Vegetarians/Vegans -How much protein do I REALLY need?

I'm a vegetarian, and I expect you're right. I tend to eat between 40-60g of protein per day, most of which comes from dairy/soy products, pulses and meat-replacement foods likes quorn or tofu. Having said that, if you're dong weights training, you do need quite a bit of protein. I would suggest eating lentils/beans and putting semi-skimmed milk/soy in your tea or cereal, and then you should be fine. Good luck!

I'm a vegetarian, and I expect you're right. I tend to eat between 40-60g of protein per day, most of which comes from dairy/soy products, pulses and meat-replacement foods likes quorn or tofu. Having said that, if you're dong weights training, you do need quite a bit of protein. I would suggest eating lentils/beans and putting semi-skimmed milk/soy in your tea or cereal, and then you should be fine. Good luck!

^This. Also, raw almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in moderation. Lots of good proteins and omega 3's.

Great question. I have had the same question, but so many different opinions.

Though I eat some dairy occasionally, I east Vegan most of the time. I limit anything processed, including tempeh, tofu, faux meats, etc. It's sometimes hard to get my daily protein. I eat a lot of beans, quinoa, whole grains, and my new favorite snack is edamame in the shell. I find it's a real balancing act to keep sugars and fats low, while keeping the good nutrients high.I can do it, but it takes a conscious effort!

I have been eating on average about 50g of Protein a day. I love nuts and eat those in moderation, but try to limit those b/c of the high fat content.

According to the U.S. RDA is to multiply 0.36 (grams) by your body weight. A healthy plant-based diet includes a wide variety of whole foods consisting of beans, whole-grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, along with products made from these natural foods, such as tofu, tempeh, and meat analogs. You can easily get all the protein you need from real food, there is no need for protein supplements. For me beans (especially soybeans at 29 grams per cup), lentils (18 grams in a cup) and tempeh (up to 20 grams in 4 ounces) are the sources of most of my protein and they are a great calorie bargain!!!!

Used to do the vegan thing, don't anymore, but good sources of non-animal based protein include: Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, soybeans, split peas, Barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, ouinoa, rye, wheat germ, wheat, wild rice, Artichokes, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green peas, green pepper, kale, lettuce, mushroom, mustard green, onions, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, turnip greens, watercress, yams, zucchini, Apple, banana, cantaloupe, grape, grapefruit, honeydew melon, orange, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, strawberry, tangerine, watermelon, Almonds, cashews, filberts, hemp seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts (black). If you do weight training, and you can get past the processed nature of it, you can add some soy-based protein shake powder made with soy and almond milk now and then.

as long as you are eating the right foods (not mcdonald's french fries) but eating lots of leafy greens, whole grains, beans, nuts etc. -- you will get plenty of protein. if you opt for processed foods, you will have a harder time. the milk substitutes are a good source. i used almond milk.

be cautious of the amount of soy you consume. i do eat it, but i limit it. studies have linked the estrogen in soy to tumor growth. it's good in moderation. if you like the soy yogurt, drink rice or almond milk. if you have a veggie burger pattie, skip the soy cheese. that sort of thing...

good luck! it's not an easy transition. take it slow and don't worry if you have the occasional slip up. we are flexitarians in my house - i consider myself primarily vegetarian, but i do meat from time to time. My sister is a vegetarian who leads a mostly vegan life. you should do your research thoroughly about veganism and what it means. I attempted it briefly. Even white sugar is out because there are bones involved in the processing of it. it's an admirable lifestyle, it was just hard for my family of 4 to maintain.

The WHO recommend 45g of protein a day for women, so I tend to try to use that as my baseline. I have more on the days I exercise, but 45g is what to aim for as a min.

I have been working toward eliminating animal-based foods from my diet. Of course now I am quite low on protein. I have added quinoa, but the protein to calorie ratio is not good. I'd have to eat only quinoa to meet my protein requirement, and I would be over on calories. So obviously that is not the answer.

I suspect that I don't really need as much protein as MFP recommends, especially if the recommendation is based on the USDA recommendations, since they represent and are funded by the animal protein industry. But my question is how much protein do I really need?

I ordered a body fat analyzer which should arrive next week. That should tell me what percentage of my weight loss is fat vs. lean mass. I am doing a lot of cardio 6 days/week and weight lifting 3 days/week, with one rest day.

Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The USDA is a federally funded program with programs involved in all parts of farming, crop and animal, other things such as logging, and MANY OTHER areas. Not to hi-jack your thread, but I think it’s funny because the paleo dieters claim that the USDA's food pyramid is warped because it suggests a high portion of grain for which they subsidize, and here you claim that the USDA recommendations are warped because of their involvement in animal farming.

45-50 or so grams of protein per day is ideal for an average woman. I have been a vegetarian for over a year and I eat around 50-65g (leaning towards the higher end when I am working out) per day between raw almonds, greek yogurt, cheese, whole grains, peanut butter, beans, chick peas, hummus, tofu and other soy subs, etc etc. I would eat eggs or egg-whites more if I wasn't mildly intolerant to them. Occasionally I will have a soy protein shake or protein bar if I need to boost my protein, but they are both higher in sugar. The more physically active you are, the more your daily protein intake should be increased, but at least 45g per day is recommended.

Here is a really good article about the difference between animal and plant based proteins, complete/incomplete proteins, and amino acids:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/14563169/ns/today-today_health/t/protein-how-much-do-you-need/

Good luck!!

below is a raw foodest,

Who IS this?????????

Yeah... I wanna know who this is... OMG...Nom Nom Nom on him... ;9

I try to hit 50g everyday with my 1500/day allowance ( per my doc). I get it from whole foods, dairy, some eggs and the occasional Luna bar after workouts. I try to combo my proteins to make them complete ( eg. legumes and whole grain together). Some days I get up to 70g when I am really focused on it. Brussels sprouts have a surprising amount of protein, who knew??

My nutritionist says that we only need 15% of our calories to come from protein. The new rules of lifting book that I just read said that this is a minimum, and that it is better if we eat more, especially if we are trying to gain muscle - so I've been shooting for about 20%. I used to advocate an "it doesn't matter" approach, but right now I'm trying higher protein levels to see how it works. I absolutely do not recommend animal protein no matter what, though - I've read the China Study.

I eat a lot of tofu, black beans, sprouted mung beans, lentils, and protein powder. My favorite protein powder is Spirutein - tastes like candy (which means it probably isn't the healthiest, but it's vegan and full of protein). I also have hemp protein powder and a rice protein powder that I add to my green smoothies. Let me know if you have questions or want more info!

The China Study is excellent! My son hates it because I stopped buying milk after I read it. I hadn't really given a thought to how much protein I was getting, but I guess I should figure out a minimum for myself. I eat a lot of veggie burgers, almonds and peanut butter, and I do eat eggs and fish, and occasionally chicken. Need to start adding beans to my diet, and open my box of quinoa already! Thanks for the post!