Reasons why you needn’t worry about protein on a vegetarian diet
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Whilst reading one of my favourite blogs 101 cookbooks, a vegetarian recipe site, I came across a question from one reader asking for information on protein in the recipes. This made me decide to write a post on the subject, which is something I ‘d thought of doing for a while.
It’s a fairly common concern, unsurprisingly with the amount of promotion given to meat and dairy products and with terms like first and second class and complete and incomplete proteins being bandied about - it’s easy to get confused about what it all means and to be concerned if you’re thinking about eating more vegetarian food.
Importance of protein
There’s no denying that protein is really important. It is the major functional and structural component of all our cells and we need it for growth repair and energy.
Protein is made up of amino acids. There are 22 of these in all. Of these 14 are classed as non essential - this means that the body can make them. The remaining 8 are essential amino acids which means that you must get them from your food. Unless all 8 essential amino acids are present in your food your body can’t make use of the protein.
The foods usually classed as protein foods such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy food have all 8 essential amino acids and are therefore said to be first class or complete protein foods. Generally speaking, most foods of vegetable origin don’t have all eight essential amino acids and the so the protein in vegetable foods is classed as second class or incomplete protein. There are some exceptions to this, soya and soya based products such as soya milk, tofu and of course TVP - textured vegetable protein made to look like artificial meat. Then there’s quorn made from fungus micoprotein - also made into ‘veggi meat’. Personally I can’t see the point of this and don’t want my veggies to resemble meat in any way but for lots of people these make a good way eating less meat. Another complete vegetable protein is the grain (well seed really) quinoa.
Is it necessary to eat foods with complementary amino acids?
What people used to think was that if you were a veggie it was really important to plan your meals carefully to make sure that you put foods together that made complete protein. Frances Moore Lappe wrote a well known book in the 1970s called Diet for a Small Planet
A few years later she re-wrote the book saying that protein complementing at meals wasn’t necessary. This was firstly because protein is so abundant in foods and secondly because your body stores essential amino acids and can combine them as necessary. Basically, and this is what is now generally accepted, it’s far more difficult to get too little than too much protein. If you’re eating enough calories to survive on, even in junk food, the liklihood is that you’re getting enough protein. This isn’t a go-ahead to stuff your face with junk food though. Although labelling on foods leads us to believe that nutrition only consists of protein, carbohydrate, fats, salt and fibre, what we do need to make sure we get from our food - is usually sadly lacking on food labels.
Foods that can be put together to make complete protein
You might not realise that even in most protein foods such as meat not all of the protein is usuable. Eggs, however, have the perfect amino acid profile for protein usability for humans. the combinations of non meat or fish foods that make the amino acid profile more complete are:
- grains and legumes ( lentil curry and rice, red kidney beans and corn tortillas, baked beans on wheatbread toast)
- seeds and legumes (hummus made from chick peas and tahini, sunflower seeds and peanuts)
- grains and milk products (cheese sandwiches, cereal with milk, rice and milk pudding, pasta with a cheese sauce)
You’ve probably realised that a lot of typical vegetarian meals have complementary amino acids anyway, and if you don’t eat a meal that does you’re OK as long as you eat a range of foods each day.
So the bottom line is you don’t need to worry about protein - enjoy your varied vegetarian diet or meals and know that by eating less meat you’re likely to be getting loads of other health benefits as well putting less strain on the environment.
Some answers to confusion over the best sources of Omega 3
EFAs or essential fatty acids seem to be one of the big things in nutrition at the moment and the importance of getting enough Omega 3 (there’s also 6 [...] Continue Reading…
Make the most of local markets for your fresh fruit and vegetables
I’ve just been visiting some of my favourite blog and came across a post by fellow blogger Michelle of ‘What does your body good’ about her weekly shop and [...] Continue Reading…
The benefits of molasses and oatmeal combined in this simple recipe for parkin
It’s always nice to come across a cake or dessert that can fit into the catagory of healthy. Although I’d always advocate eating any dessert in moderation, this traditional [...] Continue Reading…
Two beetroot bonfire food recipes
Our bonfire night celebrations are over for another year, unfortunately this year turned out to be a bit of damp squib (sorry!) weather wise anyway. We just had time [...] Continue Reading…
Healthy (and not quite so healthy) recipes for a bonfire party
‘Remember remember the 5th of November’ - well, yes, I know it’s not but the the Guy Fawkes night celebrations are no longer limited to November 5th as they [...] Continue Reading…
The best way to sprout seeds
A few posts ago I wrote about some of the benefits of sprouted broccoli seeds - one being strenghthening your immune system. I’m glad to say that my broccoli [...] Continue Reading…
Purple tomatoes - should we trust the lastest, genetically engineered, cancer fighting, superfood?
So yet another superfood is making the headlines in a big way, only this time the scientists, bless ‘em have decided that nature needs a bit of a helping [...] Continue Reading…
Winter warming beetroot soup recipe - for the end of a cold day out
After a particularly mild Autumn, today was the first day that it felt like winter is really arriving. As it’s half term week we had a family day out [...] Continue Reading…
Broccoli and broccoli sprouts - help for your immune system and diabetes
Are you including broccoli as one of your regular veggies? If not you should do because it’s one of the most nutritious and health promoting green vegetables being full [...] Continue Reading…
