Biological value – What is the best combination of cereals?

Today you will learn what biological value is all about. But before that, you should know the following (if you don’t already): Macronutrients are nutrients that serve as energy suppliers for our body and are necessary for vital functions. Macronutrients include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Today’s article is about proteins. Proteins are formed from so-called amino acids. There are amino acids that our body cannot build itself, which is why we have to take them in with food. They are called essential amino acids. There are also conditional or non-essential amino acids.

But what is the biological value?

At the Swiss Society for Nutrition we read: “The biological value is a measure for assessing protein quality. This depends on the content of essential amino acids. The higher the amount of essential amino acids and more optimal the overall amino acid ratio in a protein mixture, the higher the biological value.” [1]

This means that the higher the biological value, the more essential amino acids are contained in a food and can be used for the body’s own protein production. The egg has a biological value of 100. This figure serves as a reference value and thus has the highest protein quality as a food per se.

In general, animal foods have a higher biological value than plant foods. If different foods are now combined to obtain a higher biological value, this is referred to as a supplement value. What is complementary here are the amino acids. By combining different foods, you can even exceed the reference value of 100.

This in turn means that a good combination and thus a higher biological value means that smaller amounts of protein need to be supplied to the body.

But now we come to the real question: What is the best way to combine cereals to get the highest possible supplement value?

First, cereals and legumes complement each other particularly well. Many of you probably know the most famous combinations, such as beans and corn or peas and rice. Other options would include a slice of whole grain bread with a hummus spread or a lentil curry with whole grain rice.

Cereals also combine well with: