But... do you get enough protein?

Powerful Protein

One of the biggest questions/worries/comments I get as a non-consumer of animal protein is... "Where do you get your protein? Do you get enough protein?" It's an old argument and one that isn't entirely accurate. You see... most North Americans get more than enough protein... but there is no need to hit 100 grams of protein/day. Actually... 50 grams of protein/day is enough for the average woman and 60 grams of protein/day for the average man. If you're an ultra-marathoner, you might need more... but that's not me...

 So... where do I get my protein? Let's look at an average meal plan:

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 6 grams of protein
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 6 grams of protein
• berries ( 1 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 0.1 grams of protein
• hemp hearts (1 Tbsp) - 4 grams of protein
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.3 grams of protein
• soy milk (1 cup) - 7 grams of protein
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 6 grams of protein
  
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 11 grams of protein

Let's see... 6+6+1+0.1+4+1.3+7+6+11= 42.4 grams of protein... just for breakfast.

Just to compare... scrambled eggs (3 eggs) and bacon (6 slices) have 13 grams of protein (and 0 grams fibre). Add two pancakes for another 5 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). And a glass of 2% milk for 8 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). We're even! Yay! But then... we'd have to talk sugars and saturated fats and... well... I don't think we want to go there today. You get the picture I think... Gram for gram... I can meet the protein requirements. And no... we don't supplement with protein powders... we don't need them. If ever we become marathoners... we'll supplement with protein powders...

Oh... and in case you're wondering... you've likely heard that animal proteins are considered "complete" proteins which means they have all the amino acids that we need. A one stop shop, so to speak. The terms "complete" and "incomplete "are a bit misleading though. Plant-based foods also contain all of the amino acids we require, just in slightly different proportions. All that means is that we need to eat a mixture of plant-based foods (not just rice and beans)... a varied diet... some legumes, some whole grains, some soy products, some nuts.

And no... soy products do not mess with your estrogen... that's another fallacy. Eating three servings of soy products/day (every day) is perfectly fine.

Another interesting tidbit... our bodies can only absorb 25 to 40 grams of protein at one sitting... so it's important to spread out our protein consumption. If we eat too much protein (like half a chicken - 80 grams of protein)... it gets stored as fat... and the excess amino acids get excreted...

Anyhow... back to my average daily meal plan...

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of protein
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1 gram of protein
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.4 grams of protein
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.2 grams of protein
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of protein
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup cooked) - 9 grams of protein (protein powerhouse!)
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup cooked) - 4 grams of protein (better than rice - same as quinoa)

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1+0.4+0.2+0.2+1+9+0.5+4= 22.3 grams of protein

So... let's see... that's... 64.7 grams of protein for breakfast and lunch. Boom... mic drop.

Protein for an herbivore ain't a problem if... IF... you eat a whole food, plant based diet. Toss in a bunch of white bread and pizza dough and potatoes instead of the oatmeal, soy milk, beans, nutritional yeast, dark leafy greens, lentils and farro and... the protein falls through the floor.

Fabulous Fibre

The bigger issue is Fibre... Our daily fibre requirement is in the neighbourhood of 30 grams/day... from food... not from supplements. The average North American gets 15 grams of fibre per day... and over 97% of Americans do NOT get enough fibre.

Let's bee clear... meat/fish/dairy/eggs have a great big whopping 0 for fibre. We're not talking about muscle fibres... those are not dietary fibre.

Fibre comes from plants... it's what allows plants to defy gravity and hold their shape. And our gut biomes love fibre, both the soluble and the insoluble types, and if you want anything... you want to keep your little gut biome happy...

Sooo... how does my breakfast and lunch stack up in the fibre department?

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 4 grams of fibre
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 2 grams of fibre
• berries ( 1 cup) - 3.6 grams of fibre
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 1.4 grams of fibre
• hemp seed (1 Tbsp) - 0.4 grams of fibre
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.9 grams of fibre
  
• soy milk (1 cup) 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 7 grams of fibre
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's see... 4+2+3.6+1.4+0.4+1.9+1.5+7+2.5= 24.3 grams of fibre... just for breakfast.

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of fibre
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.1 grams of fibre
  
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 2 grams of fibre
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup) - 8 grams of fibre
  
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams of fibre (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1.5+0.2+0.1+0.2+2+8+0.5+2.5=21 grams of fibre

So... that's 44.3 grams of fibre for breakfast and lunch.

And yes... we do eat our main meal at lunchtime. It dovetails better with the body's circadian rhythm. There's nothing worse than eating in the evening... particularly within four hours of bedtime.

So... what do we have for our evening meal? That varies. Some evenings, I'm just not hungry so I don't eat anything. Some evenings I'll have a few tablespoons of hummus with some veggie sticks (peppers, carrots, cukes, kohlrabi). Some evenings I'll have some peanut butter and mashed berries on top of a slice of pumpernickel style bread. All of which boosts my protein and fibre intake even more.

Sooo... a whole food, plant based diet more than ticks the boxes for protein and fibre. Still not convinced... look at a cow or a bison or a horse or a rhino or an elephant and ask yourself... these strong, muscular herbivores... where do they get their protein from?