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Can
vegans get enough protein?
To
listen to a radio interview with Cris LaBossiere on the topic
of getting enough protein without eating meat, go to the CJOB
audio vault for August 31, 8:00am. The interview starts
at about 8:12 am and was on the Weekend WakeUp Show with Kevin
Wallace.
It's
usually one of the first questions about eating vegetarian
or vegan; Can you get enough protein in a diet without meat?
Yes.
No problem.
Vegans/
vegetarians can get their protein by mixing incomplete plant
protein sources and from plants that have complete protein
profiles:
Mixing
legumes (beans) with grains
Mixing legumes with nuts and seeds
Anything
that grows contains protein. Nothing can grow without protein,
which forms the basic building blocks of life. All plants
- all fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds contain
protein.
Broccoli?
40g of broccoli (about 1 cup) contains about 1.3g of protein.
Not too much for sure, but no one should say that veggies
don't contain protein. While broccoli, bell peppers, carrots,
beats, etc. are very nutrient dense and contribute somewhat
to the total protein intake of the vegetarian diet, these
veggies really are too low in protein to be considered for
meeting daily protein needs.
Starchy
veggies, grains, nuts, and seeds are where the protein is
at for vegan/ vegetarian diets.
Common
incomplete protein sources:
Potatoes-
a medium potato has about 4.3g of protein
Red kidney beans - ½ cup - 8g of protein
Baked brown beans - ½ cup 6g
Pasta ½ cup 2.5g
Rice ½ 2.5g
Almonds (20) 5g
Peanut butter 1 tbsp 8g
Complete
protein sources:
Quinoa
½ cup 4.5g
Amaranth
cup ½ 14g
Tofu,
firm ½ cup 10.3g
Spirulina
½ cup 32g
Vegans
won't eat eggs or dairy, but many vegetarians will. For vegetarians
that do milk and eggs, a greater variety of protein sources
is available. Without getting too much into the boring details
of biochemistry, there are about 20 amino acids (proteins)
that we need to make our bodies do their thing (live). Our
bodies make most amino acids, but there are 8 "essential"
amino acids we can't make and must get from the food we eat.
This is why they are referred to as "essential".
All
animal sources of protein; dairy/ eggs, meat, fish, poultry,
contain all amino acids and are "complete" proteins.
Some plant sources also have all 8 essential amino acids.
Most plant sources have some, but not all of the essential
amino acids. These are called incomplete proteins.
You
can get the needed complete proteins by eating two plant sources
that separately have incomplete proteins, but combined complement
each other to form complete proteins.
1/2
cup of Red Kindey Beans provides about the same amount of
Lysine (essential amino acid) as one egg. Rice is very low
in Lysine containing only a trace amount.
Rice
and beans (a great Caribbean dish, called "rice and peas")
provide a complete protein profile. You can have beans at
lunch and rice at dinner and you'll still get your complete
protein for your body to use. It's more common to eat them
together though.
Beans
make up the lion's share of protein contribution to the mix,
with rice topping up the protein profile.
Other
common combo's
Peanut
butter with whole wheat/ multigrain bread
Pita and hummus
Beans and pasta
Beans and nuts/ seeds together in a bean salad is great.
The
average adult needs about .8 grams of protein per kilogram
of body mass per day. Endurance athletes and bodybuilders
need between 1.5 and 1.8 g/ kg/ body mass/ day when training
volume is high.
If
you're not a vegan or vegetarian, no need to be fearful of
not getting the protein you need without eating meat for a
meal here and there. In fact most meat eaters don't eat enough
fruit, veggies, and grains; adding a few non meat meals to
the diet is a great way to add variety and get the vital vitamins
and minerals that are lacking in the common "meat eaters"
diet.
I'm
not a vegetarian myself, but I eat many non meat meals. There
is a lot non - vegetarians can learn about eating healthy
from vegetarian and vegan diets. If you're one of those meat
eaters that can't get their head around eating a meal without
meat, get your head out of the sand; try some vegetarian/
vegan dishes- you'll be pleasantly surprised how great these
dishes can taste while delivering a dose of vitamins and minerals
that are lacking in most meat-centric meals.
©
2008 Cris LaBossiere Rhino Fitness
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