Protein digestion and absorption: food combining

Question
Being a Greek, I enjoy combining baked beans with a chunk of feta cheese. Is it ok in terms of protein absorbtion?

Thank you

Answer
Hi Apostolos,

Proteins are utilized by the body with an amazing effectiveness estimated to be above 90 percents. As to the foods and their combinations, here we should talk about digestion rather than absorption.

Proteins are not absorbed in the intestines, they are first digested with the help of digestive enzymes that split the protein molecules into smaller molecules peptides and even smaller ones, amino-acids. However, skipping this step, we can talk about resulting protein absorption.

Protein absorption rate is faster for animal origin foods, rather than plant originated foods, perhaps because vegetable proteins usually contain cellulose covering.

Adding fiber-rich foods (as beens) slow down the digestion speed but not the resulting absorption effectiveness. Quite to the contrary, passing the intestines too fast can leave too little time for optimal absorption. From this standpoint, the bean-feta combination in one meal can be good for you.

Did you try this recipe? I love it!

Pita salad with beans and feta
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/07/pita-salad-with-beans-and-feta.ht...

Tanya Zilberter

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