Protein Vegan Diet

Although a vegan diet is largely plant based, it is possible to eat either a high or a low protein vegan diet. In modern western societies there is a tendency for people to eat too much animal based protein and consequently high levels of saturated fats. A protein vegan diet on the other hand is very low in fat because the protein is not sourced from animals or animal products. Vegans get most of their protein from meat substitutes such as tofu and Soya protein and also from nuts and from certain grains. Like the rest of the population's diets, a protein vegan diet is derived from a number of different sources.

Meat Substitutes

Meat substitutes such as tofu and Soya protein help to make the vegan diet more varied and provide valuable sources of protein. A protein vegan diet is easy to achieve these days and there are now more products on the market such as steaks, mince and burgers made from meat substitutes. Some meat substitute products are made to such a high standard that they do have the flavour of the real thing. Non-vegans get protein from meats and dairy food, which vegans do not eat. Milk and cheese substitutes that are made from Soya protein are now available in the shops and contribute to a more varied protein vegan diet. Despite what many non-vegans may think, we may like meat and it may be a good source of protein, but we don't have to eat either meat or dairy products in order to eat a diet that is rich in protein.

Sources of Protein

A protein vegan diet consists of other sources of protein, besides meat and dairy substitutes, just as non-vegan diets also consist of sources of protein that are neither meat nor dairy products. Breakfast oatmeal provides some protein and vegetarian baked beans contain considerably more and both of these items are quite common in any protein vegan diet. The fact is that we don't always recognise that a lot of the food we eat other than meat and animal products, also contains protein. Two slices of wholemeal bread for example contains five grammas of protein. Vegetables such as broccoli contain protein as does brown rice and peanut butter. The recommended daily protein levels for adults are between 56 and 70 grammas of protein each day.

Too much protein is as bad as not enough protein. Our bodies find it hard to deal with some of the protein that we eat and so we need to eat whole grains in order to help the body break down animal protein into a form that the body can use. We need protein for building body tissue and muscles and there is more than enough of it in a balanced protein vegan diet. Just as the body needs protein, so it needs certain other vitamins and minerals, while there is iron in a protein vegan diet, it does need supplementing with iron and vitamin b tablets.