[lexie67]

Hey guys, I was looking through the numerous threads in this forum about protein sources, and I noticed more than one of you saying that you're averaging 70-100 grams of it a day! I haven't been going out of my way to get protein, but I'm still almost always between 40 and 55 grams a day (my highest this week was 70, my lowest was an embarrassing 36 ). Anyway, I felt like I was doing okay on the protein thing -- not awesome, but fine, but now I feel a little inadequate! So I'm curious how much protein the rest of you vegetarian chicks get on an average day -- hopefully it'll give me a better gauge for it.

[JulieJ08]

I find eating only whole grains (vs refined grains) really helps. They're a pretty decent source of protein.

[note - I didn't mean I eat whole grains as my only protein source; I just meant avoiding using up calories with refined grains.]

[giselley]

I don't see how you would get 100g protien unless you were to eat lots of those veggi pattys, tempeh, sietan, tvp, tofu etc.: what I consider fake meat substitutes. I tend not to eat a lot of these and get about 40g of protien per day. Frankly, you don't need 100g protien unless you are a 200+ pound male. Eating too much protien is pointless and a waste of food.

[iaradajnos]

I try to make foods do "double- or triple-duty". (Note: I do eat eggs, cheese so this may not mesh with your eating needs) However, as JulieJ08 says, the grains are important.

I've been trying each month to try something new that I need. So, for a while I was looking up on the internet beans and such. I ended up with a long chart that has beans that are high in protein. I also did the same for foods (vege, nut, or whatever) that are high in calcium. Generally, I try to have a high calcium and a high protein for each of my four meals. I break up my calories in to about four equal parts (320 or so). I keep track in my notebook exactly what I eat (item by item), note the calorie per item, and also note the food group. My latest kick is to get MUFAs in my diet. This is hard since MUFAs are also high calorie so I usually do half-servings. So, each day I'll end up with two full servings of various items.

Basically, find high protein items and load your meals with them. As Giselley wrote, try to avoid those fake meats. You're not really getting authentic nutrients.

I'm always (inwardly) surprised when folks say they gave up being a vegetarian because they couldn't get enough protein. There are so many foods our there with protein, that you'd be surprised just how much you get.

One thing to research: certain grains match perfectly with certain proteins to create complete proteins. So, you'll want to look these up to see what various nation's food has complete proteins that you like to eat.

The below is from: http://www.theveggietable.com/articles/protein.html

Vegetarian Protein
There is a popular misconception that meat is the only real source of protein, and thus that a vegetarian diet is inherently unhealthy due to a lack of protein. It is impossible to stress how untrue this is.

First of all, the Recommended Daily Allowance of protein is not as high as one might think, and many people - vegetarian or not - eat more protein than their bodies actually need. The approximate RDA of protein is only 47 grams for women and 54 grams for men.

Secondly, there are many sources of vegetarian protein. The only problem is that most* vegetable sources of protein are incomplete, so you need to eat a combination of foods to get the complete protein.

Vegan sources of protein

Amaranth*
Cereals and grains - buckwheat*, rye, corn, rice, pasta...
Leafy green vegetables, including spinach
Legumes - beans, lentils, peas, peanuts
Nutritional yeast*
Nuts - almonds, walnuts, cashews...
Quinoa*
Seaweed - spirulina*, kelp ...
Seeds - hemp*, sesame, sunflower...
Soy* products - tofu, tempeh, soy milk...
Vegetables - Brussel sprouts, potatoes, yuca
Ovo-lacto sources of protein

Eggs*
Cheese*
Milk*
Yogurt*
* indicates a complete protein

As long as vegetarians (and everyone else, for that matter) eat a wide variety of foods, they will easily manage to eat enough protein - not to mention other nutrients.

If you want to be absolutely certain that you are getting enough protein, you should eat food combinations which form a complete protein, such as:

Legumes + seeds
Legumes + nuts
Legumes + grains
Chances are you already eat complete proteins without even trying. Here are some tasty and healthy complete protein combinations:

Beans on toast
Corn and beans
Hummus and pita bread
Nut butter on whole grain bread
Pasta with beans
Rice and beans, peas, or lentils
Split pea soup with whole grain or seeded crackers or bread
Tortillas with refried beans
Veggie burgers on bread
Note that these combinations don't necessarily have to be eaten at the same time; you can eat one several hours after the other and still benefit from the complete protein.

As you can see, there are plenty of vegetarian sources of protein, so the next time some "carnivore" ;-) says your diet is unhealthy, you'll know how to respond.

Bon appétit !

[lottie63]

I get between 60-80grams a day. I eat a good deal of tofu and seitan though, and I dont eat eggs or dairy.

also, I find if I go below 60 grams I feel lethargic and generally gross. So I try and keep it around 60 or so. but if you aren't feeling any negative effects of eating small amounts of protein, I'd just stay with what you're doing.

[nelie]

I've started diligently counting for the last week and my range definitely seems to be in the 60-80g range. I'm eating lower calories now than I was before when I was hitting near the 100g/day range.

I don't eat much tofu and I don't eat eggs or dairy either. My protein mostly comes from beans, veggies and I've also been drinking some hemp protein powder in the morning with a banana.

Honestly, our bodies don't need a lot of protein, even if you are a nursing mother or a body builder the requirements aren't as high as the mainstream would like you to believe.

I even read something funny that said body builders before the 1980's didn't focus on protein and didn't especially eat a lot of it, often about 10% of their calories came from protein. For some reason, the paradigm changed and protein became a major focus.

[nakedmango]

Today's protein-rich foods include:
soy nuts--17g
soy milk--9g
black bean burger--8g
whole-grain bun--7g
whole-grain pasta--12g
oatmeal--6g
wild rice--4g
edamame--21g

Total 84 grams of protein. there was also protein in the vital wheat gluten that holds the burgers together, but I can't remember how much I used so I didn't include it. The soy products really bumped it up today, but even without them (and with other protein sources instead, like the homemade bean-and-gluten sausages I had yesterday) I would still be okay.

I did track my protein for a while, to make sure I was getting enough. Now I know I'm doing fine, I just make sure to eat 3 or 4 protein servings a day and
I know it's enough.

[RangerChic]

I just started eating vegetarian as of this past Monday, and have been averaging about 50-55 grams of protein per day. I read that women just need 48 grams, so 50 seems about right. Am I shooting for too low?

[dangerousfish]

I've recently become a fan of amino acids vs protein intake. When people say they want to eat more protein what most of them mean is that they want more building blocks and the building blocks of protein are amino acids. iaradajnos posted a ton of vegetarian sources that are "complete" or contain all the essential amino acids (the ones our body can't make on its own) and you can also get all your amino acids by eating complementing foods (so that the limiting amino acid of one food is boosted by the abundance of that AA in another) For instance grains tend to be limited by lysine but legumes tend to be abundant (there's a reason so many cultures have a grain/bean dish!). So if someone tells you they are taking in 150 grams of protein but if you look at their protein and they are deficient (or lower than optimal) in one of essential amino acids that big number is pretty worthless.

Ramble, ramble.

[Arianwen]

I'm already at 76 grams for today!