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Where Do Vegans Get Their Protein?

Where Do Vegans Get Their Protein?

by | Aug 10, 2022 | Food & Ingredients, Whole Food Plant Based

Where do vegans get their protein?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions about a plant-based diet.

I get it! It wasn’t that long ago that my ideal meal was greens with a piece of salmon on top. Or maybe veggies, rice and a meat protein on my plate. Waking up in the morning, the go-to was often eggs.

Historically, eating animal protein has been touted as the “best” source of protein. And the amount of protein recommended in the early 1900’s was dramatically higher than today. There was also an element of prestige attached to eating animal protein.

In truth, animal protein is more biologically similar to our own bodies. As such, it is called a “high quality protein” and it helps us grow fast. But at what cost? The fast growth that animal protein causes, also causes cells to grow fast that aren’t supposed to grow, which is called cancer. Animal proteins have also shown to be the source of many diseases of affluence including heart disease and diabetes. 

Conversely, we can (and should) consume all of our protein via plant sources. It has only the health upsides and none of the downsides. A whole foods plant-based diet offers sufficient protein when eating a variety of foods.

For mere mortals (like me), the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) protein recommendations are 8-10% of our daily food intake. 

Here’s how to calculate this: “Adults require no more than 0.8 or 0.9 grams of protein per healthy kilogram of body weight per day, which is about your ideal weight in pounds multiplied by four and then divided by ten. So, someone whose ideal weight is 100 pounds may require up to 40 grams of protein a day.” – NutritionFacts.org

For a 70 kg (144 lb) adult male, this is 56 gms; for a 60 kg (132 lb) female, 48 gms. 

Even elite athletes are learning that while they do need more protein than an average athlete, they don’t need nearly as much as they originally assumed. They are foregoing the high protein powders and scarfing down chicken breasts and switching to a whole food plant diet instead, often with better performance results. (Have you watched the film Game Changers?) 

Where do we find this protein?

We’ve all heard about eating the rainbow.

We can get all our nutrients by eating a variety of foods. You may be surprised at how much protein is found not just in tofu and nuts, but also in broccoli, brown rice and many other “surprising” sources.* Further, we do not need to combine them all in one meal to get the appropriate nutrients. Aiming to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers and legumes offers the nutrition that your body needs.

Thanks to creative plant-based chefs, there are now many interesting recipes that mimic foods we are accustomed to. Since my husband and I grew up with a “main” dish alongside a “starch” and a “vegetable” for dinner, I still often cook that way. The difference is that now, the “main” is usually a tofu or something similar, the rice is brown, and the veggies are roasted.

Hearty and tasty recipes teach us how to eat the rainbow, so we enjoy our meals, don’t feel deprived, and get the most health benefits. Veggie chilis, wraps made with whole grains, bowls, homemade veggie burgers… the list goes on and is endless.

(I have never actually made a “bowl”. I’ve only eaten them in restaurants. But I think they are a great way to get many nutrients in a delicious meal. I will be experimenting with bowl recipes and share the good ones. We’ve just begun scratching the surface of what is possible at What’s Plant-Based Cooking Good Looking?!)

*This pretty chart shows how much protein can be found in each of these plant-based foods. I have included another, more comprehensive chart here, that details many more foods. If you are concerned about your protein intake, please refer to it. If you are eating a colorful, low fat (minimal or no oil) whole foods plant-based diet that includes all types of legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole starches and more, you can likely trust that you are getting all of your nutrients. (Always check with a health professional if you have questions or underlying conditions.)

Every day I meet people whose cholesterol dropped dramatically in just a few weeks by switching to a whole foods plant-based diet.

Think about it — pandas, elephants, giraffes, horses and gorillas eat plants and they are some of the largest and strongest animals roaming the earth. We really don’t need to eat animal protein.

If you’d like to read more, here’s an article from T. Colin Campbell about the fallacy of animal protein and our obsession with protein in general.  

And another from registered dietician who wrote the article for a tofu manufacturer, but also includes other really good sources of plant proteins.  

Check back next week when we take a look at the other often-voiced concern: “How do I avoid eating too many carbs?”

Why it’s Worth Eating More Whole Food Plant-Based

Why it’s Worth Eating More Whole Food Plant-Based

by | Jun 15, 2022 | Whole Food Plant Based

Why bother eating whole food plant-based if you are already plant-based? 

I thought I was doing my body a favor by not eating animal products. I felt fine and have always eaten a relatively healthy diet (no fast food, minimal fried foods, etc.) but I didn’t realize how much processed food I was still eating. Sure, it was good for the animals (that I wasn’t eating them), and in many ways, better for me too, but foods high in sodium, sugar and fat are only marginally better (and for some people not at all) than animal product foods. 

Then I learned to cook a few plant-based recipes which was a first step toward eating more healthfully. I was originally hesitant because I didn’t recognize any of the ingredients in the plant-based recipes. But the cooking class I attended helped with that. 

The biggest shift happened after I attended Cornell’s online Plant-Based Nutrition program. I learned just how powerful a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle is and now I endeavor to eat as much whole food plant-based as possible. 

“Most importantly, the diet that has time and again been shown to reverse and/or prevent these diseases [heart, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune, bone, kidney, cognitive and others] is the same whole foods plant-based diet that I have found to promote optimal health in my laboratory research and in the China Study. The findings are consistent.”*

 Let’s be clear, I am still not a pristine whole food plant-based cook or eater.  But I am moving in that direction. 

But it’s not 100%. My priority when I first started cooking plant-based was replicating the foods that I used to eat when I was an omnivore. That may be your priority at the moment too. I get it. It’s no fun feeling deprived. And now that there are SO MANY good recipes out there, there is no reason to feel deprived. 

And I still order in from restaurants or go out to dinner which is also not usually WFPB. 

I’m ok with this. Why? First of all, I if I can cook a plant-based recipe that husband will enjoy too, then I’m all for it, even if it’s not 100% WFPB. 

He’s kind of picky (can you say 4th grader palate?) and there are a ton of WFPB meals he wouldn’t touch. But we have made massive progress at home. 

Since I know that many of the restaurant recipes use more oil than I cook with, I try to balance it by eating more cleanly at home. Even though some of the recipes are not WFPB, I modify as best as I can (reduce or omit oil, sugar, white flour etc.)   

I feel really good too and dropped a couple of pounds without doing anything special. I eat more than ever but it’s clean food with minimal fillers. Pretty much the way we’re supposed to be eating. 

If you are familiar with The China Study, you know that the people in China who were studied eat more calories than in a typical Western diet and are much leaner and healthier. Their lifestyles were naturally WFPB because the western diet had not yet invaded their communities. I highly recommend this book. It’s big, but well-written and informative. 

The Cornell course I took is based upon this research (among other topics) and you can learn much of what I learned without the whole course. The course and book (and others that we will share down the road) remind me that we want to eat healthfully so that our bodies are fueled with proper fuel that prevents disease and supports our bodies in operating optimally. 

For me, and many people, however, food is also fun and a way to be creative and social. 

My motto continues to be; everything (plant-based) in moderation. 

For some of you reading this, the idea of eating exclusively plant-based is already challenging and WFPB is out of the question. And others may already be horrified at the idea of not eating WFPB because for you, food is solely a source of energy. Or perhaps it is solely about the animals. The point is- we all have our reasons for being where we are now. In the end though, studies show that the closer we can get to eating WFPB, the healthier our bodies (and minds) will be.  

Stay tuned because in addition to The China Study, we will be offering many more resources in the near future. 

*T. Colin Campbell, PhD
Thomas M. Campbell II, MD
The China Study: Revised and Expanded Edition