Complete protien: truth, or fiction?

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

So should I feel good about myself eating a nice salad with a handfull or two of nuts, or is it an incomplete meal? Theoretically speaking, could you meet your protein needs eating just nuts, beans and seeds, like paleo without the meat?

[Shawn Hansen]

First off read the Paleo Diet book. Its an easy read and the information gleaned from within is priceless.

Secondly, if youd read the book youd know that you cant eat beans on a Paleo Diet....hence why i brought up #1 .

Youll also learn that your choices of nuts should be done carefully as certain foods we think are nuts are in fact not. Peanuts and cashews are not nuts, as an example....so stay away from them. Almonds/Walnuts/Pecans/Brazilnuts/Filberts and many others are safe.

Myself i always try to get a little lean animal protein in with a meal. Even if its just a few eggs for breakfast. A salad with greens and some nuts and seeds may have the proper balance and types of foods, but my guess is its going to be severely lacking in caloric density unless you cover the whole thing with nuts.

IMO, the best way to use nuts on a paleo diet is as a snack between meals, because they are calorie dense sources of fat/protein. They will keep hunger away between meals so that you dont cheat and give into cravings.

-Shawn

[Cassie Savage]

There are people out there who get their protein solely from nuts & seeds and veggies. I don't know how they manage this, but they do. So yes you could (especially if you included beans) but you'd have to be very careful.

[Greg Privitera]

For most people that'd be way too much food, and especially carbs. There are additional benefits to eating animal protein that don't always come across on paper.

Like really heavy deadlifts.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Kevin Shaughnessy

So should I feel good about myself eating a nice salad with a handfull or two of nuts, or is it an incomplete meal? Theoretically speaking, could you meet your protein needs eating just nuts, beans and seeds, like paleo without the meat?

As long as your calorie intake is adequate almost any reasonably varied diet, including a strict vegan diet, will provide all the protein you need.

[Jeffrey White]

FWIW, I made the best athletic and strength gains in my life as a vegetarian.

I chalk this up to the idea that most of our food, even meat is of poor quality and that eating fresh, prepared by me (non processed) food, even as a vegetarian diet was so much more nutrient based and of such higher quality that even just the little bit of protein I had was HIGHER QUALITY and therefore much better and useful than a lot of low quality.

While I am no longer as strict, most of my diet is plant-based and I may go up to several weeks without eating meat. This is because outside of fish, I will only buy beef from a local seller in the summertime (therefore I can vouch for the quality), I buy local bacon as well. All grassfed and hormone free.

One thing that I believe that gets lost on here in the sea of Paleo and Xone threads is that a true Hunter-Gatherer diet probably consisted of LONG periods of little to no meat. Remember we are Omnivores and not carnivores. We are basically scavengers and meant to survive and basically whatever is available. Therefore it makes perfect sense to survive on just "incomplete" protein, but little to no protein.

[Troy Becker]

Generally speaking, you need the face and the soul to get good protein (excepting eggs and milk).

That said, check out this guy: www.mikemahler.com (WFS), he is apparently a strict vegan who doesn't eat anything that casts a shadow, or some craziness, and he's got more muscles than me and my dogs put together.

[Greg Privitera]

Studies are important, but what i call "med-school-brain" is dangerous and too short-sighted. There are too many conflicting studies (almost every study is flawed or too small in some way). Studies specifically about building a lot of muscle while eating lower protein do NOT address building muscle.

And Single instance anecdotes are always interesting to read, but I'd rather look to the largest population of strongest/most muscular people.

And unless someone posts otherwise, i'm going to assume they want to be as good as possible at CrossFit, which means that they want to reach their maximum LBM possible through CrossFit style training and diet.

I guess I'm looking to thrive and not just survive.

[Emily Maisannes]

The problem with attempting to get all your protein requirements from nuts is that it is very easy to way overdo it on fat while trying to get in all the protein. If you are genetically gifted and can use the excess calories instead of storing them, then you could do this easily. Even in you include legumes (not paleo), there is so much starch compared to protein that it would be difficult to get enough protein without way overdoing the starch.