what foods/drinks do vegetarians need to eat/drink to get enough protein?!

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Hey there. :) It's not difficult at all for vegetarians to get protein, like most people make it out to be. You just have to be aware of all the high protein foods.

- milk/yogurt/cheese: Greek brand of yogurt is AMAZING on protein.
- edamames (a type of soybean)
- some breakfast cereals, like Kashi Go Lean Original, especially.
- fortified whole grains
- Tofu
- Nuts/nut butter
- Legumes
- Eggs
- TVP (textured vegetable protein): good to add to oatmeal and such.

Be sure you are getting your iron and omega fatty acids, as well.

Iron -> Legumes (lentils especially), spinach (as long as it's eaten with vitamin c to help absorb iron) and tofu are some good ones. Always take a multivitamin to be sure.

Omega fatty acids -> Walnuts, flaxseed (oil, supplement, grounded) I usually always take supplements.

Good luck on your vegetarian lifestyle!

Vegan

Enough protein, meaning complete protein.
Here are some ideas for complete proteins that don't require vegetarians to drink anything special. My bf is a vegetarian and is really healthy through these ideas:

Vegetarians will be happy to know that complete proteins can also be obtained through certain plants, such as soy, spirulina, hemp seed, amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa.

Foods can be combined to make complete proteins like pairing beans with rice or corn. There are other combinations as well. Beans and seeds, beans and nuts, and beans and grains will form a complete protein. When you eat hummus and pita bread, nut butter on whole grain bread, pasta with beans, veggie burgers on bread, split pea soup with whole grain bread, and tortillas with refried beans, you are eating complete proteins.

Consider eating eggs. Female birds of all species lay eggs, whether or not she's around a male. My moms female parrot always laid eggs (I would not imagine them to be edible though), and they were definitely not fertilized! She only stopped recently, as she's approaching 40 years old, and I imagine is not able to lay anymore, but she laid unfertilized eggs for a good 30 years. It really isn't as bad as it seems, the ones you get in a carton aren't fertilized (they aren't baby chickens, and will go to waste if something doesn't eat them). They are extremely packed in protein, and a few in the morning give you a nice healthy dose of protein before you start your day. Geese and duck eggs are the richest in protein and other essential nutrients. If your truly concerned about the hens welfare, chickens, ducks and geese can all be kept as pets so you know they are being treated well.

Whole fat milk is also an excellent source of protein, as well as whole fat kiefer (fermented milk, it has around 11 grams of protein a glass naturally, and many other healthful benefits like probiotics and essential nutrients. Give it a try, it's not as bad as it sounds, especially with fruit blended in. It has the consistency of runny yogurt, but is really very good). Don't worry about consuming whole fat dairy if your a vegetarian, it doesn't matter, and you need the extra fat and protein (the human body needs a certain amount of healthy fats, for a vegetarian, whole milk provides the necessary amount of healthy fats to maintain a healthy weight that meat used to provide). Also, the god-given protein of all vegetarians and vegans- beans an rice. Mixed together (perhaps with a little cheese), beans and rice combine to form a "perfect" protein easily assimilated (absorbed) by the body. Eat lots of beans and rice, and lots of whole grains in general. The one thing most new veggies don't know is the dangers of soy. It's either a rare teat, or just don't consume it at all. It will cause the body to produce way to much estrogen, when consumed in excess. It can cause mood swings, acne, menstruation problems... It's bad, trust me, I found out the hard way when I first stopped eating meat. Besides soy itself being dangerous when consumed in the high quantities many vegetarians do, have you ever looked at the ingredients on "soy meat"? To make a plant taste like an animal, you better bet there is plenty of under researched potentially and proven dangerous chemicals in there. Your better off eating real meat. Stay away from soy products. Otherwise, I wish you luck in your decision, and you will learn along the way what is healthy and not.

Vegetarian for 12 years

Protein is found in significant amounts in beans, lentils, peas, soy products*, dairy*, nuts, nut butters, seeds, fake meats, and some grains.

The generally recommended intake for protein is 1g per kg body weight per day. For example, I'm 120 pounds, so I need about 55g protein.
To give you an idea... a peanut butter sandwich with 2 tbsp peanut butter would have about 17g (my bread has 4g/slice). A cup of Progresso lentil soup has 9g. A cup of milk or a cheese stick has 8g.
So, if you have a glass of milk (8) and an apple (1) for breakfast, a peanut butter sandwich (17) and a cheese stick (8) for lunch, and 2 cups of lentil soup for dinner (18g), you have 52g easily, and that's not nearly enough food for a growing teen, especially if you're active- only 980 calories.

I only eat eggs very rarely, and I track my intake of certain things (the only thing I need to be careful of, I've found, is zinc) on SparkTeens, and I usually get around 70g protein a day without a problem or any effort. I eat a lot of beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, and some tempeh and soy yogurt.
I really recommend SparkTeens, by the way- THIS IS NOT SPAM- but it does help to make sure you are getting a balanced diet and enough calories, which your parents (or you) may be worried about. I've actually gotten over 110% RDA for both iron and calcium almost every day so far- a veg*n diet is not as hard as people make it seem! So don't get freaked out :)

Good luck, hope I helped :)

I'm a 15 year old girl who's done a lot of research on nutrition.
Like I said, I eat 99% vegan, eggs several times a year.

Mmmmmm peanutbutter milkshakes were my favorite for the longest time for protein
And you can get the supplement drinks from you local pharmecy