Fact: Protein Combining is a Craze
In 1971 America, however, the idea of not eating meat
was considered much crazier than it is today. Many people actually
believed that vegetarianism wasn't simply unhealthy, but it was impossible
to survive on a vegetarian diet. Lappé knew that her book would be met
with this bias, so she researched vegetarian nutrition, and in doing so
made a substantial mistake which would dramatically change the course of
vegetarian history. Lappé found some studies conducted around the turn of
the century on rats, which showed that rats grew best when fed a
combination of plant foods whose amino acid (protein) patterns resembled
that of animal foods. Lappé had her magic bullet -- this would be the way
she could convince readers that they could make their plant foods "just as
good as" meat.
Lappé devoted half of her book to this idea of "protein
combining", or "protein complementing" -- how to serve beans and rice
together, for example, so that the protein would be "complete". The
protein combining idea was contagious -- it appeared in every other book
by every other vegetarian author published after that, and made its way
into academia, encyclopedia entries, and the American mindset.
Unfortunately, the idea that protein combining is necessary was absolutely
wrong.
The first problem was that the protein combining theory
was just that -- only a theory. There had never been any studies on
humans. The idea of protein combining was thus more superstition than
science. And it's not surprising that rats would grow differently than
humans, since growing rats need ten times as much protein per calorie as
growing humans. (Rat milk is 50% protein while human breast milk is only
5%.) Further, if plant foods were really so inferior, then how did cows,
pigs, and chickens who eat nothing but grains and other plants get their
protein? Wasn't it odd that we were eating farm animals for protein, and
they were eating nothing but plants? Finally, plant foods were not even as
"deficient" in various amino acids as Lappé had thought. As Dr. John
McDougall wrote:
"Fortunately, scientific studies have debunked this
complicated nonsense. Nature designed and synthesized our foods complete
with all the essential nutrients for human life long before they reach
the dinner table. All the essential and nonessential amino acids are
represented in single unrefined starches such as rice, corn, wheat, and
potatoes in amounts in excess of every individual's needs, even if they
are endurance athletes or weight lifters. Common sense tells you this
would have to be true for the human race to have survived on this
planet. Throughout history the food-providers went out in search of
enough rice or potatoes to feed their families. Matching beans with rice
was not their concern. We have only the hunger to relate to food; there
is no drive to tell us to mix and match protein sources to make a more
ideal amino acid pattern. There is no need for such a drive because
there is no more ideal protein and amino acid composition than that
found in natural starches." [emphasis in original]
-- The McDougall Program; 1990; John A. McDougall,
M.D.; p. 45.
Diet for a Small Planet was a runaway best-seller, and
made Lappé famous. It was therefore surprising -- and commendable -- that
Lappé owned up to making a mistake about the very thing which made her a
household name. In the 1981 edition of Diet for a Small Planet, Lappé
recanted and explained that:
"In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I
assumed that the only way to get enough protein ... was to create a
protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth
that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced
another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein
without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually,
it is much easier than I thought.
"With three important exceptions, there is little
danger of protein deficiency in a plant food diet. The exceptions are
diets very heavily dependent on [1] fruit or on [2] some tubers, such as
sweet potatoes or cassava, or on [3] junk food (refined flours, sugars,
and fat). Fortunately, relatively few people in the world try to survive
on diets in which these foods are virtually the sole source of calories.
In all other diets, if people are getting enough calories, they are
virtually certain of getting enough protein." [emphasis in original]
-- Diet for a Small Planet, 10th Anniversary Ed.;
1982; Frances Moore Lappé; p. 162
Source:
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