Protein combining on a plant based diet – is it needed?

Before we go any further, we need to talk about amino acids.

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What are amino acids?

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Amino acids are known as the building blocks of protein.  There are about 20 different amino acids and our super-smart body can even make some of them.  Nine of them however, the body can’t make, so we need to get them from food.  

These special 9 are known as ‘essential amino acids’.

Back to protein combining

There used to be the belief that people needed to have a specific combination of plant foods at each meal to make sure that the essential amino acids were available for the body.

We now know that just simply eating a variety of the plant foods across the day (as well as eating enough to maintain your body weight) will allow you to get the essential amino acids that you need.  

So tuck-on-in to some lentils, grains, nuts, seeds, soy products and vegetables.  

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And remember VARIETY is key.

(Take a look at our article on 'How to get enough protein on a plant based diet' for some ideas).

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