It is undeniable that protein is one of the most important things for your body. Your body does not produce protein naturally and it does not store it, yet 20% of the human body is composed of protein. Protein’s importance in your life, cannot be understated. Yet, not all protein is made equally. The world of protein is actually way more complex than you might have been led to believe. A major aspect to consider when judging protein is its source. It turns out where your protein comes from is as important as eating protein. Specifically, it actually does make a difference whether you are consuming animal or plant based protein. Another way to say this is, protein from vegan sources is different than protein from animal sources.
The Difference Between Plant Based and Animal Based Protein
The biggest and most important difference between the two different types of protein is their amino acid content. When you eat protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids. Your body uses amino acids and proteins for just about every single metabolic process. But different proteins contain different types of amino acids. Animal proteins actually tend to have the best balance of all the amino acids while some plant-based proteins are missing on some particular amino acids.
There are around 20 different amino acids your body uses to build proteins. They can be either essential or non-essential. Your body can actually produce the non-essential amino acids by itself, but it has to get the essential ones from outside sources.
On paper, animal based protein choices are more complete for your body, but they come with their own series of problems as well, like they have more saturated fat and a higher chance to raise your cholesterol, etc. But if you only eat plant based protein, you may be missing some essential amino acids and have to take protein supplements. One protein source isn’t necessarily healthier than the other, they are just different.
