high-protein foods?? (vegetarian)

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rayonrainbows
rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
in Food and Nutrition
hey,
i'm really wanting to up my protein. i never seem to meet the goal on here. any suggestions?

a few limitations:
i'm vegetarian
i live in a small town in central america where there things like Greek Yogurt, Protein Shakes, & Tofu/Tempeh/Pre-made Veggie Burgers, etc, are not available. as well as dark green leafy veggies.

when i want a protein fix now, this is what i turn to: egg whites, dehydrated soy meat crumbles, cottage cheese, and beans.

i know nuts are good protein, but to get a decent protein amount from this is hard for me to afford calorifically...

do you know of any other commonly available high-protein sources that i'm not considering?
like, is yogurt worth it? cheese? cream? idk... certain veggies?

any suggestions are super appreciated!
thank you!

Replies

  • jillyrose0711
    jillyrose0711 Posts: 46 Member
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    lentils, regular yogurt, whole grain breads & pastas, some brands of cereal and granola

    are you able to use the internet to order things on Amazon.com or iHerb.com? I buy a lot of my dry staples like chia and hemp seeds, quinoa, as well as protein powders on those sites
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    @jillyrose

    no, there's no shipping here, but the local pet food store sells chia & flax seeds! ....i remember i tried to sprout them once... i'll do some research on those!! that might be a super awesomely helpful suggestion! :)

    @whole grain breads & pastas, some brands of cereal and granola -- i know breads contain a pretty decent amt of protein, but every single day i'm over on carbs on here, so i'm not trying to add more grains for the sake of protein. however, being more conscientious of my grains is a great reminder.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    Chia is a high-protein high-fiber seed and mail-orders well. So is quinoa, and quinoa has balanced amino acids.

    If you can get soymilk, it is not difficult to make your own tofu--look up how on the web. The curdling agent is also available by mail. Making the soymilk is the drudgery part. You can buy a soymilk machine ($$$) and make soymilk, tofu, and okara from soybeans if you're motivated and have the resources to spend on the machine.

    You could eat whole eggs. Protein quality in the yolks is better than the whites, and the lecithin in the whites binds up most of the cholesterol and keeps it from being bioavailable. Unfertilized eggs would never have been chickens anyway so the morality is still consistent with vegetarianism, especially if you are able to source the eggs locally from a farm with good husbandry practices (some vegetarians object to factory farming because the animals have poor quality of life).
  • ldy_78
    ldy_78 Posts: 61
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    Can you do a little online shopping? I recommend sites like amazon and vitacost to get protein supplements. Sure beans are good, but in my experience they aren't the *best* source of protein. Amazon sells tons of different protein powders and bars, like quest (which are amazing), and many are plant based if you don't want to eat whey or dairy. GNC and Walmart might also sell suitable sources of protein supplementation.

    How about eggs or egg whites? Those have been a lifesaver for me. Low fat cottage cheese is another good protein source. You could also attempt to make your own seitan if you can buy wheat gluten in your small town. It is very low carb and very high in protein.

    Here's a quick list (with the highest protein sources first):

    Eggs/egg whites
    cottage cheese
    yogurt
    frozen peas/peas
    sprouts (alfalfa, sunflower, etc)
    cruciferous greens (kale, chard, etc. though you'd have to a boat load to meet you macros)
    quinoa
    amaranth
    brown rice (not white, even though you are watching grain intake)
  • strutto
    strutto Posts: 1
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    Hi, I'd recomend pea proteins. I live in Europe and found the brand Pulsin very good with a variety of products and their yellow split pea proteins are jus excellent in term of quality, "mixabiliy" :-).... Very good to thicken soups and make veggies creamy (I love tossed red tomatoes a bit of olive eXtra virgin oil and Pulsin pea proteins MMMMMMHHHH YUMMY!!. If this brand is not available via Internet in the US have a look at http://proteinpowder.mercola.com/Pea-Protein.html (disregard the miracle whey stuff... miracle ?? :smile: ) Good luck! Hermann
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    @LAT1963 -- thank you!

    i'll look into quinoa. i remember seeing a box of it somewhere, but it was super expensive. something to think about.

    i've actually looked into making my own tofu before, since veggie stands sell dried soy beans here, but i can't order the curdling agent, and it seems really difficult!! i'll absolutely look into it again though, maybe i can make something work. thanks for the reminder that that option exists!!

    they do sell powdered soymilk here, i just don't enjoy it. it's something i should consider adding into dishes where i can't taste it, though.

    whole eggs--- sometimes i do eat whole eggs. i just do egg whites when i want high protein for little calories. & i buy my eggs from my neighbors whose chickens are running around our yards so i'm alright with the ethics of it haha. i was actually vegan for about 4 yrs before leaving the states, but it's just too restrictive here really.





    i'm looking into the flax & chia seeds thing. and it seems i really should sprout them in order to get the best protein benefits. thanks so much for the suggestions!
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    Can you do a little online shopping?

    --- unfortunately, no :(



    You could also attempt to make your own seitan if you can buy wheat gluten in your small town. It is very low carb and very high in protein.

    --- i want to make seitan so badly!!! but i can't find wheat gluten anywhere




    frozen peas/peas
    sprouts (alfalfa, sunflower, etc)

    --- OMG sunflower sprouts!!!! BRILLIANT. i've never done it before, but i have a bag of whole sunflower seeds for planting. thank you i will definitely look into & try this!!
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    @strutto

    thank you so much for the suggestion! it sounds really yummy. unfortunately, i can't get those here. they do however sell bags of dried split peas that i don't buy because they're kinda expensive. might be a worthwhile investment though! thanks for reminding me of that option!
  • witchcadet
    witchcadet Posts: 6
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    I am vegetarian too. I eat an INSANE amount of black beans and Kale. I grow the Kale myself. Peas are really high too. We use a really good proteing powder "Warrier Blend", but it doesn't help much where you are. Amaranth also give a big bang for your buck. Any chance you could get whey?
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    @witchcadet ---

    i'm looking into this Amaranth seed, and i can't figure out exactly what it is.

    from the internet, it looks a lot like what they call soy seed here. i'm going to dig a little deeper. it looks like something worth trying if i can figure it out! thanks :)
  • rayonrainbows
    rayonrainbows Posts: 423 Member
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    oh & Whey...... no idea. i've never seen it but i've never looked for it. i'll keep an eye out. thanks :)
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
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    quorn.
  • alyssareyans
    alyssareyans Posts: 88 Member
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    Lentils and chick peas. You can cook them a ton of different ways and they're high in protein and fiber. I eat vegetarian (but I'm not vegetarian it's complicated) so I'm always looking for ways to get more protein and fiber in my diet. I also buy vegan "meat". I use this http://www.yvesveggie.com/products/detail.php/meatless-ground-round-original a lot in my meals. I can add it into almost anything and it has 10 g of protein.
  • rivka_m
    rivka_m Posts: 1,007 Member
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    Also if you have a Seventh Day Adventist store near you sometimes they carry vegetarian/vegan food. I don't know if it's likely at all, but figured it was worth mentioning.

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