Looking for plant based protein ideas

Bendie1968

hello - I’m new to the community posts.

I’m looking for plant based (low carb) protein ideas to help meet my 100 grams of protein a day.

Thanks!

AnnPT77

Short list: Tofu, tempeh, other soy foods, seitan, some other legumes.

If you haven't already run across it, there's a thread here you might find helpful. It links to a spreadsheet that lists hundreds of foods in order by most protein for fewest calories. (It helped me - a vegetarian - when I was new here.) As you might guess, the top of the list is mostly meaty/fishy, but if you scroll down, you'll find plant sources:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

As you may already know, a couple of issues with plant protein can be getting a good balance of essential amino acids (EAAs), and making sure sources have good bioavailability.

This source has one of the better - most nuanced - brief discussions I've seen of that subject, in section 11, Optimal daily protein intake for vegans . That's useful not just for vegans, but for anyone getting a fair fraction of their protein from plant sources.

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

Another useful resource, in case you're not familar with it, is the site below, an evidence-based source with content primarily from registered dietitians who are themselves vegan. IMO, too many online sites about fully plant-based nutrition are more about advocacy than accuracy. I think this one is better. It also covers other nutritional issues that plant-based eaters may need to pay attention to for best health.

https://veganhealth.org/

Again, you may already be thinking in these terms, but another suggestion I make to partly/fully plant-based eaters to get more protein on reduced calories: Use diary review to find foods in your routine rotation that are relatively high calorie contributors, relatively low or zero protein, and aren't vital to you in their current frequency/portions for satiety, other nutrition or overall happiness. Reduce portions or frequency of those, and put in foods you like that have a bit more protein.

Of course we want that "one big protein per meal" thing going on, but if we work on getting bits of protein from a wide range of foods we eat, those small bits through the day add up. Varying them helps with EAA balance. There are breads with more protein, pasta with more protein, veggies with more protein, grains with more protein than others, even some fruits and flavoring ingredients that bring a bit of protein.

I'll give a couple examples of the flavoring ingredients that I use myself, since that idea is a little less common: Peanut butter powder or almond butter powder (partly defatted, so lower calorie than the butter itself), nutritional yeast, miso.

Another thing I've found helpful is to have personal rules of thumb when evaluating foods in the store (ones that have nutrition labels). Different people's numbers would possibly differ, but I think the concept can still apply. For me, I figure a single food with 10 or fewer all-source calories per gram of protein is a pretty good vegetarian protein source, and a multi-ingredient food with 20ish all-source calories per gram of protein is a reasonable food choice, maybe up to 30 calories if it's desirable for other reasons, too.

Best wishes for success here!

Bendie1968

wow — thanks for the information! I should’ve mentioned that I don’t eat soy products like tofu. I will eat edamame as it is a complete protein. But I’m getting a little bored of quinoa and hemp seeds. The challenge is getting the 9 essential amino acids (which all these 3 have); and beans are too carbs.

AnnPT77

Even tempeh? It's just soybeans, like shelled edamame, that have been fermented. Natto is another similar fermented soybean variant.

It goes without saying that you're free to eat or not eat whatever you prefer, but I don't understand about the tofu: It has all nine essential amino acids. The limiting amino acid in tofu is methionine, but it is present in a reasonable amount. Tofu's PDCAAS score is 0.7 (on average), which isn't bad for plant sourced protein. Edamame is around 0.92, tempeh 0.91, natto reportedly 1.0, which is the highest possible score.

I don't low carb, so beans work for me. Though I do eat some, I'm more likely when managing calorie intake to moderate something like hemp seeds (PDCAAS around 0.66) because about 73% of calories are from fats (useful ones), only around 21% from protein. Uncooked quinoa is around 70% of calories from carbs, 15% from protein, PDCAAS score 0.78. Black beans, for one example, have a PDCAAS score of 0.75, 72% of calories from carbs, 24% from protein.

I know that many people who prefer a low carb diet eat LCHF, so seeds and nuts may be more useful in that context, though as an over-generalization they do tend to be somewhat less bioavailable.

To be clear, I'm not criticizing you. Your eating style is your eating style, 100% your choice. I'm explaining how I think about it, and why I eat somewhat differently. To me, when trying to get more good-quality protein on reduced calories, the all-source total calories per protein gram is a key data point, and the PDCAAS score - while very imperfect - provides a bit of data on EAA balance and bioavailability.

ETA: Protein complementing is another way to balance EAAs - eating foods that differ in their limiting amino acids, to get a more complete set of EAAs in total. The Examine.com guide discusses that.

Obviously, as I'm sure you realize, plant-based protein powders are another option. Some are EAA balanced. I don't really have anything against them, but possibly you prefer less processed foods. I don't use them because I don't find them as tasty and satisfying as many reasonable plant protein foods.

AnnPT77

BTW, I recognize that DIAAS has some pluses over PDCAAS in evaluating protein, but because it's newer, I've had more difficulty finding solid data for as many foods. One potential advantage is that its scoring doesn't top out at 100%. On that scale, tofu rates at 97%, soybeans (such as edamame) may be up to 99.6%.