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From: sra@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Vegetarians
Message-ID: <1103@oddjob.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 4-Jan-86 22:00:33 EST
Article-I.D.: oddjob.1103
Posted: Sat Jan  4 22:00:33 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 5-Jan-86 05:47:21 EST
References: <416@gcc-milo.ARPA>
Reply-To: sra@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Organization: University of Chicago, Department of Physics
Lines: 37
Summary: 

In article <416@gcc-milo.ARPA> lip@gcc-milo.UUCP (Seth Lipkin) writes:
>In article <328@uwai.UUCP> honavar@uwai.UUCP (Vasant Honavar) writes:
>>    	Information from USDA's economic research service shows that we get
>>    	1 pound of beef for 16 pounds of grain.
>
>Only half true.  The major portion of the cow (or bull) comes NOT from the
>animal's being fed grain, but from its grazing of grasses.
>A much smaller portion (the "fattening") DOES come from grain.
>(Yes, I'm sure there are some counterexamples of beef cattle
>that are fed grain from birth [veal?], but these aren't the norm).

I have read that this is the way it used to be, but is no longer true
because range cattle produce much tougher beef than feed-lot cattle,
and this is not acceptable to the American palate.

>>    	Of the 22 amino acids required by the body,
>>    	all but 8 can be synthesized within the human body. The rest can be
>>    	gotten in adequate quantities from beans, nuts and dairy products.
>
>A protein which requires all
>8 of these amino acids will not be synthesized by the body unless ALL of these 
>8 amino acids are present together.  Meat and milk products provide "complete" 
>protein (all 8 necessary amino acids), as do (I believe) most or all nuts.

Nuts are not complete; they have an amino acid makeup which is similar
to that of grains.  The general rule is that one needs to combine grains
with beans to get a "complete" protein.  This combination is traditional
in many cultures around the world:  tortillas and frijoles in Mexico,
rice and dal in India, rice and soy in China, etc.  Grains and beans
should be the basis of any vegetarian diet.

BTW, eggs are considered to be the best single source of "complete"
protein.
-- 

					Scott Anderson
					ihnp4!oddjob!kaos!sra