorporating pine nuts or lentils to complete the Megazord and save the world!
…or save those lonely AAs from unnecessary demotion.
Reference:
1) National Institute of Health. US National Library of Medicine: Genetics home Reference. What Are Proteins and What Do They Do? https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/howgeneswork/protein (2017)
2) Precision Nutrition. All about protein: What Is It and How Much Do You Need. http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-protein
3) Rice University: OpenStax College. Types and Functions of Proteins. http://cnx.org/contents/GFy_h8cu@10.114:2zzm1QG9@7/Proteins
4) Young, VR & Pellett, PL. Plant proteins in relation to human protein and amino acid nutrition. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1994). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8172124
5) Millward, DJ. The nutritional value of plant-based diets in relation to human amino acid and protein requirements. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (1999). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10466163
6) World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations University. Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition Report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation (WHO Technical Report Series 935)
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/nutrientrequirements/WHO_TRS_935/en/
Lucas Roldos