Protein in a Vegan Diet

Proteins are essential building blocks of life.  Protein molecules are constructed of amino acids.

One of the biggest concerns that people have when considering a vegan diet is how they will get enough protien. The same question is usually among the first to be asked of vegans — “where do you get your protien?” Society has come to think of meat, eggs and dairy as the protien sources.

There are twenty amino acids required for protein synthesis.  Of these, there are eight that cannot be produced by humans and must be consumed as a part of their diet.  These are known as the essential amino acids.  They are isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine.

All plants contain protein.  In fact, all plants contain all of the protein you need, but some of them are in very low concentration.  It is a common misconception that plants are deficient in protein, and that animal products are needed to obtain protein.  This is not true.  What is true, however, is that it is easier to get all essential amino acids from a single animal food source than from a single plant source.

This is only a problem for vegans if their diet consists of only one type of plant.  For example, if you eat only rice, you’ll miss out on some proteins.  If you eat rice and legumes, you’ll get most, if not all of them.

It is not neccessary to combine different plant foods in the same meal, but a vegan diet should consist of a variety of plants.

Generally, adult women need 46 grams of protein per day while adult men need 56 grams.  Alternatively, as a rule of thumb, 0.8 grams of protein should be consumed per kilogram of body weight each day.  The total amount of protein consumed should consist of roughly equal amounts of the nine essential amino acids.

Here is a breakdown of some of the limiting amino acids in plants.

  • Wheat and rice are low in lysine
  • Legumes, such as beans and peas, are low in tryptophan
  • Pulses (beans) are also low in methionine
  • Maize (cereals and corn) are low in both lysine and tryptophan

Eating a mix of wheat or rice and peas, for example, will meet your protein needs in terms of the variety of protiens required.

Here are some vegan foods that are high in protein:

  • Tofu and other soybean products
  • Peanuts
  • Nuts
  • Beans and other legumes

The protein content of nuts and beans is higher when they are eaten raw.