About this Resource
Foods which contain all nine essential amino acids (EAAs) are often considered ‘complete’ proteins, whereas, foods which lack one or more are ‘incomplete’ proteins. However, virtually every food contains all nine EAAs and so these terms are often misleading. Here, we highlight the twenty standard amino acids and discuss a more useful framework for thinking about ‘complete’ and ‘incomplete’ proteins.
Grounded by the Research
“The claim that certain plant foods are “missing” specific amino acids is demonstrably false. All plant foods contain all 20 amino acids, including the 9 indispensable amino acids. Importantly, rather than “missing” indispensable amino acids, a more accurate statement would be that the amino acid distribution profile is less optimal in plant foods than in animal foods.”
Excerpt from: Mariotti, F., & Gardner, C. D. (2019). Dietary protein and amino acids in vegetarian diets—A review. Nutrients, 11(11), 2661.
References
[1] Lopez MJ, Mohiuddin SS. Biochemistry, Essential Amino Acids. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing, Treasure Island (FL); 2022. PMID: 32496725. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32496725
[2] Mariotti, F., & Gardner, C. D. (2019). Dietary protein and amino acids in vegetarian diets—A review. Nutrients, 11(11), 2661. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112661
[3] Westerterp-Plantenga, M., Lemmens, S., & Westerterp, K. (2012). Dietary protein – its role in satiety, energetics, weight loss and health. British Journal of Nutrition, 108(S2), S105-S112. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114512002589