Vegetarian protein

[Onthehuntstill]

AIBU to think it's just too hard for a vegetarian to get enough protein?

I am on the large side and apparently you need so much protein per kilo of bodyweight. I've never come close to enough and I don't see how I ever will without over eating certain foods.

Does anyone else who's vege have these problems? I'm very anaemic too so I have to take iron because the main most ideal source of iron is meat.

I've been vege for 35 years. I don't think I could go back now but think it may have been a mistake.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I honestly think I'm more confused now 😂 Thanks to everyone for the comments.

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.

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.

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.

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