Using
plant-based proteins to reach your protein targets
Have you ever been in the middle of
meal prepping and thought “Ugh, chicken breast again?” Or maybe you’re already vegan or vegetarian
and wondering how you can make flexible dieting work for you? Typically lumped into the carbohydrate
category, plant-based proteins provide a huge variety of foods guaranteed to
help you reach your protein macro targets, while also providing you with tons
of fibre, vitamins, and minerals. For an
added bonus, plant-based foods tend to be lower in calories and fat than animal
proteins, too. When we hear the word ‘protein’,
most of us automatically think of animal products like meat or dairy. But all foods have protein; some foods just
more than others. The top plant-based
protein sources include beans and legumes, whole grains, and even some
vegetables!
You
may have heard that plant-based proteins are “incomplete proteins” or that you
need to prepare complicated food combinations to make a “complete protein”;
this is not quite correct. A complete
protein means that a food contains all 9 essential amino acids we need from
food. Plant-based foods do contain all 9
EAAs, but they are sometimes lower in one relative to the others. This is corrected by eating a wide variety of
plant-based foods throughout your day to balance out EAA levels (read: you
don’t have to eat beans and rice at every meal to get enough protein from plant
sources!) Read on to find out how you
can incorporate plant-based proteins into your flexible dieting plan so that
reaching your protein targets doesn’t have to be endless servings of chicken
breast, egg whites, or white fish.
Legumes
If you are wondering what a legume
even is, it is a plant that bears its seeds in a pod or shell. So, foods like beans, peas, peanuts, and lentils
fall into this category. Legumes are the
number one source of plant-based protein, averaging about 15 grams of protein
per 1 cup serving. Beans provide the
greatest variety of legumes to choose from- black beans, adzuki beans,
chickpeas, fava beans, or kidney beans, just to name a few. There are so many to choose from! Not only are they high in protein, beans are
also high in fibre, potassium, and iron.
Soybeans have the highest amount of
protein of all the beans, but they do tend to be a bit controversial when it
comes to whether we should incorporate them into our diets. In moderation, soybeans can be a great source
of protein, with 31g/cup; however, intake should be limited to one or two
servings per week, particularly for males, pregnant women, individuals with
thyroid dysfunction, babies, or teenagers.
Not only are soybeans genetically modified foods (typically), they also
contain high amounts of phytoestrogens and may have adverse effects on hormone
and thyroid function.
Back to protein here, though. Commonly thought of as a vegetable, peas are actually
legumes, and provide 8.6 grams of protein in a cup of green peas, and 16.3
grams in a cup of split peas! If
childhood memories of being told to “finish your peas” makes you shudder, try
swapping out your post-workout whey protein shake for a pea protein shake
instead! Gram for gram, pea protein
isolate is nearly identical to whey protein with its nutritional profile, with
around 20 grams of protein per serving (may vary with different brands of shake). Pea protein contains all 9 essential amino
acids and is rich in branched-chain amino acids. However, it is lower in methionine, relative
to the other essential amino acids. This
is corrected by combining pea protein with rice protein in most vegan protein
powders. To reach your protein macro
targets using legumes, aim for 2-3 servings of legumes a day. Try a home-made bean chili for lunch or
dinner, hummus and a whole wheat pita for a snack, or cook up a tasty lentil
curry!
Whole Grains
What do vegan zombies eat to get enough
protein? Grraaaiiinnssss. Just kidding, but whole grains are next on
the list of top plant-based proteins.
Whole grains like kamut, teff, oats, wild rice, millet, and couscous
contain around 6 grams of protein per serving (45g uncooked grain, or just
under 1 cup cooked). It is important to
choose whole grains, and not refined or ‘enriched’ wheat products, as processed
grains simply do not have the same nutritional content as whole, unrefined
grains. Low-carb and Paleo diet trends
have unfortunately vilified grains over recent years, but they do have a place
in any diet- especially a plant-based one.
Much like legumes, there is an abundance of grains to choose from, and
grains like quinoa and amaranth are even complete proteins! Interestingly, while legumes tend to be low
in the essential amino acid methionine, whole grains are generally lower in lysine,
which is where the idea of food combining comes in (and why rice and beans come
to mind when people think of vegetarian diets!). Balancing legumes with grains either within
meals or throughout the day assures optimal levels of the essential amino
acids, with plenty of protein to boot! Try
adding some peanut butter to your morning oatmeal; or pair a whole wheat
tortilla with a bean burrito. Eating 5 servings
of grains throughout your day ensures at least 30 grams of plant-based goodness
towards your protein macro target!
Vegetables
Taking third place for top plant-based
protein sources is vegetables. Yes, you
read that right! If you are anywhere on
the internet lately, you may have seen the meme that states that ‘100 calories
of broccoli contains more protein than 100 calories of steak.’ Which is accurate, albeit a tad
misleading. Broccoli contains about 3.8
grams of protein per 1 cup serving, which is great, but because it is so nutrient
dense and calorically sparse, you’d have to eat about 3 cups of broccoli to
make up 100 calories worth. That 100-calorie
steak, on the other hand, is only about 3 ounces. If you aren’t ready to trade in your T-Bone
for a heaping pile of broccoli, that’s okay.
Plenty of vegetables are high in protein, including mushrooms, leafy
greens like spinach, collard greens, and Swiss chard, asparagus, sweet corn,
Brussels sprouts and bean sprouts, and artichokes. These vegetables give us
about 4 grams of protein per cup, so we can use them to complement our legumes
and whole grains, to boost the protein profile of the meal. While they are low in protein relative to
meat, vegetables are packed with fibre and phytonutrients, making them an
excellent addition to any meal! Add a
handful of spinach or kale to your pea protein shake, or enjoy a stir fry with
broccoli, mushrooms, brown rice, and edamame for a high-protein plant-based
dinner.
Meat Substitutes
If you are considering
transitioning to a plant-based diet, but think you might miss eating meat, you
can try using meat substitutes to fulfill any cravings you might have. There is quite a range of meat substitute
products on the market now that are high in protein while being fairly like
meat, like veggie ground round (like ground beef, minus the beef), veggie
bacon, simulated chicken patties, or veggie meatballs. The most popular meat substitute products are
tofu, tempeh, seitan, or textured vegetable protein (TVP). Because of their texture and ability to
absorb other flavours, these products are the closest to animal protein, and
have the most protein of the plant-based protein sources. So why leave this section until last, you
might be asking? While tofu and other
meat-substitute products are high in protein (20+g/cup), there are reasons to
limit your consumption of these foods to one or two servings per week. Tofu, tempeh, and TVP are soybean products,
which as mentioned previously, may come from genetically modified soybeans, and
intake should be limited particularly by males, pregnant women, and teenagers
because of the phytoestrogens in soy products (i.e. Plant estrogens). Seitan is processed wheat protein, so it is
an option if you aren't sensitive to gluten.
However, it can be quite high in sodium, so should be consumed in
moderation. Another reason to limit consumption
of these foods is that they tend to be highly processed, especially if you are
purchasing pre-packaged, flavoured options.
It is best to consume our plant-based proteins in their whole food form
as often as possible, so choose shelled edamame over packaged tofu or use
sautéed mushrooms instead of packaged imitation meat when you can.
To sum up, when most
people think about vegan or vegetarian diets, they seem to think it's just
piles of tofu and vegetables, and seriously lacking in protein. I think by now, we can answer the question of
“, but will I get enough protein" with a resounding "YES!"-
plant-based diets are more than sufficient in protein, high in fibre, flavour,
and nutrients, while being simultaneously lower in calories and fat than a diet
based around animal products. It's up to
you whether you choose to use plant-based proteins to substitute or compliment
animal proteins; just know that they are abundantly available to add in to your
meal prep repertoire.
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