25 Vegan Sources for Protein

If you’ve been vegan for any length of time, there’s a pretty good chance that someone’s asked you the ubiquitous question, “How do you get enough protein?” It’s a common misconception that you need animal products to get enough protein into your diet. In fact, many plant foods are loaded with protein, and if you incorporate 2-3 protein sources into each meal, chances are your protein levels will be a-OK.

Need proof that vegans aren’t hurting for protein? Just take a look at the recent popularity of veganism among bodybuilders! When you’re doing heavy weight training like bodybuilders do, you need to take in a lot more protein than the average recommendations. If it was that hard to get enough protein on a vegan diet, chances are we wouldn’t see so many bodybuilders talking about the benefits of a vegan diet!

The amount of protein you need in your diet depends a lot on your body weight and what activities you do. Americans in general eat far more protein than we need each day. The RDA for protein is .8 grams per kilogram of body weight. So, if you weigh 140 pounds, you’d need 51 grams of protein per day (140 pounds = 63.5 kg, and 63.5 X .8 = 50.8).

Like I mentioned above, you just need a couple of protein sources at each meal, and you’re golden. Depending on the protein sources you choose, you can even have just one source at a meal, if it’s high in protein. What I don’t want to do is confuse this idea with protein combining, a common practice that is totally unnecessary.

Next>> The Myth of Protein Combining

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Michele W.

9:36AM PDT on May 20, 2012

Thank you

send a green star

Heidi A.

2:08AM PDT on May 16, 2012

Seems like one has to eat ALOT of food to meet the daily protein requirements, if, like me, you don't eat tofu since it is about as flavorful as wet cardboard. But a very intersting article just the same. I didn't know there was any protein in potatoes.

Jeni G.

8:53AM PDT on May 13, 2012

Interesting stuff - thanks!

Karen R.

8:21AM PDT on May 12, 2012

trying to eat less meat, thanks for this article

Danuta W.

12:42AM PDT on May 12, 2012

Thank you do much for sharing this!

Rebecca F.

8:16PM PDT on May 11, 2012

thank you

John B.

7:58PM PDT on May 11, 2012

Thank you for the info Becky.

Joanna P.

4:11AM PDT on Apr 26, 2012

Since I am Polish, I consume a lot of kasha. I have read a lot about buckwheat on English sites, but I am not sure if you are aware there are many many more species of kasha (kasza jęczmienna - pearl barley, kasza jaglana, pęczak..) and they are all traditional in the Eastern-European cuisine. Kasha is delicious and packed with protein, vitamins and minerals.

Gretchyn L.

4:05PM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

BEE POLLEN and CHLORELLA mmmmmmmmmmmm

Eternal G.

4:30PM PST on Mar 8, 2012

Quinoa!