The protein boom has been ongoing for several years, and it has harmed many people's sense of reality a bit. For example Bodybuilding.com says that I should eat 135 grams of protein a day in order to maintain my current physique. That's a lot, way more than enough. There's always debate, but studies have shown that the maximum amount of protein human body can utilize in a day is approximately 1.8 g/body weight (in kg), meaning the maximum for me would be around 104 grams a day. What I want to address by this intro is that stressing about your protein intake is most likely unnecessary.
One of the most frequent question a vegan receives is "where do you get your protein from?" Even though it can be a frustrating one to hear over and over again, let's try to understand. From early on, we've been taught that meat and daily are the only sources of protein (at least in Finland), and moreover, there still are plenty of people thinking that a vegan diet contains nothing but rice and veggies. Therefore, let's take a look how easy it is to have enough protein on a plant-based diet:
Nutritional yeast - protein content per 100g: 50g
Soya mince, dry - protein content per 100g: 50g
Peanut butter - protein content per 100g: 25g
Lentils, dry - protein content per 100g: 24g
Tofu, firm - protein content per 100g: 16g
Rolled oats - protein content per 100g: 14g
Whole wheat pasta, dry - protein content per 100g: 14g
Different kinds of beans (kidney, black, brown etc.), canned - protein content per 100g: 8g
Chickpeas/garbanzo beans, canned - protein content per 100g: 6g
Green peas - protein content per 100g: 5g
Soy milk - protein content per 100g: 3g
Were some of these surprising to you, the protein content of cereal products perhaps? That is just a list of a few staples in my own diet, but surely there's plenty more! Simply by eating a variety of delicious plant foods, there's no need to stress about your protein intake. 😉
-Jasmin ❤