Protein. How To Get It. (Without Killing Animals)

But, how do you get any protein? Oh that doomed question that all vegans eventually encounter; because if you don’t eat meat, there’s absolutely no way to get enough protein into your body. Right? Wrong.

A lot of the foods that vegans eat are actually extremely rich in protein. For a typical day, a man between the ages of 19-70, only needs around 56g of protein, 46g of protein for a woman. While that sounds like a lot, let’s look at a normal day for a typical vegan.

For breakfast, one might have two slices of whole wheat bread with peanut butter, a glass of soymilk and some soy yogurt. That right there is almost half your daily protein intake for a woman (26 grams!). For lunch, she may eat a veggie burger and for dinner some spaghetti. She’s already at 47g of protein!

If you aren’t feeling that meal plan, let’s talk alternative forms of protein. As far as legumes go, most options are extremely high in protein. Legumes are now your best friends! This includes lentils, edamame (YUM!), kidney beans, pinto beans, chick peas (try roasting them with salt & pepper), lima beans, etc. The list goes on and on. All of these protein sources have 13g or more per cup!

Don’t forget your nuts! Nuts are a great snack and are very rich in protein. ¼ of a cup of peanuts will give you around 9g of protein, while ¼ of almonds provide around 8g. Cashews and brazil nuts are also a good choice.  Seeds are rich in protein as well! Next time at the salad bar, don’t skip the sunflower (6g/¼ cup) or chia seeds (5g/2tbsps).

Let’s not forget how rich vegetables are in protein. Spinach (5g), corn (5g), broccoli (4g), brussel sprouts (4g), and asparagus (3g) are all awesome, and might I say, delicious options.

Lastly, and definitely not least, are spreads. If you aren’t obsessed with spreads yet, you have no idea what you’re missing! Tahini (8g), almond butter (7g), cashew butter (6g), peanut butter (8g) and hummus (4g) to name a few! Don’t skip this aisle of Trader Joe’s next time, you won’t be sorry! Cheers to protein!