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Meeting Vegetarian Diet Protein Needs
For vegetarians a common predicament is working out where to get your necessary protein. Most of us find more than enough protein in meats, chicken, eggs or other animal sources. This is not an option for ‘veggies’. Despite it being widely acknowledged that a vegetarian diet is healthier for us overall, the issue of getting sufficient protein in your diet should be considered. We are going to try and help to identify the normal protein requirements of the average person and suitable vegetarian sources for getting it.
Protein is considered an essential foundation to good health. Our hair, muscles, fingernails, skin and Oregon’s are made up mainly of protein. And, as you could well have noticed, there are differences between how our muscles are made and our fingernails which implies that not all proteins are the same. In the same way that there are 26 different letters in the alphabet, we have 20 different amino acids which combine to form different protein types.
Interestingly, the recommended daily allowance of protein is not as high as the majority of individuals who meet a standard Western diet believe. More people eat more protein than they require. The approximate recommended daily allowance for protein is just 47 g for women and 54 g for men.
Of course your requirements go up at various times of your life when stress or some other condition may require a greater number of amino acids in order to maintain health. Examples of such life changes include pregnancy or breast-feeding, recuperating from surgery or during intense athletic periods.
Vegetarians can get their proteins from a plant-based diet that should include a wide variety of whole foods such as beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Anyone who thinks that plant proteins are inferior somehow to animal protein may be surprised to know that plant proteins contain the same 22 amino acid as animal proteins.
For example, 1 cup of cooked lentils has 18g of protein or one veggie patty has 13g. Many ‘veggies’ get much of their proteins from nuts and seeds; one quarter cup of almonds has 8g of protein and one quarter cup of sunflower seeds has 6g. Vegetarians may also find protein in spinach, broccoli, potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat bread, soybeans, black beans, chickpeas and quinoa.
It is fairly common practice among vegetarians to combine foods in order to ingest whole proteins. An example of this might be that beans are low in the amino acid lysine, while brown rice is rich in lysine. This may well be an explanation of why a meal of beans and rice is so popular in Third World countries. Other proteins which work well together include beans and tortillas, peanut butter sandwich, macaroni and cheese, hummus and pita bread and chickpeas and rice.
However, please be in mind that these proteins do not have to be eaten at the same meal. As long as you are consistently eating a variety of plant foods and include brown rice, corn, nuts, seeds and whole grains within a 24 hour period your proteins needs will be easily met.
