If you’ve recently considered switching to a vegan diet, you may have heard that it’s hard to get more protein as a vegan.
Protein is an essential nutrient that contributes to muscle growth, tissue repair, and even your immune system. Although most types of protein-rich foods come from animal sources, reaching the recommended amount of protein per day can be challenging if you don’t eat foods like meat, poultry, dairy, or eggs. The good news is that if you’re a vegetarian, there are ways to make sure you’re getting plenty of protein in your diet.
The key is knowing some tips and tricks like knowing the right food combinations to prevent protein deficiency. Follow the tricks below to make sure you’re meeting your daily protein allotment.
How do vegans get enough protein?
According to the current USDA edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommended daily amount of protein to prevent deficiency is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
For example, if you weigh 190 pounds (86 kilograms), you should aim for 68.8 grams of protein per day. Keep in mind that this recommendation applies to the average sedentary adult. Older adults and physically active individuals will need a little more protein each day.
If you follow a vegan lifestyle, you can reach this recommended amount by adding some of these plant-based protein sources to your diet:
- Bean
- lentil
- Nuts
- seeds
- quinoa
- Oats
- tofu
- Tempe
- food yeast
6 Tips for Eating Protein for Vegetarians
Are you looking for ways to increase your plant protein intake or avoid a protein deficiency? Try these tips.
Use quinoa instead of rice
While both of these grains are good sources of carbohydrates and fiber, quinoa is the better choice if you’re aiming to increase your protein intake. Quinoa, when cooked, contains 8 grams of protein per cup, compared to 5 grams of protein per cup of brown rice.
What’s more, quinoa is also a complete protein, which means it contains all nine types of essential amino acids that your body can’t produce but needs for key functions like energy production, tissue repair, and immunity. Most other complete proteins come from animal sources, which makes quinoa stand out in terms of its nutritional benefits for vegan diets.
Use a plant-based protein powder
Incorporating a vegan protein powder into your diet is a quick and easy way to boost your protein intake—especially if you’re in a rush to get moving in the morning.
even better? There are many vegan protein powders available today, and you can use them in a variety of ways. For example, you can get an invigorating start to your day by mixing your protein powder with water or non-dairy milk. For a more substantial vegan meal, you can stir the powder into oatmeal, add it to baked goods, or mix it into a smoothie or protein shake.
Provide your body with essential amino acids
Protein consists of 20 amino acids, 11 of which the body can produce on its own. The other nine can be found in food products. As mentioned, when foods contain all nine essential amino acids, they are called complete proteins.
Most complete proteins are animal products (including meat, eggs, and dairy). For vegans, there are not many foods that contain all nine amino acids that are not created in the body. However, some plant proteins are high in some essential amino acids, such as soybeans, tofu, seeds, nuts, beans and lentils. By increasing your intake of these amino acid-rich foods, you can get closer to achieving your daily protein goals.
However, beans alone lack all essential amino acids. Consider combining beans and rice to make a complete protein. When we eat together, each food contributes to the loss of the other.
Start each day with protein
If you start your morning with a high-protein meal, there will be less pressure to figure out how to reach your protein goal for the rest of the day. Plus, eating protein at breakfast time will help you feel full and satisfied and give you energy to take on the day.
Oatmeal is a great example of a high-protein vegan breakfast. Compared to other grains, oats are rich in protein and have a good balance of essential amino acids. For more flavor, you can add things like fruit, nut butter, or seeds. Other protein-packed breakfast options include tofu, tempeh, or fruit smoothies with non-dairy milk and plant-based protein powder.
Add beans to everything
Beans and legumes are some of the most exciting sources of plant-based protein simply because there are so many varieties and no shortage of ways to use them in your meals. Plus, in terms of protein content, they pack a serious punch. For example, cooked chickpeas contain 14.5 grams of protein per cup, while a cup of cooked lentils contains 17.9 grams of protein.
Need some inspiration on how to incorporate more beans and legumes into your vegan diet? If you enjoy soup, you can add beans or lentils for a protein boost. Or, you can make vegan-friendly bean tacos with black beans or pinto beans. You can also amp up your salads with peas or chickpeas. (No matter what you’re making, these kitchen tools can help you prep vegan meals.)
Sprinkle nutritional yeast over your meals
Nutritional yeast is a vegetarian food product with a delicious flavor and high protein content. (There are 3 grams of protein in every 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast.) It’s also a complete protein, featuring all nine essential amino acids that you must get from food.
Even though nutritional yeast is vegan, it has a cheese-like flavor—perfect for vegans who want a little taste of something tasty. You can sprinkle nutritional yeast on everything from popcorn to soup to pasta, simultaneously enhancing the flavor of your food while increasing its protein content. Furthermore, nutritional yeast is very high in vitamin B12 – a deficiency common to vegans since vitamin B12 is mostly found in animal products.
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Getting enough protein each day is a common concern among many would-be vegans and first-timers — but it doesn’t have to be. From using a vegan protein powder to choosing foods rich in amino acids, there are plenty of ways to get the daily recommended amount of protein on a vegan diet.