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Vegetarians – Here’s How to Max Your Protein


 Posted by Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training  0 Comment

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Protein options for vegetarians and vegans.

With all the talk of how important it is to get enough protein in the diet, many of my vegetarian clients worry that their diets might not be providing all the protein they need.

Vegetarians are usually advised to eat slightly more protein than omnivores. This is to ‘make up’ for the slightly different makeup of the amino acids in the foods that are eaten, and also because of slight differences in digestibility between animal and plant proteins.

In truth, though, vegetarian diets can offer up plenty of protein, as long as they’re well-balanced. Let’s talk about the options.

Amino Acids: Essential and Non-essential

The proteins that you eat are made up of small building blocks called amino acids. Some of them are termed “essential,” which means that you need to get them from food because your body can’t make them. Other amino acids are considered nonessential, since your body has the ability to manufacture them. Your body uses both types to assemble the various proteins in your body, like muscle cells and enzymes and hormones.

All protein foods, both plant and animal, supply amino acids to the body. The key difference is that animal foods contain all the essential amino acids, while most plant proteins (with the exception of soy) lack one or more essential amino acids. Since different plant foods have their own unique amino acid makeup, it’s not hard to get all the essentials on a vegetarian diet as long as you eat a variety of foods.

Protein Sources for Vegetarians

Lacto-ovo vegetarians can easily get good quality protein since their diet includes eggs and dairy products. Vegans, who stay away from all animal foods and animal products, can look to foods like beans, lentils and tofu for protein. But either way, it’s good to know that you can also pick up a fair amount of protein along the way from vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Again, eating a wide-ranging, well-balanced diet is key to meeting your needs.

Calorie Cost of Vegetarian Protein

Some of my vegetarian clients worry that the calorie cost of getting enough protein is too high. But a lot depends on what foods you choose. For those who are watching calories, I steer them towards the foods that provide the most protein for the fewest calories. If they’re willing to eat eggs and dairy products, this is relatively easy. Nonfat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese as well as whole eggs and egg whites can make sizable protein contributions for relatively few calories.

For vegans, plant proteins will be their staples (foods like beans, seitan tofu, and tempeh), and I encourage liberal use of protein powders made from plants such as soy, pea, rice or hemp. One of great features of plant protein powders is that they offer a lot of protein for relatively few calories, and they’re easy to add to foods such as protein shakes, oatmeal and soups to boost protein. And I can individually tailor how much protein powder each client should use, depending on their individual needs.

To help you out, here’s a list of some common vegetarian proteins, and the amount of protein they offer.

Food

Amount

Grams of protein
per portion

Calories
per portion

Seitan
(gluten, or ‘wheat meat’)
3 ounces/100 g 24 130
Protein Powder, Plain 4 tablespoons 20 80
Tempeh 3 ounces/100 g 18 200
Tofu, firm 3 ounces/100 g 13 125
Edamame soybeans 1/2 cup beans 11 125
Yogurt, plain,
non-fat, Greek Style
1/2 cup 11 70
Milk, non-fat 1 cup 10 (varies) 90
Cottage cheese, nonfat 1/2 cup 10 80
Lentils 1/2 cup 9 115
Black beans 1/2 cup 8 110
Almonds 1/2 cup 7 200
Egg whites 2 whites 7 35
Nut butter
(peanut, almond)
2 tablespoons 7 200
Soy milk, plain 1 cup 6 90
Kidney beans 1/2 cup 6 100
Eggs 1 whole 6 85
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 5 40
Quinoa 1/2 cup cooked 4 110
Broccoli, chopped 1 cup cooked 4 55
Brown rice 1/2 cup cooked 3 110
Oatmeal,
cooked in water
1 cup cooked 3 85
Seeds
(sesame, sunflower)
2 tablespoons 3 100
Whole grain bread 1 slice 3-5 100

 

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Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training
Susan is the Senior Director of Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife, where she is responsible for the development of nutrition education and training materials, and is one of the primary authors of the Herbalife-sponsored blog, www.discovergoodnutrition.com. She is a Registered Dietitian and holds two Board Certifications from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, and a Certified Specialist in Obesity and Weight Management. Susan is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Susan graduated with distinction in biology from the University of Colorado, and received her master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Colorado State University. She then completed her dietetic internship at the University of Kansas. Susan has taught extensively and developed educational programs targeted to individuals, groups and industry in her areas of expertise, including health promotion, weight management and sports nutrition. Prior to her role at Herbalife, she was the assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, and has held appointments as adjunct professor in nutrition at Pepperdine University and as lecturer in nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Susan was a consultant to the (then) Los Angeles Raiders for six seasons, and was a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health Section for two years. She is a co-author of 23 research papers, 14 book chapters, and was a co-author of two books for the public: “What Color is Your Diet?” and “The L.A. Shape Diet” by Dr. David Heber, published by Harper Collins in 2001 and 2004, respectively.


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