Anyone know how I would get lots of protein while on a vegan diet?

skip the meat clearly- it's just for comparison

Personally, I'm a fan of seitan, tofu, tempeh, protein powders, and vegan meat analogues like Field Roast, Tofurky, and Gardein.

Many of those are my go-to protein sources with seitan, field roast, and gardein... in that order.

BecomingBane wrote: »

Personally, I'm a fan of seitan, tofu, tempeh, protein powders, and vegan meat analogues like Field Roast, Tofurky, and Gardein.

Many of those are my go-to protein sources with seitan, field roast, and gardein... in that order.

Yes.

governatorkp wrote: »

You don't really need 'lots' of protein.
The new Western fad nowadays is an overload of protein.
Besides, plant proteins are digested differently from animal proteins.Plant proteins generally contains more different amino acids than animal protein.
[Young VR, Pellett PL. Plant proteins in relation to human protein and amino acid nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59 (suppl):1203S-1212S]

Vegan athletes’ protein needs can range from 0.36 to 0.86 grams of protein per pound 2.
[Rodriguez NR, DiMarco NM, Langley S. Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and athletic performance. J Am Diet Assoc 2009;109:509-27.]

Protein supplements are not needed to achieve even the highest level of protein intake.
The protein recommendation for vegans amounts to close to 10% of calories coming from protein.
[Mangels R, Messina V, Messina M. The Dietitian’s Guide to Vegetar-ian Diets, 3rd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2011.]

That being said, it's quite easy to get the amount of protein you eat.
Eat nuts and seeds, a variety of different vegetables and fruits daily, chickpeas, beans, lentils, soy, vegetable milks, grains (if you eat them).

Hemp seeds, beans and chickpeas are particularly high in protein.
If you don't mind eating (minimally) processed foods, you can go for tofu, tempeh, seitan and other vegan substitutes - though this will cost you more.

There's a lot of good information here, but to add to your reading, I'd like to point out that the WHO has published a much better guideline on protein needs and amino nutrition recently. It'll be more up to date than your 1994 reference above.

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43411/1/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf?ua=1

Additionally, current studies are showing that even as much as 1.2-1.5 grams per pound of lean mass can be beneficial to every athlete, not just vegan athletes, but those recommendations are more for the professional level of athlete and not just the average person starting out.

I'd also like to point out that most RDAs including those for protein are supposed to be considered as minimal levels to ensure a proper amino distribution and to prevent any deficiencies... these are not intended to be optimal levels.

But all of that said.. bodies vary and everyone will find that they perform "optimally" or feel better with differing macro distributions. Do you need all that much protein? No... but at the same time, it's shown to be helpful in weight loss if that's your goal, to increase protein in the diet, which will help spare lean mass losses as you lose weight when combined with any form of resistance training... plus it's generally considered to be a satiating macro by most (not all, obviously) so eating increased amounts of protein can be beneficial in preventing hunger in a deficit.

Also, there have been no problems shown to result from eating high levels of protein barring certain illnesses or disorders such as kidney disorders.


Ultimately, in any weight loss regimen or fitness regimen, increasing protein intake will be beneficial but the amount is going to be somewhat personal to the individual.

Carbs are easy to get on a vegan or vegetarian diet by its nature... but your important macros will be protein for sparing and building of lean tissue, and fat for proper hormone function and vitamin and mineral absorption.

Here's some interesting facts regarding protein as well:

"The Institute of Medicine, who sets the RDAs, does not recommend higher protein intakes for athletes. However, in a 2009 joint position paper on nutrition and athletic performance, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Dietetic Association (ADA), and Dietitians of Canada recommend higher protein intakes for athletes. They say:

Endurance athletes - "Nitrogen balance studies suggest that dietary protein intake necessary to support nitrogen balance in endurance athletes ranges from 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg/day."
Strength athletes - "Recommended protein intakes for strength-trained athletes range from approximately 1.2 to 1.7 g/kg/day." and "The amount of protein needed to maintain muscle mass may be lower for individuals who routinely resistance train because of more efficient protein use."
Vegetarians - "Because plant proteins are less well digested than animal proteins, an increase in intake of approximately 10% protein is advised. Therefore, protein recommendations for vegetarian athletes approximate 1.3–1.8 g/kg/day.""

source: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/protein#ath (they've listed their research at the bottom of the page as well)

It really depends on what you mean by "lots" of protein.

I find I can easily get 10-15% of calories from protein eating mostly whole foods, emphasizing legumes, green veggies, higher protein grains and pseudo grains (like oats and quinoa) and tofu ( I did say "mostly"whole)

Right now I need extra protein to combat illness induced muscle wasting. I've had to abandon the idea of a minimally processed diet and make peace with the fact that a vegan diet with 25-30% protein is only happening with foods like seitan, protein powder, and faux meats. Not sure my current % (before 8am where I live = no math happening), but on average I'm getting about 105-110g a day on 1700 ish calories.

^Lentils are awesome. They're not low carb, but they do contain plenty of protein and keep you feeling full.

I make a very filling salad with quinoa, edamame beans (both great sources of protein), rounded out with a bunch of fresh veg.

Hemp seeds are good too. If you eat dairy products, greek yogurt and cottage cheese are very high in protein.

Here is the link to this image...has more, this is just a snap shot.
*I found useful info and yum recipes
https://yurielkaim.com/vegan-protein-sources/