Plant Vs Animal Protein

The first difference between them is their amino acid profiles. All animal-based foods like:

• Eggs
• Whey
• Other dairy foods – milk/curd
• Cheese/paneer
• Chicken
• Fish etc.

are complete proteins, whereas most plant-based foods, except for the soya family (chunks, tofu, tempeh), including:

• Lentils
• beans
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Grains
• Fruits
• Vegetables etc.

are incomplete proteins, however, incomplete proteins isn’t a big problem, this can be easily sorted by maintaining variety in diet. But, there are two main issues with plant foods.

The first is their protein availability, which means the percentage of total protein in a food that the body can use. In simple terms, if a food has 20g protein, availability refers to percentage of this total protein that is actually absorbed & used by the body.

Animal sources are around 80% or more digestible, but plant foods are typically around 50-60%. Soya may be higher than this, and second, apart from soya (chunks, tofu, tempeh) and seitan (vital wheat gluten), most plant foods are not lean sources of protein. A lean protein source provides more protein for fewer calories.

So someone trying to meet their protein needs from these sources may require consuming a significant number of calories too.

So, my point is that if you want to fulfill your protein requirements only from plant foods, consider incorporating soy or seitan, else opt for a plant protein blend. However, if you are a vegetarian, it might be a bit easier by including dairy too. 

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