Grains & Essential Amino Acids

*The human body requires 8 essential amino acids to be digested from the foods we eat in order to replenish and build body tissue.* Only animal products contain high quantities of all 8 amino acids so they are considered a complete protein. Many vegetable foods such as grains contain substantial amounts of protein but they are incomplete, meaning they usually contain 7 of the 8 amino acids in high amounts and 1 in relatively low amounts. This is why vegetarian diets have go-to grain and legume combinations such as rice and beans in Latino cuisines, rice and lentils in East Indian cuisines, wheat or pasta and beans in Italian cuisine, corn and lima beans, or succotash, in native North American diets. If each individual ingredient is low in 1 of the 8 amino acids, when combined they offset each other to produce a complete protein meal.

Note: While many grains are high in protein, most are deficient in lysine (one of the essential amino acids). The three exceptions are *quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat* which contain all 8 essential amino acids.