Vegetarians - how do you get enough protein?

If you are going for bodybuilder intake levels (at least 0.8 g per pound of body weight, and some eat as much as 2 g per lb), it's going to be difficult to do it without supplements. For a vegan, getting that much protein from dietary sources is going to be difficult without sups. Unless you eat tofu all day, like a sumo wrestler. It would take 2.5 lb of tofu to provide 120 g of protein, for example.

The current American RDA for protein is considerably lower than 0.8 g per lb of bodyweight. You can easily meet the standard RDA on a vegetarian or vegan diet from standard veg protein sources (nuts, beans, grains), and of course eggs and dairy. For a vegetarian who isn't dairy-averse and is also calorie-conscious, fat-free yogurt and farmer's cheese/cottage cheese are probably the best options. If you shirk animal-based protein sources, you have to be extremely diligent about combining foods to get a complete amino acid profile. A vegan diet can be very healthy, but it is a lot of work.

You (general you, not you specifically) don't actually have to combine foods - that thinking was around in the 80's. As long as you eat a variety of foods through the day, same as an omnivore would, you will be fine.

I wasn't referring to the loony food combination diet, whereby you aren't allowed to eat X and Y in the same meal. I meant that in order to get all of the amino acids the human body needs, you have to eat both certain legumes and certain grains; you can't get complete proteins from any one plant source.

Im pretty sure the person who wrote this realizes you didn't mean that you can't eat "X and Y in the same meal." I think they were simply referring to your point about combining foods to make complete proteins such as beans and rice, for example. Like they mentioned, combining incomplete proteins with every meal to "create a complete protein" is a myth and way of thinking from ages ago that has been debunked for quite some time. You're right about needing different foods to get all the amino acids (absolutely true), but they don't have to be paired together in the same meal as people once believed. As long as you're eating a large variety of plant-based whole foods every day, it doesn't matter when you eat them. Maybe you meant this and I just misunderstood. Soybeans are a complete protein that is plant-based, but a lot of soy is GMO (which is obviously terrible) so it's better to go for organic, less processed, non-GMO versions of soy in small to moderate amounts.

I love meat too much to ever go vegetarian. :bigsmile:
Had a nice hunk of lamb with green beans ans Cackalacky sauce for lunch today Yum.

BTW, if Vegans are supposed to eat everything raw, how can they eat roasted mixed nuts?

Whey protein is not vegetarian. It is animal derived. So are eggs. Do you know how many male chickens are killed every year just for being unable to produce eggs? One can't be vegetarian and eat eggs or whey protein. It is more accurate to say you are omnivore. :bigsmile:

Really need a sarcasm font here. :drinker:

I love meat too much to ever go vegetarian. :bigsmile:
Had a nice hunk of lamb with green beans ans Cackalacky sauce for lunch today Yum.

BTW, if Vegans are supposed to eat everything raw, how can they eat roasted mixed nuts?

Whey protein is not vegetarian. It is animal derived. So are eggs. Do you know how many male chickens are killed every year just for being unable to produce eggs? One can't be vegetarian and eat eggs or whey protein. It is more accurate to say you are omnivore. :bigsmile:

Really need a sarcasm font here. :drinker:

“The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that men and women obtain 5% of their calories as protein. This would mean 38 grams of protein for a man burning 3000 calories a day and 29 grams for a woman using 2300 calories a day. This quantity of protein is impossible to avoid when daily calorie needs are met by unrefined starches and vegetables. For example, rice alone would provide 71 grams of highly usable protein and white potatoes would provide 64 grams of protein.” John A. McDougall, MD

“The simple answer is this, as long as you consume adequate calories to maintain a healthy weight from a variety of whole plant foods, (and not from junk foods and/or just fruit) you will get in all the protein and amino acids that you need.” Jeff Novick, MS, RD

“. . . , most plant foods, except fruit, supply at least 10 percent of calories from protein, with green vegetables averaging about 50 percent.” Joel Fuhrman, MD

“The concern that vegetables do not contain ‘complete proteins’ is not scientifically valid. Plenty of protein and all of the essential and nonessential amino acids are present in single unrefined starches, such as oatmeal (16% of calories from protein), rice (8% protein), corn (12% protein), beans (26% protein), whole wheat spaghetti (14% protein), and potatoes (11% protein), enough even for weight lifters and endurance athletes, . . .” Kerrie Saunders, PhD

“Since 1974, the World Health Organization has recommended that we get 5% of our calories from protein (6% during pregnancy). Matthew Lederman, MD and Alona Pulde, MD

“To put things in perspective, human breast milk is 5% protein and is consumed by a baby who is doubling in size while only consuming that food.” Matthew Lederman, MD and Alona Pulde, MD

“. . . broccoli has a higher percentage of protein than pork, salmon, chicken, skim milk, eggs, beef, and cheddar cheese!” Matthew Lederman, MD and Alona Pulde, MD

“In fact, a National Institute of Health study at the University of California published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001), found that “women who ate most of their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures as women who ate most of their protein from vegetable sources.” Matthew Lederman, MD and Alona Pulde, MD

“[T]he body does not store excess protein and therefore must eliminate it. Over time, excessive amounts of protein can potentially put a strain on the kidneys, liver and our bones. In addition, excess protein can raise the levels of a hormone called IGF-1, which can stimulate the growth rate of certain cancers.” Jeff Novick, MS, RD

“. . . most plant foods supply at least 10% of their calories from protein. People on an animal-free diet get, on average, about 11% of their calories from protein; in contrast, those who eat a typical American diet get about 15% to 17% of their calories from protein. Recall that you require only about 5% of your calories from protein.” Janice Stanger, PhD

“. . . increased intakes of animal protein also enhance the production of insulin-like growth factor . . . and this enhances cancer cell growth.” T. Colin Campbell, PhD

“In reality, people have no greater need for animal protein than do gorillas or elephants, both of whom have far bigger muscles than we do, yet are plant eaters. It comes as a surprise for people to learn that essential amino acids are made by plants, not by animals. We can get them from animals, but somewhere along the food chain they originally came from plants. Generally, if vegans eat a variety of plant foods (legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits and grains) and consume sufficient calories, protein needs will be met.” Brenda Davis, RD