Protein plays an important and irreplaceable role in the human body. Amino acids are the basic units that make up protein. The types and content of amino acids in various foods are different. If the combination is reasonable, the amino acids in protein can achieve complementary balance, improving the nutritional value of food, and can achieve twice the result with half the effort. The nutritional value of protein is expressed as "biological value". The higher the biological value, the higher the nutritional value. Soy protein is high in lysine and slightly low in methionine, making it an ideal complementary food for cereal protein in terms of amino acids.
Wheat + Soybean: When consumed separately, the biological values of the protein in soybean and wheat foods are 64 and 67, respectively. This means that if you consume 100g of soy protein, only 64g can be absorbed by the body. If these two types of food are consumed in a 33% and 67% mixture, the biological value of the protein can be increased to 77, surpassing that of beef (biological value 76). Why? Because the protein in wheat foods is low in lysine and high in methionine, while the protein in soybeans is low in methionine and high in lysine.
Corn + Soybean + Wheat: When corn, soybeans, and wheat are consumed in a 40%, 20%, and 40% mixture, the biological value of the protein can be increased to 70. The protein in corn is low in lysine and tryptophan but rich in methionine; the protein in whole wheat flour is low in lysine and relatively rich in methionine; while the protein in soy foods is low in methionine but high in lysine and tryptophan. Consuming these three foods together helps to improve the nutritional value of the protein.
Wheat + Millet + Beef + Soybean: When consumed separately, the biological values of the protein in wheat, millet, beef, and soybean foods are 67, 57, 69, and 64, respectively. If consumed in a mixture of 39%, 13%, 26%, and 22%, the biological value of the protein can be increased to 89. This is because wheat protein is low in lysine; millet lacks lysine but is rich in methionine and tryptophan; beef protein is rich in lysine and low in methionine; and soy protein is low in methionine but high in lysine and tryptophan. These foods have excellent complementarity, and when eaten together, the nutritional value of the protein surpasses that of milk.
Some small tips for daily dietary搭配:
1. The farther apart the food species, the better, such as a combination of meat and vegetables.
2. The richer the variety of foods in the combination, the better.
3. Have a little bit of each food and consume them at the same time. Because after a single amino acid is absorbed into the body, it generally stays in the blood for about 4 hours before reaching various tissues and organs to synthesize protein into those tissues and organs. Different amino acids must arrive at the same time to exert a complementary effect.