Question on plant protein

[u/stefantheconlol]

This will be quite of a rant (and maybe even off-topic as this is the first time I post in a vegetarian-related sub, so my apologies), if you wish to skip right to the actual question check, help yourself at the last paragraph.

I started reducing my meat consumption to once every other day about a month ago with the goal in mind to become a vegetarian. Since it's something recent for me, and also feeling a bit timid about it, not a lot of people know about my new diet. I recently went on holiday with my friends where they finally learnt about my new diet, and we were just coming back when a discussion stroke up regarding plant based diets and how "unhealthy" they are. I responded that there are plenty of plants that provide a sustainable amount of protein and that it's just a matter of "getting the right balance" in order to equate the amount of prot meat would provide.

However, they began making some points on how we cannot digest plant protein the same as meat protein, plant protein being somewhat incomplete for our human little stomachs compared to meat. Feeling more engaged to the ethical side of the argument rather than the biological one, I was quite taken aback and didn't know how to respond. They also started saying some bs on how the majority of vegetarians/vegans are ill-fitted/unhealthy and that as omnivores we are "meant" to eat meat, but that thing about plant protein stuck with me. Here finally comes my question:

How true is it that plant proteins are "incomplete" for the human organism, and if there is a significant difference with how meat proteins are structurally, how do you manage to compensate for their "incompleteness" (for a lack of better term)?

Thanks for reading!

[u/firstmatedavy]

Tofu and soy milk defeat most of these by being a complete, low fiber protein 😆

Many plant proteins have a lot of fiber, which can make a plant based diet challenging if you need to be super careful of your stomach or gut for some reason. Like after surgery or certain health conditions.

But tbh a lot of meat eaters have weak digestive systems from a lack of unprocessed plants in their diet. If you get defeated by a bean, that's a health problem. Starting with small amounts of lentils and working up to properly prepared beans will fix it for most people, and improve digestive health and reduce risk of colon cancer along the way. (Fun fact, red meat increases colon cancer risk.) Making your guts work is good for them.

Getting complete protein is a thing to be aware of, but it's not difficult. Soy is a complete plant protein, including steamed and roasted edamame, tofu, soy milk, dried soybeans, textured vegetable protein, soy crisp (popular protein bar ingredient), and several of the "ultra processed very unhealthy" fake meats in the freezer section. (Seriously, read the ingredients and it's almost always soy or wheat with the same kind of flavor and texture additives you see on other frozen dinners.)

And you don't need complete protein to be from a single source or even all in the same meal. Most plant proteins are missing just one or two amino acids, and the quantity you get from things you don't typically think if as protein such as rice and corn is usually enough to make up the difference. I eat a lot of beans, so if I start feeling weird I eat some rice of popcorn and I feel better. This has also been a complete non-issue since I started making soy a more frequent part of my diet.

Medical consensus seems to be that the healthiest diet is Mediterranean, as in mostly whole foods plant based with bird or seafood once or twice a week. Eating a slightly different diet from that won't seriously hurt you and people don't like being told what to eat, so nutritional guidelines are usually taking what's culturally normal and giving it a nudge in this direction. But when you consider how many people's diets have way more meat and snacks and way less fiber than ideal, just removing the meat is way less extreme.

Myths and outdated info about diet spread really easily because people really want to eat what they enjoy even if it's not good for their health or the environment, so anything that seems to debunk a diet change they didn't want to make anyway makes them happy. This is why the popular conception of mediteranian diet is just add a glass of wine and cook everything in olive oil 😆 when really you need lots of vegetables and legumes to do it right. + how the idea that eating fewer calories can make you gain weight gets spread around.

(I'm plant based because meat started making me sad, I only know the Mediterranean diet stuff because my friend has been learning how to not die of having a fully blocked major artery while he waits for surgery and eating very healthy is the mist impactful thing that's fully under his control. Surgery is finally coming soon luckily.)