Vegetarians Don’t Worry About “Getting Enough” Protein Anymore

If you are a Vegan, a Vegetarian or a Qualitarian (like me) you’re eating right for optimal health by reducing your intake of animal proteins and fats, and when consuming them, having the best quality.  But how do friends, parents, and even healthcare practitioners react? A lot of my clients tell me that despite the publicity for the health benefits of less animal, many will invoke the old myth, that vegetarians can’t get sufficient protein, in the name of “health”.  Let’s be really clear.  Gone are the days of having to combine foods at a singular eating occasion to achieve a “complete” protein – another meal of beans and rice, anyone?  And in fact, what we know of those eating occasions, is that they can actually be too carbohydrate dominant making weight maintenance and energy balance an issue. Today we know that, yes you can have your beans and rice (an ideal portion size of the combined rice+beans is about your fist, yes Shaq can eat more rice and beans at a serving than the average woman or man, and certainly child, despite the fact that when we eat out we are often given Shaq sized portions). But beyond rice n’ beans you can also choose organic berries with hempseeds (a complete protein), or quinoa (another complete protein) with cinnamon, nuts, oil, and stevia for a yummy breakfast bowl. Use tempeh (non-GMO, fermented soy, another complete protein) in a salad or in place of the “meat” in your sandwich. With hemp, rice, soy, pea and sprouted grain protein sources popping up everywhere, it’s easy, healthy and tasty to get sufficient protein not from animal sources. So go on, get your protein at every eating occasion and enjoy some of nature’s best tasting and nutritious treats. AKA products include those from companies like Eden Foods, Seeds of Change, Sunshine Burger,Nature’s Path, TruRoots, Lundberg, Amy’s Kitchen, Rainbow Light, Manitoba Harvest, Mary’s Gone Crackers, Pure Bar and more.

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