Protein vs Amino Acids

So Im pretty sure this will make sense to all of you however I was just wondering if any of you used any specific formula for calculating your Amino Acid intake?

When building muscle we need Protein, however in our Vegan diets I know we can take shakes, fermented soy, tempeh etc….. however for example if I have 140lb of lbm and am looking to cut I would usually have made sure to take in 1g of protein per lbm so 140 grams of protein from any source including meat in the past; just to make sure I don't go catabolic and waste muscle tissue.

Now Im assuming because green veggies are loaded with amino acids…. if I were to eat a certain amount of grams of protein through a vegan diet like nuts, seeds, couple scoops of sun warrior…… would the amino acid profile in eating spinach, kale, seaweed, kelp, kale etc offset the lack of protein (by the technical definition) that I am not getting aka 140 grams.

ps I know beans are good as well however on a cut I try to avoid starchy carbs as much as possible because my body is sensitive.

Just looking to see if anyone else out there has had similar thoughts or has possibly even figured out an Amino Acid to Protein ratio to figure out how many AA it takes to make 1G of Protein?

25. Started Raw Veganism @ 22. Long story short. Am overly obsessed with being a perfectionist. Went back to eating meat for 3 years due to ease of knowledge in regular dieting. Was eating chicken for the quintillionth time when it hit me like a brick. This is F@CKED UP! Went back and learned about the health benefits of being Vegan and the INSANE detriments of a animal protein diet. Am looking for support in creating a well balanced Raw Vegan diet that excludes all meat, diary, soy, cheese and fish.

Glad you made the switch back to the plant-based lifestyle!

Not sure I have a good answer for you. A variety of plants, fruits, grains, nuts, beans should be covering all your bases. Quinoa for example has complete amino profile. I think you mostly need to deprogram your thinking about all macros, all the time and trust in the foods. A caloric sufficient diet from a variety of sources should more than cover your nutritional needs. Though do some reading and if you hit a plateau or start to regress in your training (strength, size, weight, etc.) then some tweaks are needed. The magic of the whole foods is that the sum is greater than the parts. Let the nutrients work together, not in isolation.

in general, we're inundated with marketing and mis-information. Walk the grocery store and notice the latest push for PROTEIN in pretty much every food -- you'd think we had a protein deficiency epidemic in the USA. More like most of us are overloading on it. Guess where the extra protein goes if we get too much and don't filter/pee it out -- body STORES it.

Glad you made the switch back to the plant-based lifestyle!

 

Not sure I have a good answer for you. A variety of plants, fruits, grains, nuts, beans should be covering all your bases. Quinoa for example has complete amino profile. I think you mostly need to deprogram your thinking about all macros, all the time and trust in the foods. A caloric sufficient diet from a variety of sources should more than cover your nutritional needs. Though do some reading and if you hit a plateau or start to regress in your training (strength, size, weight, etc.) then some tweaks are needed. The magic of the whole foods is that the sum is greater than the parts. Let the nutrients work together, not in isolation.

 

in general, we're inundated with marketing and mis-information. Walk the grocery store and notice the latest push for PROTEIN in pretty much every food -- you'd think we had a protein deficiency epidemic in the USA. More like most of us are overloading on it. Guess where the extra protein goes if we get too much and don't filter/pee it out -- body STORES it.

Great post that summarises most of what I would have replied with

I think you can sometimes end up over-thinking things, I know I have been guilty of that in the past. Main priorities would be a consistent high quality, varied and colourful diet with plenty of raw and organic wholefoods. Protein/carbs/fat are all important in their own right but I tend to now be of the opinion that making sure we get a high protein intake isn't the be-all-and-end-all; in fact I dropped my protein shakes a while back and noticed no difference in terms of muscularity or recovery & adaptation from training.

All the best with everything MF.