Beans are not a complete protein!?!?! WHAT??

 My doctor mother in law was asking me on the phone just now if I was getting more protein and I was telling her proudly I was getting lots of beans in and therefore lots of protein. She told me that beans are not a complete protein so we don't absorp the protein from them without mixing them with some other protein. I didn't realize this! Maybe I am slow or something and didn't read all I thought I was about protein but it is good to know.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Whats-Complete-Protein-Inquiring-Veg etarians-Want-Know-165298

I love beans! They are easy to eat after surgery.  I lost my first 50 lbs eating beans.  They made me feel full and I could eat more of them since it's like a slider food.

never heard this.  I was told to eat refried beans during pureed stage.  I ate vegetarian chili and chili with chicen for a long time

interesting!  Found this site:


http://www.bodyforlife2.com/incompletprotein.htm

 Since I always put cheese on my refired beans...it appears I'm all good on making them a complete protein.
 

Ok, nobody panic!  Just because a non-animal based protein does not have ALL of the 9 essential amino acids does NOT automatically mean that you are absorbing NONE of the protein from it.  It partly depends on WHICH amino acids are missing, how long since your last meal of complete protein (one of the many arguments in FAVOR of eating smaller, more frequent meals) since some of the amino acids from a previous meal may still be available to combine with the incomplete protein... depending on what is missing, you could absorb MOST of it, only SOME of it, or almost NONE of it.

So, yes, you are always better in terms of protein absorption to combine a plant-based protein with an animal based one (even just a small amount) to ensure the HIGHEST bioavailability of the proteins. SO.... just add a small amount of cheese and LF sour cream or plain Greek yougurt to those FF refried beans OR follow up your meal (after 30 minutes, of course!) with a half glass of milk.

Lora

I was a vegan for a year and had never heard of this , all of my protien was from beans and soy. I am excited to discuss this with my vegan friend when she comes home from college this summer.
I was considering going back to being a vegan in a few months but I may have to reconsider if this is true considering the malabsorption problem.

This is not new science.  I knew it 35 yrs ago when I was a vegetarian and pregnant with my first child.  I started eating meat again because balancing my protein was too complicated for pregnancy.  My plan has always called beans, pureed or not, carbs, not protein because of that.  Add some cheese or some greek yogurt and you are good to go.
Beans have great fiber and minerals.  They are good for you, just need to get some dairy in too.

accordin to my Nut. you can add Nuts/ seeds such as caraway seeds to ur beans to complement the protien. 
No ur not slow.. we are not all educated w/ the proper information. I have to do alot of google searches to find out information.

Good Luck
Janice

Be warned, though, that apparently peanuts are different critters than other nuts and don;t help much in the whole "combining proteins" scheme.  (No, I don't know why... since I'm a meat and dairy girl, and don;t like peanuts, I never bothered to ask or research it.)

Lora

 Beans become complete proteins when combined with grains. I eat mine with whole grain crackers, low carb whole grain tortillas, whole grain bread (sandwich thins), and low carb whole grain pasta. I am a vegetarian. (Please see my profile for ideas of how to have a complete protein with beans).