# Only ONE protein for the rest of your days **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 30, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939 "2021-12-30T19:40:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/21 "2021-12-31T00:50:30Z")
Gimme a break with this nonsense. Is it really so hard to infer what I meant from the OP? Geez! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/22 "2021-12-31T01:05:39Z")
I voted for poultry. Not just because chicken is delicious, but I assume that allows for eggs as well, and eggs are extremely versatile. To a lesser degree turkey is okay, and I like the occasional duck. But mostly it’s about the chickens, and the eggs. Close second was pork, which I had voted for but changed my mind. Also lots of variety, plus BACON. I love steaks, beef is probably my favorite protein to eat, but if it’s all I could have then I’d get tired of it faster than any other protein. Beef just tastes like beef. I wouldn’t miss burgers giving up beef either. A good chicken burger, properly seasoned, works just as well. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/23 "2021-12-31T01:05:48Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Gimme a break with this nonsense. New here? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/24 "2021-12-31T02:09:14Z")
I was going to say beans ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/25 "2021-12-31T02:46:51Z")
Pulses/legumes, please. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/26 "2021-12-31T02:52:09Z")
Tofu. I don’t eat enough meat to want to eat just one type forever. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/27 "2021-12-31T03:00:46Z")
Tough one but I went pork. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/28 "2021-12-31T03:11:23Z")
That’s easy. PEZ. Cherry flavor PEZ. No question about it. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/29 "2021-12-31T03:14:56Z")
I am tempted to Google and see if there’s protein in PEZ. But I know better. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/30 "2021-12-31T03:25:45Z")
On the one hand, beef is hands down the best option, flavor-wise. On the other hand, eating only red meat would be horrendously unhealthy. So I guess I gotta go with poultry. Eta: as I voted I realized FISH was one option, so let’s go with that. Salmon 4 Life! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/31 "2021-12-31T03:36:38Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m surprised there are so few choices for fish-- so many different types available: Salmon, trout, whitefish, tuna, swordfish steaks, stuffed flounder, anchovies, etc. etc…yum. Perhaps they are like me. Sure, there is in theory all of this fish I could have, but, in practice, I can only find a few around here. It’s always the flaky fish, and something about that seems to not be as filling. Right now I’m trying to decide between poultry (for similar reasons you chose fish) vs pork (less variety, but I can’t think of a time I’ve had a bad tasting pork product). ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/32 "2021-12-31T04:06:52Z")
I chose poultry. You get chicken, turkey, duck, and more. And those things can be ground into a burger if desired. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/33 "2021-12-31T04:12:16Z")
Beef. I like burgers, steaks and tacos. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/34 "2021-12-31T04:16:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > New here? Let it be stated for the record that today, December 30, 2021, **silenus** is my favorite poster. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/35 "2021-12-31T04:25:04Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Poultry presumably means I get chicken, duck, turkey, and goose, so that’s already more variety than all the others. Yes, I’m curious why the poultry and fish options allow multiple species while beef and pork only allow one each. Pork’s tempting but I’m voting poultry because I don’t see pork being a good substitute for fried chicken, buffalo wings, or chicken salad. I figure turkey and chicken are an adequate substitute for most of the things that pork does best like bacon, sausage, and ham. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/36 "2021-12-31T04:53:58Z")
From the title, I was thinking black beans, since I freakin love me some black beans, and healthwise they’re pretty great. I’d hate giving up meat, though. But given the OP and its clarification that we’re talking about which meat I’d want to limit myself to, it’s a tough choice between beef and fish. If the magical fairy arranging this deal is gonna declog my arteries, I lean toward beef. If they’re gonna supply me with really fresh meat at no cost, I lean toward fish. If neither, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/37 "2021-12-31T05:49:02Z")
Surely you could have one meat AND tofu? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/38 "2021-12-31T06:14:16Z")
Is there ANY ONE protein that provides ALL of the required dietary amino acids? **Babale** points out that a diet of red meat only would be unhealthy. But I think a diet of any one protein alone would be unhealthy, lacking in the full array of essential amino acids. Could modern pharmalogical techniques synthesize a protein that has ALL the required amino acids? Then we could get our entire diet in a synthetic pill, as seen for example in the Star Trek TOS episode _“By Any Other Name”_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/39 "2021-12-31T06:25:43Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is there ANY ONE protein that provides ALL of the required dietary amino acids? **Babale** points out that a diet of red meat only would be unhealthy. But I think a diet of any one protein alone would be unhealthy, lacking in the full array of essential amino acids. People manage healthy lives on strictly vegetarian diets. So I figure a good vegetarian diet plus a source of animal protein is viable. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939/40 "2021-12-31T06:28:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > People manage healthy lives on strictly vegetarian diets. So I figure a good vegetarian diet plus a source of animal protein is viable. But that’s not just one foodstuff, let alone one protein. Vegetarians are advised, for example, to eat a combination of beans and rice, each of which provides certain amino acids that the other lacks. Is there any ONE animal, or any one category of animals, which provides all the necessary amino acids? Or (taking the thread title literally), any one single protein? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-protein-for-the-rest-of-your-days/956939.md?page=3)