Bioavailability stuff is pretty technical and Iâm not an expert, but hereâs the upshot according to me:
Bioavailability is sometimes slightly lower in plants but not enough to matter. For example, a recent review stated:
There is very little evidence at present regarding a marked difference in protein digestibility in humans. The more precise data collected so far in humans, assessing real (specific) oro-ileal nitrogen digestibility, has shown that the differences in the digestibility between plant and animal protein sources are only a few percent, contrary to historical findings in rats or determinations using less precise methods in humans. For soy protein isolate, pea protein flour or isolate, wheat flour and lupine flour, the figures were 89â92%, similar to those found for eggs (91%) or meat (90â94%), and slightly lower than those reported for milk protein (95%).
Additionally, combining multiple plant sources in one meal (e.g. soy and potato) often achieves bioavailability competitive with meat (I think this is one reason why many vegan protein powders combine multiple ingredients, e.g. rice & pea protein). So the generic vegan advice of âeat a variety of foods and supplement B12â has this covered.
In the rich world, we get way more protein than we need, so vegans are very unlikely to end up protein deficient due to bioavailability issues.
And if youâre an athlete or trying to bulk up, I think itâs generally advisable to err on the side of overshooting your protein intake targets, even if youâre eating meat. Slightly overshooting your protein target should more than compensate for any bioavailability gap.
Ah, today I learned! thanks for correcting that. For what itâs worth I was vegan for two years, and have been vegetarian for 6.
Do you happen to know about the bioavailability claims of animal versus plant protein?
Bioavailability stuff is pretty technical and Iâm not an expert, but hereâs the upshot according to me:
Bioavailability is sometimes slightly lower in plants but not enough to matter. For example, a recent review stated:
Additionally, combining multiple plant sources in one meal (e.g. soy and potato) often achieves bioavailability competitive with meat (I think this is one reason why many vegan protein powders combine multiple ingredients, e.g. rice & pea protein). So the generic vegan advice of âeat a variety of foods and supplement B12â has this covered.
In the rich world, we get way more protein than we need, so vegans are very unlikely to end up protein deficient due to bioavailability issues.
And if youâre an athlete or trying to bulk up, I think itâs generally advisable to err on the side of overshooting your protein intake targets, even if youâre eating meat. Slightly overshooting your protein target should more than compensate for any bioavailability gap.
We can also measure protein synthesis and muscle strength and mass directly instead of using bioavailability as a proxy, and such studies donât find downsides to plant protein. Germanyâs strongest man can confirm.