Hey everyone I shoot for about at least 1gram of protein per lb. of bodyweight.
Recently I’ve added in mixed beans (is there a certain type better than another?)
and I have chickpea’s etc.
Now I get most of my protein from eggs, chicken, fish (tuna, salmon, talpia), lean beef etc.
But the beans and chickpeas have quite a bit of protein (15grams)…do you guys counter that in to your total protein intake…or do you discount that…and juts count the calories and carbs it gives and that’s about it?
Sometimes I’m very strict and count EVERYTHING, but often I’m not and just count the protein from my complete protein sources like poultry, whey, eggs and beef. I meet my protein goals with that then I figure, all the extra protein I’m getting from my carb sources is a bonus.
that’s what I was thinking of doing…just forgetting about the protein from the beans and stuff…focus on the fish, eggs,. chicken, beef, protein shakes, milk etc.
the rest of the calories coming from protein in the beans…just count that into the calories.
just wanna make sure what’s the right thing to do here.
[quote]rasturai wrote:
that’s what I was thinking of doing…just forgetting about the protein from the beans and stuff…focus on the fish, eggs,. chicken, beef, protein shakes, milk etc.
the rest of the calories coming from protein in the beans…just count that into the calories.
just wanna make sure what’s the right thing to do here.[/quote]
Theres no right thing to do. Lots of ways “work”. It really comes down to what you feel is most maintainable for yourself. If you’re the type to count everything, go ahead. Others only count rough estimates from main sources and adjust their serving sizes depending on their progress. It doesn’t matter, honestly.
Set a caloric, protein and carb goal for yourself then hit it either precisely or roughly and see what happens. Then you adjust up or down. Its the only way to learn about yourself and how your own body reacts to dietary habits. I’ve done so many dietary experiments on myself I’m very confident in my decisions at this point. By this time next year, I’m sure I’ll be even more so. Experiment and see what happens.
the proteins in beans are incomplete. I think. So if you’re a vegan, worry about balancing them with other proteins. Whatever.
When I’m counting, I’m using a website (dailyplate/fitday whatever), so I count EVERYTHING by default. It’s actually the easiest way.
If I was using a homebrew counting method, I’d would do what’s easiest. If I’m just mentally guesstimating what I’m eating while ordering at a restaurant, I’d only count protein from “real” protein sources.
I don’t know why one would not count protein from legumes, grains, or vegetables. If you have a decent diet, you can accrue something like 50 grams of protein from these sources alone!
Also, you can count them as calories, but where would you assign them in terms of nutrients when designing a diet?
Worrying about incomplete proteins is inapplicable when you eat them WITH a complete protein. That’s an issue for vegetarians and people on very low-carb, low-calorie diets.
I’d probably count the protein, but you could go either way. Sure, they are incomplete, but it’s not like they are worthless. I was always under the assumption that the body keeps a varied amino pool available, and proteins get paired together as they are eaten, assimilated, or whatever.
It’s not like your body goes “oh shit you didn’t eat rice AND beans together, I have half worthless protein around now”. You would have to strictly eat one type of bean or legume for weeks/months on end with no other supplementation to create some kind of deficiency. I don’t think it matters if you have too much proline, methionine, or whatever other amino more than the others diet wise.
[quote]rasturai wrote:
I dunno…I guess cause they aren’t complete proteins. I actually never even thought about it until right now.
I mean you could probably get even more than 50 between breads, grains, etc etc.
That’s why I’m wondering…if I’m eating chickpeas, mixed beans, muesli etc.
Just count this in my total protein intake: Yay or nay? lol[/quote]
Yes. It’s protein, so you count is as protein. It can’t be counted as anything else. And I said, that issue of them being incomplete is really a non-issue because you’re eating it with complete proteins. That is an issue for those on low-calorie, low-carb diets and vegetarians.
[quote]Bonechiro wrote:
My non-scientific thoughts…
I’d probably count the protein, but you could go either way. Sure, they are incomplete, but it’s not like they are worthless. I was always under the assumption that the body keeps a varied amino pool available, and proteins get paired together as they are eaten, assimilated, or whatever.
It’s not like your body goes “oh shit you didn’t eat rice AND beans together, I have half worthless protein around now”. You would have to strictly eat one type of bean or legume for weeks/months on end with no other supplementation to create some kind of deficiency. I don’t think it matters if you have too much proline, methionine, or whatever other amino more than the others diet wise.[/quote]
You’re correct about the amino pool stuff.
However, you can’t go either way. What else can protein be considered in the makeup of a diet? Nothing.
Alright cool, sounds good fellas. And yeah I am eating the beans with tuna/chicken anyway…so it’s not like that extra protein won’t hurt anything obviosuly.
I don’t think I am going to count the proteins found in the bread I eat though, only because there’s only a few grams…and well I don’t think it matters much…but with the beans, chickpeas, all that have quite a bit…I’m definaetly going to count them all in now. It’s mostly these types of foods that have higher protein anyway.
[quote]EasyRhino wrote:
the proteins in beans are incomplete. I think. So if you’re a vegan, worry about balancing them with other proteins. Whatever.
When I’m counting, I’m using a website (dailyplate/fitday whatever), so I count EVERYTHING by default. It’s actually the easiest way.
If I was using a homebrew counting method, I’d would do what’s easiest. If I’m just mentally guesstimating what I’m eating while ordering at a restaurant, I’d only count protein from “real” protein sources.[/quote]
They are incomplete, but the aminos ‘find’ the matching ones in the blood stream after digestion.
You’re in a weird halfway point between a measurable quantitative breakdown (grams of various nutrients) and a more qualitative breakdown (food groups).
If you seriously want to get “1.2 g/pound…etc” thats a quantitative goal and you should basically count everything. It would be like not counting the fat in steak because its a “protein source” or in avocados because they’re a “fruit”.
Qualitative measures are not the most accurate because everything fits different categories. If your going to do this set a categorical goal. Make yourself a food pyramid (that doesn’t suck). Say I want 10 servings of meat, 5 servings of beans, 10 servings of alcohol, and 35 servings of sugary crap per day.
For a serious layout I would make a few different hypothetical meal plans that would give you your quantitative goals (like 240g protein, 200g carbs-50 of which from fiber, 100g of fat). Break down those meal plans into serving sizes of foods you normally eat and get averages. That way you don’t have to record every gram but there will be some logic to your servings.
For example: in order to get 240g protein, 200g carbs, 100g fat, I could eat anything where I have
a servings of cheese, b servings of grain based foods, x servings of beans, y servings of meat, z servings of fruits and veggies
There’s actually two issues going on here. First of all, you’re concerned that you have an incomplete protein and how to count that. There are two answers to that- as everyone else pointed out, if you’re eating a balanced diet, the proteins will combine and complete themselves in the digestion process. The second answer is that there are specific foods that compliment each other and form complete proteins. If you eat legumes with nuts, grains, or seeds throughout the day, you have yourself a complete protein.
For instance, almonds with lentils, or the famous rice with beans. It doesn’t matter whether or not you eat them together in one sitting, if you eat both of the foods at seperate times throughout the day, they’ll find each other and form a complete protein.
However, if you’re trying to get big, that isn’t your main concern. Your main concern is actually the biological availability of the protein. For instance, if you eat 10 grams of soy protein, your body will probably absorb/utilize around 4 grams. The rest is expelled. With whey or eggs, it will absorb over 7 grams of that 10 grams. When you eat incomplete protein sources, this number is closer to that of soy than with whey (obviously). So yes, you will get a complete protein, but it’s not an equal protein. There are many different ways you could use that knowledge. If it were me, I’d count the protein grams, but also make sure that I’m going over my daily allottment when I do.
