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Originally Posted by Joeschmoe  I'm sorry, that's just not true. You don't need them in any sort of balance. All whole foods (even plants) have more than enough of each, if you eat enough calories.
The "balance" that is spoken of is in comparison to the amino acid profile found in meat. It was assumed that this was the proper balance. That is a fallacious argument. It would be comparable to looking at an orange and deciding that an orange has the proper balance of vitamins and minerals, and should therefore combine foods to make sure they have the nutrient profile of an orange. The truth is that if you get more than the minimum amount of each amino acid then you are fine. A full days calories worth of any whole food on earth (except gelatin) will have more than the minimums of each. The exception being some fruits, which is easily made up for by eating the highest protien food on earth, greens.
Here is a write up of the retraction made by the very person who introduced it in the first place.
And to clarify Okinawans traditionally eat a diet based on sweet potato (about 70% of calories) and don't have problems getting protien form veggies. |
Interesting. The idea seems to have sunk its hooks deeply into the popular consciousness; I even read it in a biology textbook. I'll have to do some research on this.