Question about seitan protein

[tracync]

Seitan has been my meat alternative, however i have a question about how much protein is in it. I worked out that my finished product has roughly 0.41 grams of protein per gram, which seems to be much higher then what other online sources are claiming, however I dont know if i made a mistake in my working out. I begun with 250 grams of VWG, which had 87.5 grams of protein per 100 grams, and after seasoning and simmering my seitan it grew to 530 grams, so i did 250 x 0.875 to get the total protein amount, then 218.75 / 530 which gave me the number 0.41. Have i done something wrong?

 

[lwesterfield]

@tracync Sounds right to me. Be sure to diversify your foods. But enjoy it!

 

[sdegrad]

@tracync To piggy back off this question and the complete-ness of proteins, is it ok to be getting the majority of your protein from another single source, ie lentils?

 

[patternrg]

@sdegrad You should always be mixing protein sources, really without exception. Lentils are notably low in methionine and cystine, so you want to pair them with a grain like wheat or rice which are higher in those. There are lots of other things that are also high in those as well, rice and wheat are just the two most common/obvious ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acids_in_plant_food

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/lentils

 

[sdegrad]

@patternrg Perfect, thank you!

 

[mrallison19]

@sdegrad Mmmm it depends on the ratios of essential amino acids in the food, in whole foods there are all 9, in varying proportions, so one of them will be a limiting reagent based on what your body needs/can use. In general it is a good idea to widely vary your diet, but this has nothing to do with protien, rather mental health (most people would go crazy eating the same thing for months at a time) and getting enough of the right vitamins and other nutrients. Protien is a very small section on the list of things we need to be healthy...

 

[basik0981]

@tracync No, you haven't done anything wrong calculating the protein per gram of seitan. However, VWG is not a complete protein and should not be your primary protein source.

Edit: it's disheartening to see people downvoting my comment based on the person below me who said I was wrong without offering any rationale or evidence.

Vegans and progressives are just as vulnerable as antivax conservatives when it comes to confirmation bias and misinformation.

I'll post some simple biochemistry links below. Please don't take medical or nutritional advice from random redditors.

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshe...emistry)/Chemical_Reactions/Limiting_Reagents

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002222.htm

https://www.researchgate.net/public...cially_available_plant-based_protein_isolates

Essential amino acids can not be synthesized or converted from one to another by the human body. If the ratio of amino acids in your diet is significantly different from the ratio of amino acids used by your body, then whichever amino acid you have the least of will become a limiting reagent and will limit the amount of protein your body is able to actually use.

 

[mdkalns]

@basik0981 Yes you are right. To get a "complete" protein or a full set of amino acids, you should combine proteins from grains (Seitan is grain) and legumes (tofu, hummus, beans, lentils) throughout the day. It does not need to be on one plate, but I usually try to mix them where I can.

Nuts can also be a good addition to push the biological value even higher.

 

[jlindgaard]

@basik0981 It has all the essential amino acids, it is just relatively low in lysine. "Complete Protein" and "complementary foods" are substantially overstated/exaggerated issues in non starvation scenarios.

 

[dawn16]

@jlindgaard Source?

Not trying to discredit, just always on the prowl for good info.

 

[basik0981]

@jlindgaard For a sedentary person, I agree that it's normally not an issue. For athletes trying to optimize their diet and protein intake, it makes a significant difference. If someone gets all of their protein from VWG, lysine becomes a limited reagent during protein synthesis and limits the amount of protein your body is able to use.

All of this is very established biochemistry.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure...-phenylalanine-d-and-threonine_fig4_327325780

 

[jlindgaard]

@basik0981 You aren't factually wrong, I didn't downvote you myself. I even said seitan is relatively low in lysine in my comment. Someone who is eating only wheat for all of their potein would be getting lower usable protein than the "number on the tin", as you stated, relative to something like soy. I just commented to clarify that this is not something OP nor most people likely need to worry about, and focusing on the "completeness" of protein is not terribly important in non-starvation scenarios. There are no "missing" essential amino acids in VWG per your posted study, but lysine is relatively low in wheat/VWG.

We also have different starting assumptions I think. My assumption is that OP is not an elite/hardcore athlete and my bias is not to scare them from what they seem to like to eat as a meat replacement. I also assume they eat at least a few servings of otherwise relatively healthy foods, although even filling the other 1600 calories (assuming 2000 cal diet) with McDonalds french fries would still have enough lysine to hit RDA (barely).

I admit my bias is against the use of "complete protein" as a phrase that means "less than the the ideal protein profile if most of your calories come from this food alone". So it comes down to semantics and intent.

I don't think you have ill intent, and I don't think you are factually wrong.

If you said something like "Depending on your diet otherwise, if you are trying to hit a high protein macro for your strength training regimine, you may want to throw in some higher lysine foods", I probably wouldn't have commented on it.

 

[personalizedbook]

@basik0981 I just buy lysine powder and mix it with my wheat gluten powder, 100g gluten with 4g lysine gets you a balanced profile.

 

[patternrg]

@basik0981 You should pretty much always mix protein sources. Getting 100% of your protein from soy, oats, beans, etc is just as much of an issue, this isn't unique to wheat. It can definitely be your majority source of protein, but it shouldn't be your only source, just like literally everything else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acids_in_plant_food

 

[hihippy]

@basik0981 I’m new to the whole essential amino acids schtick. What would be the best food source to pair with seitan to compliment is so you get a complete profile?

 

[novilina]

@tracync Its not entirely digestible, google "PDCAA"