Enough Protein??

The serious vegan bloggers, authors and speakers, all get asked the same #1 question...."how do you get protein in your diet without meat, poultry, fish and dairy?"  I am amazed that in my small life circle how many times that I get asked this same question.  Everyone automatically assumes that you need to eat meat, poultry, fish and dairy to get enough protein in your diet.  So the big question is how much protein to we need on a daily basis? 

There are tons of articles on the web with differing opinions and numbers of grams we need.  I have read tons and have come to a decision that I personally need about 30-40 grams a day. I try to have 1/2 of my protein in the morning....green smoothie with protein powder, sprouted grain bread, wasa bread with peanut butter as a snack, oatmeal, soy milk or other flavors....you get the point.  This helps me have more energy for the rest of the day. But I have to say that just about everything I eat now has protein even if it is just a salad (throw on some kidney or chick peas).  I stopped worrying about the protein content months ago after charting my intake over a period of two weeks.  Then I stopped counting the grams simply because it wasn 't necessary anymore as I became more familiar with the foods I eat and their content.

Our bodies burn more calories digesting protein than carbohydrates or fat.  Plus protein make you feel fuller longer. So of course it is important to make sure we get enough protein.  But it doesn't have to come from fat laden red meat or dairy. I like that the proteins that I am putting into my body have mostly 0 cholesterol and lots of plant based protein and fibre.

It only takes afew minutes a day on the internet to educate yourself on how much protein do you need and where else you can get protein besides meat and dairy.  I'll give you a good example:

Check out the labels on the breads you buy and look for the protein and fibre content.  Whole wheat and Sprouted grain breads (found in the freezer section) are anywhere from 3-9g of protein. That's a lot! and that is for one slice....make a peanut butter sandwich using two slices and you have about 20g of protein!

 Or check out my blog piece on broiled tomato, asparagus and cheese sandwich....16 grams plus 4 more approx for the veggies = approx 20 grams.