On Tue, 5 Dec 2000 15:04:41 -0800, Wally Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote: I wrote: >> If it's protein, I would think not of protein >> amounts, but rather protein >> quality: Access to certain amino acids - like the >> sulphur amino acids. > >Ummm, Amadeus, you're not saying that the animal >protein is a **more complete** protein, are you? :) I would say, both proteins, that from the chimp diet (predominately fruit) and from animals have their defficiencies in certain amino acids. Meats and dairy are a somewhat closer to human demands as certain plants - but i never read about the composition of fruit protein, it's too seldom for humans. I could imagine that fruit and termites are complementary so, that each one serves as a source for the AA's missing in the other one. Like cereals and legumes together form a considerable better protein as meat alone. I think about constructing a program using the USDA database's AA lists and comparing any protein compositions with the most ideal protein found so far (potatoe with egg). USDA only lists the "limiting" amino acid, sometimes. Ideal protein compositions may be of bigger interest as we used to think. As last the neolithic culture spread to quickly always using the cereal/legume backbone - a very good protein. Likewise chimps may invest much effort in enhancing the protein composition by adding a few termites. Amadeus