Steve Pope wrote:

> It should be relatively easy to determine if a particular
> protein-complementary diet is resulting in proper protein
> syntheis (say, by measuring blood albumin levels) so I doubt that
> the answer to this question is unknown to science.


The other important point (and again, I'm going by foggy memory) is that
huge amounts of protein aren't necessary anyway. All the information
about nutrition available now gives people the idea that the only
healthy diet is one with exact amounts of carbs, proteins and fats,
measured down to the milligram, and any deviation will give the dieter
outrageous diseases. In truth, people need adequate calories, and they
do need carbs, proteins and fats (and vitamins, minerals, fiber and
water), but the exact amounts of which percentage of calories come from
each isn't crucial. A meat centered diet provides lots of protein so
when someone says that they're interested in a vegetarian diet or a
near-vegetarian diet, the usual response is, "but how will you get
enough protein?" Truth is, if the vegetarian is getting adequate
calories and some reasonable variety, they're probably getting enough
protein anyway, without figuring it out to the nth degree. (There are
exceptions: Diabetics, the elderly, people who are sick, they might
need to watch their diets pretty carefully.)


--Lia