Hope's Edge_ The Next Diet for a Small Planet - Frances Moore Lappe [147]
Just because a food—such as rice or carrots, for example—does not qualify on this list does not mean that it is not a good food and should not be eaten. Many are nutritious and should be eaten with food containing a higher percentage of protein-calories.
The following list demonstrates that almost all plant foods qualify as good protein sources, and many are exceptionally strong:
Percent of Calories from Protein
Appendix D. Protein Tables and Tips for Complementing Proteins
The tables in this appendix supply the raw material for your more complete understanding of the whys and hows of combining proteins in order to increase their usability.
The first two columns in the protein tables tell you what percent of your daily protein need is met by an average serving of a given food. The items are ranked in decreasing order according to the percent of their contribution to your daily protein requirement, both within each food category and by food category.* To fulfill your protein allowance, these percentages must add up to 100 each day.
The last three columns of the tables show you the basis on which I arrived at these percentages: the total grams of protein have been reduced by the NPU score of the food in order to arrive at the grams of protein your body can use. This amount of usable protein I then divided by the daily protein allowance to get the percent of the daily protein allowance that an average serving fills. Simple enough.
To remind you of the importance of adjusting for protein usability, let me give you a graphic example. If, for instance, we considered that eating ½ ounce of egg protein was the same as eating ½ ounce of peanut protein, we would be greatly mistaken. The amino acid pattern of the egg protein (NPU of 94) is one that the body can use almost completely; but the body can only use half of the peanut protein (NPU of 43), because its amino acids deviate considerably from the body’s one utilizable pattern. So if you eat ½ ounce each of egg and peanut protein, you get twice as much protein from the egg as from the peanut. The percentages shown in the charts have been calculated to correct for these differences in the availability of protein to your body.
The only difficulty in adjusting for differences in protein usability is that research to determine the NPU scores of food proteins is still rudimentary. Many plant foods have not been tested, and the NPU scores that we do “know” are often based on a limited number of experiments. We can hope that this research will progress. In the meantime, even with rough estimates of protein quality, we are on better ground than if our calculations were based on total protein, knowing full well that 5 to 70 percent of this total is not usable by the body.
The percentages in the first two columns apply to the average American adult—a 154-pound male and a 128-pound female. If you are not quite so average, use the following guideline for determining the appropriate protein intake for your body weight.
For ages 15 to 18, add 10 to the percentage total given for your weight in Table I.
For children (either sex), use the second column on each protein table that follows. If a child, aged 1–3, with an approximate weight of 28 pounds, is getting enough protein, the percentages should add up to 50 percent for the day. For ages 4–6, weight approximately 44 pounds, percentages should add up to 65 percent. And for ages 7–10, weight approximately 66 pounds, percentages should add up to 78 percent.
Add up your protein intake for a few days to see whether or not you are meeting your protein allowance. If you’re not, use the tables to figure out ways to increase your intake and let it become a habit!
TABLE I. ARE YOU GETTING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF PROTEIN FOR YOUR BODY?