different protein absorption rates for different foods?

shutterbugjunkie
on 7/9/11 9:14 am
RNY on 02/04/11 with
Hi, all! I was at a health food store the other day to purchase more hemp hearts (which I LOVE!) The salesman was telling me that our bodies don't absorb the full amount of protein in the hemp hearts and some other foods. I was in a hurry and didn't hear his full explanation. I did hear him say that our bodies absorb different amounts of protein from different foods. (So, when the serving of hemp hearts states it contains 10 grams of protein, our bodies don't absorb the full 10 grams, but maybe only half of that.) He said that whey protein has the highest absorption rate. Can anyone shed any light on this? I want to make sure that I'm eating the right kinds of food so that my body's absorbing the proper amount of protein! Thanks for your help!

  SW/258.5 Surgery Weight/249 CW/149.5 GW/140
  
Price S.
on 7/9/11 9:24 am - Mills River, NC
I can't tell you which food we absorb how much but I do know that we absorb whey isolate better than anything else.  That is why early out, we were to have whey isolate protein, not all the other stuff.

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Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 7/9/11 9:31 am - OH
Yes, there is a difference in both the absortion rate AND the amount absorbed.

Both have to do with the amino acid content of the food.   As far as the AMOUNT absorbed, which is specifically what you asked about, some protein sources like those horrid "shots"/"bullets" do not have ALL of the amino acids necessary to absorb the protein AT ALL (since they are not a complete protein, they are completely useless, unless -- possibly -- combined with a complete protein with sufficient amino acid content). Different proteins have different levels of bio-availability to the human body.  One of the measures of this is the FDA's PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acids Score) score.  The higher the score, the better the absorption of the protein.   Milk, egg whites, and whey have a perfect score, whereas muscle proteins are just a bit lower and then veggies and fruits have even lower scores.

There is also a differecne in the RATE of absorbtion -- how fast the protein is absorbed -- from one food to another.  This is also due to the difference in the amino acid profiles of the food and the fact that different amiono acids are absorbed at different rates.  Egg whites, for example, are absorbed at a very slow rate (about 1.5g per hour) and whey protein isolate (which is what is most recommended for our protein supplements) is absorbed at about 8g per hour.

Hope that helps.  (I am not familiar with hemp hearts, so have no idea what the absorption amount or rate would be.)

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

shutterbugjunkie
on 7/9/11 9:41 am
RNY on 02/04/11 with
Great! Thank you so much, Lora! Do you happen to know if there's a list somewhere of the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acids Score sheet? I did a quick search on the FDA's website, but couldn't find what I'm looking for.

I really do appreciate all of the help you give all of us on this site. You sure do seem to know your stuff!
  SW/258.5 Surgery Weight/249 CW/149.5 GW/140
  
Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 7/9/11 9:56 am - OH
All I have ever seen are very abbreviated versions.... nothing anywhere near complete.... but you can look at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCAAS

www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/what-are-good-sources-of -protein-digestibility.html


Those are the two that I had bookmarked.  The largest chart I saw was in a medical study and, unfortunately, I no longer have access to the pay site for the journal.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

shutterbugjunkie
on 7/9/11 9:47 am
RNY on 02/04/11 with

Aha! I found a chart on Bariatric Advantage's website. Here's the link (for anyone else who might be interested in it.) http://www.bariatricadvantage.com/page/help?cat_id=15

Just wondering now......is this absorption rate & the amount absorbed something that most nuts and/or surgeons discuss with the patients? This was never brought up by either of mine, but it's VERY IMPORTANT information to know!

  SW/258.5 Surgery Weight/249 CW/149.5 GW/140
  
Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 7/9/11 9:59 am - OH
My NUT was completely useless, and my guess is that a lot of NUTs don't know much about it or they wouldn't be recommending those useless damn "bullets"/"shots"!

My surgeon gave us a list of recommended protein sources, but never provided any explanation of WHY.  (Most of her patients don't CARE why, I am sure.)

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

shutterbugjunkie
on 7/9/11 10:13 am
RNY on 02/04/11 with
So then for our protein consumption, is our daily goal based on the total protein value of each food item we eat, or is it based on the value our body actually absorbs? Maybe I'm thinking too much into this, but I definitely want to make sure that I'm getting the CORRECT amount of protein in each day!
Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 7/9/11 11:29 am - OH
I do not know anyone who attempts to calculate the actual absorption of protein since 1) the vast majority of your protein will likely come from the protein sources that are absorbed quite well (dairy, meat, poultry, fish, etc.), and 2) most people get in much more than the minimum amount of protein needed anyway, so it's not a big deal if not 100% of it is actually absorbed (we lose SOME of the protein content because of our bypass as well, BTW).

Itr's great to be informed, but, yeah... I think you are over-thinking things, LOL.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

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