When is "Protein" NOT Protein?

In this video Peter Ballerstedt, PhD identifies significant misunderstandings of protein nutrition in human diets and how these errors misinform current understandings regarding healthy diets, sustainable food and agriculture systems, and environmental footprints.

“Protein” values reported on food labels and in tables are NOT true protein. As such, they are inappropriate for human nutrition.

Humans require specific amino acids, not “protein.” Adequate amounts of indispensable amino acids (IAA) are essential for proper development and metabolic health, but the presence of IAA in foods does not mean they’ll be absorbed. In this video, you’ll learn that processing can effect the digestibility of IAA and inadequate levels of IAAs are a global concern.

Popular nutritional advice fails to provide sufficient information in the diets of pregnant and lactating women, infants, children and seniors, an the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein is a minimum not a target.

Furthermore, protein intake recommendations are based on “High-Quality” or “Reference” proteins, but what we often don’t hear is that protein from animal source foods (ASF) are defined as these High-Quality or Reference proteins.

For those who argue that the global diet should be “plant-based,” would be fascinated to learn that humanity’s dietary protein source is already “plant-based!”

Plant source foods (PSF) are more variable in their nutrition content than ASF, but are no substitute for ASF.

Lastly, you’ll learn of inaccurate comparisons of “protein” yield incorrect estimates of environmental footprints and must be corrected before drawing conclusions.

In conclusion, the complexity of IAA mixed meal compliments are a lot for the average consumer to mentally digest (pun intended). Even if the IAA content of these foods were listed on the ingredient label as the FAO (2013) recommended, this would not necessarily be helpful to consumers attempting to create a mixed meal balanced in IAA requirements because food labels do not account for the digestibility of the protein. Further, plant proteins offer an even greater level of complexity due to the anti-nutritional factors that are naturally present. Consequently, obtaining a protein balance to meet human amino acid requirements in mixed meals is much simpler by utilizing muscle foods compared to plant-based sources of protein.