How do vegetarians get enough protein in their diet?!
How do vegetarians get enough protein in their diet?
What do vegetarians include in their diet to get enough protein without eating meat? What are some combinations of food that you eat? What is a good food source to replace Iron?
Answers:
MYTH: "Vegetarians get little protein."
FACT: Plant foods offer abundant protein. Vegetables are around 23% protein on average, beans 28%, grains 13%, and even fruit has 5.5%. For comparison, human breast milk is only 5% (designed for the time in our lives when our protein needs are as high as they'll ever be). The US Recommended Daily Allowance is 8%, and the World Health Organization recommends 4.5%.
MYTH: "Beans are a good source of protein."
FACT: There is no such thing as a special "source of protein" because all foods -- even plants -- have plentiful protein. You might as well say "Food is a good source of protein". In any event, beans (28%) don't average much more protein per calorie than common vegetables (23%).
MYTH: "You have to combine plant foods to make the protein just as good."
FACT: This myth was popularized in the 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet and has no basis in fact. The author of the book admitted nearly twenty years ago that she made a mistake (in the 1982 edition of the same book).
Iron-Dark green leafy vegetables,whole grain breads,beans,most foods have a small amount of iron except dairy products.
beans, soy, tofu, eggs and milk if you eat them.
take a multi vitamin.
For protein you can eat nuts and depending what kind of vegetarian, you can eat eggs to get protein.
Eat beetroot and dark green leafy veg e.g. spinach to get iron.
Most soy products contain a HIGH amount of protein. Tofu as well. I get a lot of protein in my diet and I am 100% vegetarian... so go ahead, read the labels. =) also, special k protein water is good as well. Best of luck to you.
They get enough proteins in their childhood by stealing other kids lunches with meat!! Let me explain...
My 4-yr-old complains that an Indian girl in his class always wants to eat his lunch if he's having any chicken or any meat related food. And he can never seem to say no. I ask him why she doesn't bring her own lunch, He says she does but apparently she doesn't like to eat carots and cucumbers.
So I'm guessing that this kid is probably vegetarian. This is how I think they get their proteins!!
Beans & rice are a good combination for protein. Use a mix of beans.
You can get non-haem iron from green, leafy vegetables. Make sure you have vitamin C as well to absorb the iron. eg: red capsicum, oranges.
If you are planning on trying out a vegetarian diet, then make sure you investigate first.
I recommend finding a Seventh Day Adventist church in your area as they often hold vegetarian cooking classes since they are vegetarian by religious conviction .
Happy eating!
Gypsy Queen
In Australia, Sanitarium have a great product line called 'Vegie Delights', which are essentially made of soya protein. Soya Sausages, hot dogs, vege fillets, even vege not-bacon - the list goes on and on, and it's delicious!
I have been a vegetarian for 17 years, and enjoy a diet rich in red kidney beans, chick peas, tofu, and soya products. If I want an iron boost, I eat spinach, leafy green vegies or eggs.
I have only ever had to take an iron supplement once in my life, and that was when I was newly vegetarian and working out at a gym.
Good luck, and eat cruelty-free!
Versacegal.
Well beans and things made as meat substitues like products that use soy bean meal for example, vegies have protein but when you eat an animal that has ate protein your eating second best, in the bible although God did allow eating meat, before the flood mankind lived 900 plus years but look at the life span after the flood it dropped to 175 and started down fast, talk to me wgr88@yahoo.com God bless
Peanuts are an excellent source of protein, as is peanut butter.
As was mentioned above, beans, nuts, and soya products like tofu also have significant amounts of protein.
I myself like to cook with extra firm tofu soy bean curd. It can be prepared, seasoned, and cooked just like meat, and is a good meat substitute. I just had some earlier tonight, cut it into cubes, seasoned it and deep fried it in light canola oil until they were crispy and light brown on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. Cooking it this way goes good in oriental soups too, I like it with the Japanese udon or wide Thai noodles.
beans and protein grains, such as quinoa (pronounced keen wa, available at health food stores) are a great way to get protein. You can make a great burger from mashed beans with mashed potatoes, add in some onion, celery and seasoning and grill. Super good, loads of protein, and very filling and satisfying.
Some vegetables, such as legumes (e.g. soy beans) are sources of protein. There are mixes (e.g., vegetarian chili with beans and rice, plus other vegetables for flavor) which provide a good balance. I am not a vegetarian, so I know very little about this, except what I hear from friends who are, and my son-in-law. These are "pure" vegetarians. Some people are lacto-ovarian vegetarians (don't eat meat that has been killed, but eat eggs and butter and milk, etc. ― nutrition is easier in such cases).
I looked up a website of the Vegetarian Society in the UK that deals with this issue of a balanced vegetarianism. Perhaps that would help.http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes...
The same organization issues a fact sheet on vegetarianism: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/goingveg.html...
If you read labels on food you will see that most that is not straight up junk food has protein in it. Things like peanuts, peanut butter, and beans have alot of protein in it.
Alot of vegetarians also go to meat substitues like Morning Star Farms & Boca that have high amounts of protein.
It is also known fact that most meat eaters get way more protein then there body needs in a day.
There is really no reason to worry about not getting enough protein in your diet even if you don't eat meat.
Protein deficiencies are very rare, and typically only occur in people with an extremely poor diet lack variety. Like during times of famine or drought.
Just about everything we eat has amino acids in it. As long as you eat enough and get a healthy variety of foods you will get enough protein.
It's true that vegetarians and vegans (a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal products at all) especially eat less protein than people that eat meat.
However there no evident that more protein is better.
Diets with to much protein could cause an increase the risk of osteoporosis(1) and kidney disease(2).
Eat a Rainbow of fruits and vegetables to guarantee variety in you diet wither you eat meat or not, and if you eat meat consider reducing the amount of meat you eat in regular diet.
For more depth information read "Protein in the Vegan Diet" by Dr. Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D. A link to this article is listed below.
Versacegal please contact me, or allow me to contact you. I would like to talk about your answer which I find interesting. My apologies to readers for inserting this request before my answer below.
Despite the veg*n population despising this question for the amount of times it is repeated to us, I like it because it shows that regardless how ignorant people say I am about common knowledge stuff (which I am about many things), there is always a large pool of people who know very little about their own body, how it functions, and how to make it work in the user's favour.
The most important way to address this question is not to point out that nuts, avocadoes, and sprouted legumes contain plenty of protien, in a form far more readily used by the body than that in meat or cooked legumes, or that bananas contain the same percentage of protien as the food humans receive in their most important stages of growth - human breastmilk.
What is far more critical is to explain that our whole society has been lied to about protien for a long time. The recmmended daily intake (RDI) of protien for the average person is about 56 grams, however, this value should actually be 21 grams - to allow for possible erors it is multiplied by 33% and then doubled. And on top of that, the average person consumes around 112 grams of protien a day - even vegetarians usually get close to 88 grams. An excess of protien is a far greater concern in the Western world today than a deficiency, especially since a number of recent studies have linked high protien consumption with an increased risk of cancer.
I have a question to counter you with:
How do you get enough digestive enzymes in your diet?
Enzymes are actually just a specialised kind of protien and their main function is to catalyse reactions, that is, to make them occur more quickly. You have probably heard of digestive enzymes and might even know people who swallow digestive enzyme tablets to help them with indigestion. Foods are packed full of enzymes but the problem is that enzymes are quite sensitive to temperature and as soon as it gets above 40 - 45 degrees Celcius they die and can no longer perform the important duties.
The enzymes that naturally occur in foods are very useful, because they work together with you biosynthesized enzymes to help break down food more quickly and thoroughly in your digestive tract. But cooked food contains no enzymes whatsoever.
I invite you to research yourself more by asking more questions in this forum. I believe I have suffieciently answered your primary question. If you follow my advice, the 3 questions you asked in your additional information will be either:
also answered above;
irrelevant /not applicable;
an enjoyable experiential adventure into food.
Enjoy Awareness NOW!
since they dont eat meat,
DRINK VITAMINS!
beans
soy
eggs
milk
its easy! quorn foods contain lots of protein, and so does cheese, baked beans, eggs, nuts and seeds.
You can also get the iron that you would get from red meat from cereals, green vegetables and tomatoes.
Broccoli, beans, bread, tofu, rice, pasta and potatoes are all good sources of simple protein.
Meat is composed of complex proteins that are hard to break up and digest. That's why beef stays in your colon for up to 2 weeks before being passed through your system. As far as iron, a multi vitamin takes care of that. Meat has no nutritional value, except for iron, so there is no need to eat meat.
Very easily. It always makes me curious when people ask how vegetarians get their protein. There are so many sources!
-nuts
-seeds
-beans/legumes
-lentils
-soy/tempeh
-green food
-many grains (like oatmeal, buckwheat, barley)
-vegetables and fruits in lesser quantities (broccoli, peas, potatoes, bananas)
And if you're a lacto-ovo vegetarian, you've also got:
-eggs
-milk
-cheese
-yogurt
If you're still worried, take some protein or amino acid supplements. Many cultures live on a primarily vegetarian diet, and they do perfectly fine.
Hi.
"It is almost impossible to become protein-deficient outside of famine conditions (in which too few calories overall are ingested to support life, and those calories derived from only one or two food sources). A varied vegetarian diet with adequate calorie intake ensures adequate protein inherently."
~http://www.passionatevegetarian.com/prot...
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Protein is in almost everything we eat. Here is a list of vegetarian protein sources
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-gxld3h0hc...
Many vegetarian sources have much more than any dead animal.
:)
Here are Iron sources too, if you are interested. Unless you are eating a lot of oysters, you are getting more iron from your vegetation sources than from dead animals.
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-gxld3h0hc...
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While it is near impossible to get too little protein, most Americans and many Europeans get 3-4 times as much protein as they need. This can lead to many illnesses such as cancer, kidney disease and osteoporosis.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/p...
By eating enough food to survive. Read John Robbin's Diet for a New America - Protein deficiency is almost unknown in adults who consume enough calories to survive.
vegetarians that eat eggs and dairy products dont even have to worry about getting enough protien and iron, becasue they still eat animal products that have a lot fo protien in them. its ussually only vegans who have a problem. but if you really want more protien and iron, theres plenty in teh meat alternitives like veggie burgers. beans, nuts, and dark green leafy veggies have a lot of nutrients that vegetarians and vegans need.
Someone mentioned spinach, actually spinach is a blocker for iron absorption. Try broccoli intsead. And orange juice helps with absorption, actually it's vitamin C. I would advice you to do a search on possible foods that block the absorption of iron.