From DiseaseProof.com
Written by Dr. Fuhrman�s colleague Jeff Novick, M.S.,
R. D. for the May 2003 edition of Healthy Times:
Recently, I was teaching a nutrition class and
describing the adequacy of plant-based diets to meet human nutritional
needs. A woman raised her hand and stated, �I�ve read that because plant
foods don�t contain all the essential amino acids that humans need, to
be healthy we must either eat animal protein or combine certain plant
foods with others in order to ensure that we get complete proteins.�
I was a little surprised to hear this, since this is
one of the oldest myths related to vegetarianism and was disproved long
ago. When I pointed this out, the woman identified herself as a medical
resident and stated that her current textbook in human physiology states
this and that in her classes, her professors have emphasized this point.
I was shocked. If myths like this not only abound in
the general population, but also in the medical community, how can
anyone ever learn how to eat healthfully? It is important to correct
this misinformation because many people are afraid to follow healthful,
plant-based, and/or total vegetarian (vegan) diets because they worry
about �incomplete proteins� from plant sources.
How did this �incomplete protein� myth become so
widespread?
No small misconception
The �incomplete protein� myth was inadvertently
promoted in the 1971 book, Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore
Lappe. In it, the author stated that plant foods do not contain all the
essential amino acids, so in order to be a healthy vegetarian, you
needed to eat a combination of certain plant foods in order to get all
of the essential amino acids. It was called the theory of �protein
complementing.�
Frances Moore Lappe certainly meant no harm, and her
mistake was somewhat understandable. She was not a nutritionist,
physiologist, or medical doctor. She was a sociologist trying to end
world hunger. She realized that there was a lot of waste in converting
vegetable protein into animal protein, and she calculated that if people
just ate the plant protein, many more people could be fed. In a later
edition of her book (1991), she retracted her statement and basically
said that in trying to end one myth�the unsolvable inevitability of
world hunger, she created a second one�the myth of the need for �protein
complementing.�
In these later editions, she corrects her earlier
mistake and clearly states that all plant foods typically consumed as
sources of protein contain all the essential amino acids, and that
humans are virtually certain of getting enough protein from plant
sources if they consume sufficient calories.
Amino acid requirements
Where did the concept of �essential amino acids� come
from? In 1952, William Rose and his colleagues completed research that
determined the human requirements for the eight essential amino acids.
They set the �minimum amino acid requirement� by making it equal to the
greatest amount required by any single person in their study. To set the
�recommended amino acid requirement,� they simply doubled the minimum
requirements. This �recommended amino acid requirement� was considered a
�definitely safe intake.�
Today, if you calculate the amount of each essential
amino acid provided by unprocessed plant foods and compare these values
with those determined by Rose, you will find that any single one, or
combination, of these whole natural plant foods provides all of the
essential amino acids. Furthermore, these whole natural plant foods
provide not just the �minimum requirements� but provide amounts far
greater than the �recommended requirements.�
Modern researchers know that it is virtually
impossible to design a calorie-sufficient diet based on unprocessed
whole natural plant foods that is deficient in any of the amino acids.
(The only possible exception could be a diet based solely on fruit.)
Pride and prejudice
Unfortunately, the �incomplete protein� myth seems
unwilling to die. In an October 2001 article in the medical journal
Circulation on the hazards of high-protein diets, the Nutrition
Committee of the American Heart Association wrote, �Although plant
proteins form a large part of the human diet, most are deficient in one
or more essential amino acids and are therefore regarded as incomplete
proteins.�1 Oops!
Medical doctor and writer John McDougall wrote to the
editor pointing out the mistake. But in a stunning example of avoiding
science for convenience, instead of acknowledging their mistake, Barbara
Howard, Ph.D., head of the Nutrition Committee, replied on June 25, 2002
to Dr. McDougall�s letter and stated (without a single scientific
reference) that the committee was right and �most (plant foods) are
deficient in one or more essential amino acids.� Clearly, the committee
did not want to be confused by the facts.
Maybe you are not surprised by this misconception in
the medical community. But what about the vegetarian community?
Behind the times
Believe it or not, an article in the September 2002
issue of Vegetarian Times made the same mistake. In a story titled
�Amazing Aminos,� author Susan Belsinger incorrectly stated, �Incomplete
proteins, which contain some but not all of the EAAs [essential amino
acids], can be found in beans, legumes, grains, nuts and green leafy
vegetables.... But because these foods do not contain all of the EAAs,
vegetarians have to be smart about what they eat, consuming a
combination of foods from the different food groups. This is called food
combining.�
A dangerous myth
To wrongly suggest people need to eat animal protein
for nutrients will encourage them to add foods that are known to
contribute to the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and
many forms of cancer, to name just a few common problems.