Vegans- Where DO You Get Your Protein?
I’ve been vegan for over 30 years, and during that time have rarely thought about protein. It’s not a topic that ever concerned me- although other people seem VERY concerned FOR me. Whenever I-or any other vegan in the world- tell someone I’m vegan, they inevitably ask “But where do you get your protein?” Ah, we vegans chuckle and roll our eyes gently. Protein is in everything! Broccoli has protein! Fruit has protein! Not to mention rice, beans, tofu, peanut butter…. and, well, everything. Have you ever met anyone who had a protein deficiency? It’s almost impossible to do. No need to worry about protein. When I was pregnant with my son, my midwife asked me to write down everything I ate for a week, just to make sure I was getting enough. I didn’t change anything, wrote down exactly what I ate, and my protein intake was well within the recommended amount. I grew an entire new person with the protein I ate normally- TWICE! That was proof that this whole “protein obsession” was silly. Then, two things happened. I got older, and got lazy about my diet. Unlike my pregnancy days, where I ate plenty of healthy food, in recent years I’ve gotten in the habit of skipping lunch when I’m too busy. Guess what- if you skip a meal, you just got 0 grams of protein. Sometimes I would eat a handful of pretzels instead of lunch, which gave me a whopping 3 grams of protein. Here’s an interesting fact- pregnant women are advised to eat .8 grams of protein per kilogram of their body weight daily. Post-menopausal women are advised to eat 1-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Post-menopausal women need MORE PROTEIN than pregnant women? Apparently, yes. My son- who’s also vegan and recently started working out- has become very aware of how much protein he’s eating, and he advised me to do the same. It turns out that I was nowhere near the recommended amount, especially since I’m lifting weights and trying to increase my muscle mass. Since my word for 2023 is “Nourish” I decided to make sure I’m nourishing my body with enough protein. It really isn’t hard- it just took some awareness and a few tweaks to my diet. First of all, I got a protein powder (pea and rice protein) and will make myself a quick protein shake if I don’t have time to eat right after a workout. I don’t think anyone should rely too heavily on protein powders, but it’s a great supplement if you’re trying to bulk up your intake. Then, my meals. I now aim for around 25 grams of protein per meal (plus a snack.) If I’m having oatmeal, sometimes I’ll add a scoop of protein powder, or I’ll make it with soymilk instead of water, and/or I’ll add nuts or peanut butter. For lunch, I make sure I have SOMETHING. If I’m really too busy to eat at work, I’ll have a bar to tide me over. I had been eating a plant-based keto bar (I’m not keto but I don’t eat sugar, and regular bars can be very sugar-y) and I discovered it only had 5 grams of protein! I now pay 50 cents more per bar to get one that has 20 grams of protein. One of my favorite “lazy” dinners is chickpea pasta with broccoli and marinara sauce. Let’s see…. the pasta has 12 grams of protein. The sauce has 3 grams and the broccoli has another 3. That’s not terrible, but now I add some frozen peas while the pasta is cooking and sprinkle nutritional yeast over the top, giving myself a good 25 grams of protein. Other little changes were easy to make- soymilk has more protein than oatmilk. Peanut butter has more protein than almond butter. If I’m making a stir fry I can add chickpeas AND tofu (when in doubt, add tofu, is my new motto.). As I said, it isn’t hard to get enough protein if you just make a little effort. Since this is new for me, I can’t show any results yet. But I feel good, and I’ve also cut down on junk food snacking. I mean, I’ll have pretzels if I want them (because pretzels are salty and delicious!) but now that I’m aware of how little they’re nourishing me, I don’t want them as often. Part 1 of the Nourish Project is going well- next up, sleep. This one could be tricky. Do you track your protein intake or think about macros? Do you notice a difference in how you feel if you eat more or less protein?