Consuming easy to digest protein: complete proteins, protein digestibility factors, and raw complete protein tips.

Easy to digest protein which is a complete protein source is the most efficient way to obtain your daily requirement of protein. 

Find out if you are consuming protein in an inefficient way which could prevent you from properly digesting protein.

Do you know how to properly digest protein and what's the best complete protein sources?

What is protein?

Protein is a macro-nutrient that we need an adequate amount of every day to sustain our health and energy needs.

In order to sustain your health, the protein that you consume will need to be broken down into individual amino acids which are absorbed and used by your cells to build other proteins.

These amino acids will also be used to build your DNA.

What are complete proteins?

Protein sources that contain all nine of the essential amino acids are called complete proteins.

Essential amino acids are amino acids that your body can not make and therefore, you must get them from your diet every day. 

Your individual requirements for amino acids will depend on your age group, pregnancy, and your health issues. 

Some people will be able to get by with only 9 of the essential amino acids.  And some will need all 10 of the essential amino acids in order to stay alive.

Arginine is considered an essential or non-essential amino acid depending on your age and health circumstances.

BTW, you can get amino acids from the destruction of protein in your body as well as from the protein sources that you consume.

It's better to consume a wide range of amino acids every day.

Many believe it's important for complete protein sources to come with some of the non-essential amino acids.

Easy to digest protein that come with the essential and non-essential amino acids will give you more bang for your buck!

Consuming easy to digest proteins that come with a wide range of amino acids will help you to build the proteins that your body needs to function every day.

Almost all animal foods and seafood will come with all of the essential amino acids and the non-essential amino acids.

On the other hand, very few plant foods come with all of the essential amino acids.

Complete protein sources that give you 25 grams of complete protein......

Bottom line:  it's more efficient to consume complete protein foods that come from animal foods and seafood rather than from plant foods.

Plant foods will have too many anti-nutrients that will have to be deactivated.  These anti-nutrients tend to get in the way of digesting adequate amounts of protein.

Protein digestibility: factors that affect your ability to digest protein.

Protein digestibility helps to determine a protein sources' ability to be digested. 

If it's an easy to digest protein, your body will be able to break down protein into amino acids with the help of enzymes and digestive juices.

I've also heard that it's the good bacteria that live in your gut that actually does the majority of your digestion.

Low protein foods from plants cause many issues.

Low protein foods are almost always protein sources from plant foods. 

In general, nuts, seeds, grains, beans, fruits and vegetables are considered low protein foods.

Many of these plant foods will not contain all of the essential amino acids that the human body needs in order to thrive.

Sometimes in order to get a complete protein meal from plant foods, people will combine incomplete protein foods together.

For example:  beans and a whole grain rice is one way to get a complete protein meal.

Surprisingly, green peas, wild rice, mushrooms, and avocado are considered complete protein sources.  Although, they are relatively low in protein.

Low protein foods...................grams of protein

Low protein foods usually come with anti-nutients that block protein digestion!

Low protein foods like grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes come with a lot of anti-nutrients that can block protein digestion if they are not deactivated.

Anti-nutrients like enzyme inhibitors, phytic acid, tannins, and oxalates can prevent enzymes from digesting proteins. 

These anti-nutrients will all need to be deactivated by soaking, sprouting, or fermenting.

Grains and legumes will also need to be cooked before you consume them, so they will be void of any enzymes.

Raw animal foods and seafood are the easiest to digest of the complete protein sources!

Did you know the way a food is prepared and processed will have a great impact on its ability to give you easy to digest proteins?

For example, raw milk contains bio-available protein that has not been altered and is much more digestible.

On the other hand, pasteurized milk will be greatly impacted by its ability to give your body digestible protein because its protein has been denatured and cooked.

Easy to digest proteins come with good bacteria and enzymes.

Nutrient dense raw milk comes with a good amount of "good bacteria" to aid digestion.

Enzymes will also play a major role with the digestion of protein as they help to break down peptide bonds to release amino acids. 

Easy to digest protein sources like raw milk also come with enzymes and cooked protein sources like pasteurized milk will be void of enzymes.

Cooked protein sources come with toxic by-products and low digestibility.

Cooked proteins will come with toxic by-products because of the cooking process. 

Heterocyclic amines, acrylamides and AGE's are just a few of very concerning toxic by-products. 

These toxic by-products do not really exist in raw easy to digest protein sources.

The bottom line:  if animal foods and seafood are cooked, at least 50% of the proteins will coagulate which makes that protein unusable for your body.

Improper food combining can impair protein digestibility.

Protein and Starches

Combining at the same meal foods that require both acid and alkaline digestive juices is probably responsible for 90% of digestive problems that will result in putrefied proteins.

The digestion of protein rich animal foods requires high levels of hydrochloric acid or an acidic environment. 

However, the digestion of carbohydrate rich foods requires a more alkaline environment.

Usually when you mix the two, they cancel each other out and both will not be properly digested. 

The starches will start to ferment and the animal proteins will putrefy!

What about sushi (rice and raw fish)?  Foods like sushi may digest as long as you have enough gut bacteria.

Protein and Fiber

Too much fiber can affect the digestion of protein. 

Whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruits can all be great sources of fiber.

Fiber can form a gel-like structure in your digestive tract that can shield nutrients and protein from being digested. 

High fiber foods also have a tendency to be more alkaline which will disrupt the digestion of acidic animal foods.

Minimize the amount of fiber that you consume with acidic protein sources.

Protein and Fat

High amounts of fat will inhibit the secretion of gastric juices needed to properly digest meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. 

Fat in moderation with protein rich sources will not be a problem.

This kind of flies in the face of the ketogenic diet where fat is very prevalent at every meal.

Makes me wonder if this is the reason why some people start to do a carnivore diet after being on a ketogenic diet for a while. 

Hmmmm...

Protein and Fruit

In general, fruits should not be consumed with acidic protein sources.

Combining an acidic food with an alkaline food like fruit tends to stop the digestion of both foods.

Fruit especially sweet fruit digests best when eaten alone on an empty stomach.

Raw complete protein sources: proper food combining tips.

In general, "raw" complete protein sources that contain nutrients like enzymes as well as good bacteria will be much easier to digest than cooked complete protein sources. 

Raw complete proteins will include raw meats, raw eggs, raw cheese, raw seafood, and raw milk.

Raw complete protein sources.

These raw complete protein sources will all require a more acidic type of environment to be properly digested.

Be aware that some of the food combining rules will differ from cooked complete protein sources because raw foods are known to contain good bacteria and digestive enzymes.

Fats that can be combined with raw complete protein sources.

Raw coconut cream, unsalted raw butter, and raw cow's cream are all compatible with raw meats, raw eggs, raw milk, raw poultry, raw seafood, and raw cheese.

Raw healthy fats.

Raw fats will be the most compatible with raw complete protein sources.

Cold-pressed oils like extra virgin olive oil that were not heated above 96 degrees F. are considered raw.

Cold-pressed oils are compatible with raw seafood, raw red meats, raw cheese, and raw poultry.

Fruits that can be combined with raw complete protein sources.

As a general rule, don't get too carried away with the consumption of fruit.  However, some fruits can be combined with raw complete protein sources.

Ripe avocados

Heirloom tomatoes

Low carb fruits such as avocado, peppers, and tomato can be eaten with raw complete proteins.  This can include raw cheese, raw seafood, and raw meats.

Sweet and more alkaline fruits such as bananas, papayas, dates, and berries can be eaten with raw unsalted cheese and occasionally with raw eggs and raw milk.

Shrimp ceviche with pineapple and avocado.

Acidic fruits such as lemon, lime, oranges, and pineapple can be eaten with poultry or fish in combination with an added raw fat

Raw fats such as raw cream, raw butter, raw coconut cream, and avocado.

I like to marinate wild caught shrimp in lemon juice to make a shrimp ceviche. 

Then top it with fresh slices of avocado and slices of fresh cut pineapple.  Lately, it's my favorite way to eat shrimp ceviche.

Acidic fruits can be eaten with red meats, but it's better to mix just a little acidic fruit with a raw fat to make a sauce for your meat.

Raw or unheated honey can be combined with raw complete protein sources!

You can eat raw honey with raw meats, raw eggs, raw cheese, raw milk, and raw seafood.

Raw or specifically "unheated honey" is a very special food that comes with digestive enzymes that aid with the digestion of any of the raw complete proteins.

I seem to prefer thicker raw unheated honey, but I will also buy the more liquid brands of honey when I need a more "pourable" honey.

Can you combine cooked starches with raw complete proteins?

You can if it agrees with you, but I wouldn't do it too often.  At least once a month, I'll eat sushi rice with raw fish or a poke bowl with white rice.

These types of meals don't seem to really cause digestive stress for me.  Although, I almost always end up consuming way too much salt which does not agree with me.

My raw meat sandwich.

More often I'll make a raw meat sandwich with half a slice of organic sourdough bread (not whole grain bread), nutrient dense raw butter, quality raw ground meat, and a little organic mustard (preferably raw mustard).

Warning: never combine a lot of raw vegetables with raw complete proteins! 

Very alkaline green juice.

Raw vegetables like a large raw leafy green salad, raw vegetable juices, or raw carrot sticks are too alkaline to be compatible with raw complete proteins that are acidic.

Unfortunately, that does include fermented vegetables as well.

However, a little bit of chopped raw onion, raw herbs or raw garlic seem to be okay.

Cooked complete proteins like steaks, steamed fish, and grilled chicken pair much better with leafy green salads and other non-starchy vegetables.

Raw eggs are the most digestible of the easy to digest proteins!

Eating a raw egg by itself "rocky style" will only take about 20 to 30 minutes to fully digest. 

It's probably the most digestible of all the raw complete protein sources.

For every large egg, you'll get about 6 grams of high quality complete protein.

I consume at least 2 raw eggs per day - usually to get my day started in the morning. 

They also make great pick-me-ups during the day.