Vegetarian protein

Noting the bit about you being low on iron. Make sure that some of your protein comes from beans, peas and lentils, add lots of veg (especially green stuff) and a few nuts and seeds. Don't forget that high % dark chocolate is an iron rich food.

Prof. C Gardener (Stanford) can explain protein from a vegie point of view.
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Transcript
https://zoe.com/learn/podcast-should-i-eat-more-protein

I workout a lot. I'm very muscular. You honestly don't need as much as you think you do. I eat a lot of eggs and lentils. I do eat meat occasionally but I was vegetarian for 20 years and can hardly stomach it now days so don't generally bother with it.

I eat under and still have a lot of muscle just from exercise and being lean, you probably have adequate muscle but it's not visible if you're overweight. I think the suggested amount per kg of bodyweight is likely to mean what you need at your ideal weight or to maintain muscle mass if you're very bulked. Personally if I had weight to lose I'd eat under to match my goal weight.

I find high fibre diet is more filling than high protein. I know there's a lot of push for protein keeping you fuller for longer but honestly high fibre is the way.

Unless you are very athletic, protein isn't a major thing to worry about. The body doesn't store protein, so if you are taking in too much, you'll just get fatter.

The longest lived people in the world (in the "blue zone") eat mostly vegetarian, and tend to have relatively low protein diets.

We're mostly vegan and have never struggled with our protein levels.
We're both active, workout 3 times a week and do active hobbies a couple of times per week, both healthy weights. There's differing advice as to how much protein you need, lots of studies say around the 0.75-0.85g of protein per kg of body weight. We're both happy with our muscle growth and recovery so don't feel the need to increase our protein so we don't count macros all the time but I have counted them in the past.
An average day's meals for me can be porridge with flax seeds for breakfast, for lunch I'll quite often have beans on toast (seeded bread) or veggie sausages and beans sometimes, an apple with peanut butter as a snack, then a lentil dal with chickpeas and tofu for dinner, with brown rice. That's over a gram of protein per kg of my body weight.

100g protein-

Breakfast
2x protein yogurts = 40g, about 250kcal

Lunch
Scrambled tofu (300g tofu) with a scoop of nutritional yeast = 40g
(V nice with spring onions, tomatoes, peppers and soy sauce)

Dinner
3 egg omelette = 20g (with veg)

Sometimes an extra protein yogurt as snack

Other than that, veg and fruit.

0.8g protein per kg is two standard deviations above the mean.
If you are in the 2.5% you will either have a dietician advising you or a sports coach.

It is also 0.8g/ kg of lean mass. You don't need to feed fat.

Super high protein is the latest diet fad.

The basic requirements were as people said worked out over 40 years ago

I suspect they are therefore assuming a much more active person than todays typical woman who goes to a gym classs a few times a week

Ie the amounts will do for most women of normal or above normal exercise habits

And whatever you aim for , getting your protein without meat is probably healthier

Unfortunately you don't have to eat fish to consume plastic.. it's all around us, we're even breathing it in the air. It's about weighing up the downfalls and potential benefits.

@ohthejoys21 fish these days sadly contains microplastics so it's not really healthy. I certainly wouldn't want to eat plastic.

20 grams is nearly half your needs if you are shooting for the minimum requirement to be be healthy (for an average woman of an undisclosed age) and do not not exercise. Which may well
be the case.

I’m only arguing that it is individual- not everyone should be shooting for 45 grams a day. That won’t be sufficient for some.

With a couple do slices of decent toast your eggs and some milk in your coffee to boost the protein to around 20g which is almost half your needs

What hasn't changed is an understanding that too much protein is bad for you

Modern research - too much meat based proteins is bad for you - especially red and processed meats

There seems to be a modern push for high protein diets but I wonder how much is being pushed by vested parties not neutral scientists

The British heart foundation strongly supports people using vegetarian proteins

2 eggs is not 25 grams of protein! It’s 12.

The protein guidelines haven’t changed in 40 years. Whereas surely our understanding on nutrition has? My argument is that how is an average minimum requirement for a sedentary woman (who knows what age?) relevant for say and active menopausal woman?

I’d personally like to see the guidelines being a bit more nuanced and helpful.

No wonder people are confused. There is actually a massive lack of consensus within the scientific community about this. If people feel good on 50 grams of protein then great.

But personally protein fills me up. It
stops me craving sugar. I run and lift heavy weights. I know that protein after exercise contributes to recovery and muscle growth. I know as a menopausal woman I need to work hard to offset muscle loss.

Someone sat at a desk all day may do fine on 50 grams.

I'm in my 50's and was vegetarian since age 12. I started eating fish a few years back for this reason.. also because it's so much healthier and easier than some of the 'plant based' highly processed crap around now.
Also when you travel as a vegetarian it's not easy.

I'm veggie and eat lots of egg on toast/beans on toast and I make vegetable curries and chilli with beans and chickpeas. I don't measure my protein intake but I'm aware that I need to get it in my diet. I also love peanut butter and could eat it with a spoon.

The only time I've ever struggled was during pregnancy when I did become anemic and I was told that vitamin c is really important for your body to absorb iron. So I was given iron tablets and told to take them with orange juice.

Dried apricots and spinach also contain iron, it's not just from protein sources. Since becoming anemic in pregnancy I buy spinach to add to my curries and things. Not really a fan of dried apricots though.

The other thing you have to look out for is vitamin B12. It's in marmite and certain products that are fortified with B12 like cereal.

I’ve never struggled to get enough protein as a vegan. when I was a vegetarian it was even easier. I eat between 50g and 90g per day, I’m health and exercise regularly.

Haven't seen it mentioned & it's not widely used, but have you tried seitan? You can buy it or make it yourself. Totally unsuitable for coeliacs or even in the same house, if you're going to make it. But it's got a lot of protein.

www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/protein/how-to-get-protein-without-the-meat

@Delatron THIS is not 40 years old: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872778/ It is part of a large research project.
It says - as I did - that the 0.8/0.75g figure does not fit all. People with particular needs/at particular life stages may well need more protein. But I was making the point that we don't all - as a general rule - need vast amounts of protein (one poster mentioned 1.8gram per kilo bodyweight, for instance, which is a lot). It also says (section 2.2) "Interestingly, ‘the more, the better’ approach is not necessarily optimal". It concludes (section 6) "The currently recommended protein intake for ageing adults may [my emphasis] not be sufficient for muscle mass and strength maintenance."

Separately, it has also been suggested that too much protein may be bad for some people, eg those prone to kidney disease This article (written for the general public) refers to recommendations* from the US government health authorities for 2022-2025:
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-you-getting-too-much-protein

• https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/resources/2020-2025-dietary-guidelines-online-materials

I'm another veggie who never has any problem getting enough protein even without great planning tbh. Our kids also vegetarian and we calculate their protein carefully but don't find that it's difficult to get them their required intake either.

We eat a lot of tofu, peanut butter, yoghurt/quark, Quorn products, eggs, cheese and milk.

@Delatron today I had a protein shake, cereal and some peanut butter and banana on toast

Avocado on toast with tofu scramble, veg and beans

Fruit snack

Tea was risotto full of protein rich veg & nutritional yeast.

It is honestly so easy to eat plant based protein and it's so clean and healthy. My only regret is not switching over sooner.

I’m vegan and weight train, I have no problem eating 100 to 125g of protein per day. One example of a days food would be Breakfast- 4 vegan sausages and 2 slices seeded bread -34g protein. Lunch - homemade bean stew, it has 3 types of beans, loads of veg including peas for extra protein, approx 30g protein. Dinner - tofu, rice and steamed veg including edamame and peas - approx 35g protein.

I have a protein shake on the 4 days a week I go to the gym which is about 25g protein. Some days I might have a snack which would be either apple slices and peanut butter, hummus and carrot sticks or la vie vegan ham slices (5 slices is 19g protein).

I probably get about 50 gm a day which seems ok for me. I don't lift but I walk everywhere. All the women in my family are veggie and live long and healthy lives, so I feel confident enough. My mum doesn't even eat eggs.

I’ve never tried but...

breakfast
2 egg omelette with 30g of cheese is about 20g

lunch
200g of beans on 2 slices of whole meal toast is nearly 20g

snacks
hummus made with about half a tin of chickpeas would be 10g with carrot sticks or something

100g of green yoghurt with fruit another 10g

dinner
stir fry with 100g tofu, 25g of edamame in your veg and 1/4 pkt of whole wheat noodles is 20g or a shepherds pie with 225g (cooked) green lentils in it, or a Bolognese with 75g quorn mince and spaghetti, wholewheat would take you over 20g

tea or coffee using 250ml milk is 8 or 9 depending on which you use

leaves you with like 11 to still get, so 130g of milk chocolate 😐😂

Or more sensibly like, another snack with green yoghurt or double the hummus... or have cheese and biscuits or something

This. I’ve been vegetarian since 1992, and have had no issues with lack of protein or being iron-deficient.