permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 11/6/2011 4:27 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
<...>

John:

Frances Moore Lappe in her book Diet For A Small Planet proposes
increasing one's protein intake from vegetarian meals through food 
combining-for-maximum-protein, i.e. combining several vegetarian sources
of protein instead of eating just one or two. This could involve 
combining grains, beans and nuts at a meal: rice with beans is well 
known. Tonight I combined rice with black beans and added almond butter
and turnip greens with hatcho miso paste. This worked out well.

I would assume that different vegetarian protein sources have varying
amino acid profiles such that when you combine several of them you end 
up with more complete protein, i.e. better and more nutritious. Is this 
true? How would you calculate the best food combinations for each meal
using typical amino acid analysis of all the different protein 
containing vegetarian foods? Are there charts or books available to make 
this easier, ones that describe the amino acid makeup of the most ideal 
vegetable protein? How much of each amino acid is needed for human 
nutrition and how are they balanced, i.e. what are proper ratios,
if any?

Do you have answers to this or pointers to online resources?

Thanks,

LL