Did you know that mixing protein groups can increase acidity in the body?
Acidity in the body causes disbalances and may lead to more serious health problems.
Rule #1 Keep it simple
- Eat only one type of protein per meal.
- For each of your meals choose a protein from a different protein group.
Why?
In the digestive tract our bodies use enzymes to break down the ingested proteins into individual amino acids. These are absorbed through the intestinal wall, where they are reassembled into human proteins.
The critical factor for our metabolism is not determined by the overall quantity of proteins consumed, but rather by the spectrum of amino acids they contain.
The eight essential amino acids are particularly important as they cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore need to be ingested as food. The more a protein resembles human proteins, the higher its Biological Value.
This means, how much of a food protein can be converted into human protein.
The usability of a protein is actually decided by the amino acid which is present in the smallest quantity.
When different protein foods are combined, the Biological Value is determined by the amino acid whose overall proportion is lowest.
Above this level, all other unused amino acids will become waste products in the body which can lead to increased acidity.
The ideal amino acid ratio is found in egg yolk, in which 100% of the eight essential amino acids can be converted into human protein. Therefore, egg yolk has a Biological Value of 100.
In contrast, milk contains only 91% of the essential amino acid threonine. This means that only 91% of the other 7 essential amino acids can also be used, giving milk a Biological Value of 91.
Combining proteins is therefore not recommended as this can actually lower their overall Biological Value.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Next time you’re eating lunch or dinner make sure you’re only including one protein group.
Examples
Example #1 Dinner option YES
Salmon
Wild Rice
Broccoli
Example #2 Dinner option NO
Salmon
Wild Rice
Broccoli
Soy beans
Shiitake mushrooms
*Here we added another protein group (soy beans and shiitake mushrooms), this would mean three proteins in one meal, which will lower the biological value of protein and lead to more acidity in the body.
*YES, shiitake mushroom are considered a protein.