Unveiling plant-based protein
Beyond Tofu for a Cruelty-Free Diet
When you mention that you follow a vegan or plant-based diet, non-vegans often wonder where you get your protein. Besides tofu, there are many cruelty-free plant-based options to get protein. Let's dive deeper into plant-based protein, shall we?
Why protein?
Why are they asking us this? When they ask out loud, I have often thought of retorting “And where do you get your fibre from?”. But I digress.
Why do we need protein?
Protein is an essential part of nutrition. It makes up ~ 20% of our body weight, primarily in our muscles, hair, nails, skin, eyes and internal organs (especially the brain and heart).
We need protein to form and repair muscle tissue, create a defensive immune system by forming antibodies to fight infection. Our blood, specifically the red blood cell component, hemoglobin is a protein. Hormones, such as insulin, thyroid hormone are protein. And enzymes that catalyze chemical reactions in the body.
Protein is essential to living. But they’re technically complex molecules made up 22 nauturally occurring amino acids. Often referred to as the building blocks of protein, amino acids come in 3D structures such as long chains, branched molecules, spheres, sheets, or helixes.
We have six (6) nonessential amino acids that we can produce within the body. Nine (9) amino acids are considered to be essential and are required in the diet. Essential amino acids cannot be produced by the body and are required through diet. More on this later…
Nine (9) Essential Amino Acids
And the remainder are conditionally essential. An example of this is people with a B6 deficiency require glycine (a conditionally essential amino acid).
And here’s the retort to the hecklers wanting to know how you can get all of the essential amino acids on a plant-based diet: they don’t always need to be consumed on a daily basis.
Protein deficiency is a real issue. But there's no need to worry about it too much. Kwashiorkor is a term used to describe severe wasting caused by lack of protein. However, it can be completely cured by eating foods or taking supplements that have complete proteins. Another term for protein deficiency is protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) or marasmus. This can happen when someone is starving, leading to loss of energy and tissues.
It's worth mentioning that there is a global hunger epidemic, and we could address it better by growing crops for human consumption instead of animal agriculture. By reducing the production of meat and dairy, we can focus more on providing vegetable, grain, and mycoprotein foods to help feed those in poverty. This would make better use of land, water, resources, energy, and soil, ultimately benefiting more people.
How much?
Every day we all need to make 300 g of new protein, regardless of your age or weight. Every protein in the body turns over and has a different lifespan (some in liver are replaced hourly, some in muscles that are replaced every 40 days or so, some in connective tissue that is replaced twice a year). Four times a year, your body has replaced every protein in your body.
Aside from what your body can do for you, the general rule of thumb for sedentary adults is to consume approximately 0.8g for every kg of ideal body weight. If you’re pregnant or nursing, or an endurance athlete, these numbers can vary. The table below illustrates the requirements:
Table 1.1 Daily Protein Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
For example, a 55 kg adult would require approximately 44g of protein per day. Activity level dictates how much more the body can demand in terms of protein consumption. As we age, those with sarcopenia (muscle loss) should aim to add more protein to their diet.
When?
When is the best time to eat protein? Some say before a workout. Some say after.
Here’s what I would like you to know and remember:
Eat real food first. Supplements are last on your list of priorities, unless you have a serious health condition that you need to attend to.
Eat whole foods. Reduce the ultra-processed from your diet. Even the tomato you buy in the grocery store is processed. It’s been plucked, washed of it’s dirt and sprayed with some chemicals along the way. That’s a form of processing your food. If it’s gone through the extrusion process more than once, with multiple ingredients with multiple extrusions, it very well could be ultra-processed.
Eat (mostly) plants. A plant-forward is consistently found to be the most effective form of diet for health and longevity. Call it Mediterranean, vegan, or Blue Zone. What ever you call it, eat a diet rich in plant foods loaded with fibre, minerals, vitamins and protein. I put the mostly in brackets, because it’s not necessary to eat outside of the plant kingdom, but including mushrooms is an important part of a vegan diet - and they’re technically not plants.
Diversity. Remember being a kid and only wanting KD or spaghetti with butter and parm? Oh, I was that kid too. Eating a diverse diet of colourful fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains offers the greatest chance of survival. Learn more about why 30 plants a week is optimal in my on-demand masterclass: 5 Ways to Nourished Happiness
Can I thrive on plant-based protein?
There are nine (9) essential amino acids. Essential means they are a required part of our diet and cannot be produced by the body in order to function our bodily systems optimally. It also means that we can’t make these amino acids on our own.
Sometimes we hear “incomplete protein” associated with amino acids and plant-based eating. What does this mean?
All plants contain all nine essential amino acids to varying degrees. So, at the end of the day if you were to lay out your protein intake on the table you’d see an array of various amino acids. Assuming that you ate a plant-based diet, you’d see every single essential amino acid. But the quality can vary. Some proteins may contain less of certain essential amino acids than others. If you consumed your RDA of protein for the day, but didn’t receive enough of one of those essential amino acids, this would be technically “incomplete protein”. But this can happen based on any given day for any diet.
Paying closer attention to these foods, will assure you’re getting a complete protein profile per day with your plant-based nutrition. The essential amino acids that most vegan diets tend to lack are: lysine, methionine, tryptophan.
A good rule of thumb is to combine beans/seeds with grains:
millet & aduki beans
brown rice & kidney beans
soybeans & rice
peanut butter & whole wheat bread
beans & corn with rice
These combinations can optimize the intake of thosde nine essential amino acids on a daily basis.
Which foods can you include to amp up the protein profile for the day on a plant based diet? Here’s a few of the easiest ways to increase your protein intake without sacrificing micro- and macro-nutrients.
Table 1.2 Plant-based protein sources
Sources
Haas, E. M., & Levin, B. (2006). Staying healthy with nutrition medicine 21st century edition. Celestial Arts.
Table 1.1: Institute of Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fibre, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients). Washington, D.C. The National Academies Press, 2005.
Gardner, C. D., Hartle, J. C., Garrett, R. D., Offringa, L. C., & Wasserman, A. S. (2019). Maximizing the intersection of human health and the health of the environment with regard to the amount and type of protein produced and consumed in the United States. Nutrition Reviews, 77(4), 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuy073
