Skip to main content

Food Trends: Plant vs. Animal Protein

In my practice I see a lot of vegetarians who have a lot of questions about the types of protein they eat.  In case you need a refresher, animal proteins are proteins derived from meat, dairy, and eggs.  Plant protein is derived from nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and soy.  Most animal proteins are higher in saturated fat as well as cholesterol which have been proved to increase risks of arteriosclerosis, a precursor to cardiovascular disease.  A lot of the general public, not just vegetarians, are starting to focus on decreasing intakes of animal proteins and focusing on plant sources to decrease total calorie, fat, and cholesterol intake. 

It’s important to know that most generally healthy individuals only need .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.  Basically this means that a 150 pound man or woman requires about 54 grams of protein in an entire day.

Protein is made from amino acids.  Although there are many amino acids, there are nine that our bodies cannot produce on their own.  These nine amino acids become essential, meaning we need to consume them from animal or plant products.  Amino Acids are very important as they are the building blocks that make protein in our body.  Our bodies need to make protein for such things as muscles (think heart), hair, skin, eyes, and other organs.

In the past you may have heard the terms complete and incomplete protein.  A complete protein is basically a product that provides all the essential amino acids we need, where an incomplete protein has a smaller proportion or less percentage of all the essential amino acids.  For the most part, animal products are more complete than plant products.  This brought on a lot of concern years ago about plant based diets providing too little of the complete proteins.  Diet books were written, research was completed, and the general public went mad trying to pair their food appropriately to eat a complete protein diet.

It’s important to note, that almost all foods have protein.  Not only do your nuts, seeds, legumes, and animal products have protein, but so do your grains, vegetables, and fruits.  My advice is ‘out with the old and in with the new theory.’  If you eat a largely plant based diet and count on these foods to provide you with the protein you need, focus on eating a variety of foods at each meal.  If you pair different plant based products together you are more apt to make an incomplete protein meal more complete.  I always suggest focusing on eating a meal that consists of veggies, beans, and grains all at one time.  This will not only insure you are receiving the right amounts of amino acids and protein, but it will also increase your vitamin and mineral intake.

Not sure how much protein is in each type of  plant or animal product?  Take a look below:



Plant food
Serving
Protein
Animal food
Serving
Protein
Tempah
1 c
41 g
Hamburger Patty
4 oz
28 g
Soybeans
3 oz
31 g
Chicken
3.5 oz
35 g
Lentils
1 c
18 g
Tuna
6 oz can
40 g
Quinoa
1
9 g
Cuts of beef
3 oz
21 g
Tofu
4 oz
11g
Fish
3.5 oz
6 g
Peanut butter
2 T
8 g
Pork
3 oz
22 g
Soy Milk
1 c
7 g
Cheese
1 oz
6-10 g
Brown Rice
1 c
5
Milk
8 oz
8 g
Spinach
1 c
5 g
Yogurt
1 c
8-12 g


After reviewing the chart above you can see it doesn’t take a lot to get to recommended requirements.  Do any of you have any good recipes that contain any of the ingredients above?  We’re always looking for some new recipes to share with the Kindred Community.  Post it here or email me at kindrednutrition@gmail.com. 
Quinoa- one of the most complete plant based proteins
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Food Trends: A note about Stevia (zero calorie sugar substitute)

We’re all on the lookout for that sugar substitute that withholds calories, tastes good, and is natural and safe.   Recently I was asked what my thoughts were on Stevia?   Well to tell you the truth I didn’t have many thoughts on the product because basically I didn’t know much about it, except that in my mind it was a zero calorie product that could be substituted for table sugar.   I put this thought in my attic with the hopes of getting more acquainted at a later time. As I get myself more familiar lets start with the derivation.   Stevia is an herb that comes from South America and has been used by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for over 100 years.   This is advertised on the Stevia website along with a statement that it provides zero calories because the body doesn’t metabolize glycosides from the leaf or processed forms.   Essentially Stevia is absorbed by the gut and broken down into Stevol which is excreted from the body as a waste.   Th...
5 comments
Read more

Miraculous Misconceptions: Raspberry Ketones

The interwebs are abuzz about the supposedly “miraculous” Raspberry Ketone supplements. Raspberry Ketone popularity started with Dr. Oz's show in February 2012, when he nicknamed it a “miracle weight loss drug.” Some even credit Raspberry Ketones with stimulating hair growth, but for our purposes here, let’s talk about weight loss. Raspberry Ketones are derived from red raspberries. Proponents claim that the supplement will stimulate your metabolism causing weight loss. However, there are no reliable studies to prove this.   Specifically there is no scientific evidence to show how it alters metabolism to promote weight loss. There is also no scientific evidence to determine a proper dosage. If you find a study that claims otherwise, check the funding source. Most likely, that study was funded by a company who produces or funds raspberry ketone products. As far as I know, no major pharmaceutical companies are investing in Raspberry Ketone research. And it is my opinion ...
9 comments
Read more

Family Nutrition: What’s the deal with Multivitamins?

This is definitely one of my top ten questions from clients and frankly it’s a hard question because there isn’t a generic answer.   The internet and such stores as the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC continue to place a lot of focus on vitamins and minerals and some of my clients swear by their regimen.   I’ve even had some clients tell me they can tell a difference within hours of taking certain supplementations.    Since this is a subject I try to tame my responses too, I was very glad to see the article “Multivitamins, So Many Types, So Many Labels” by Melinda Beck in the Wall Street Journal published June 21, 2001.   Did you know that the multivitamin is the number one dietary supplement producing $4.8 billion back in 2008 and that one third of American’s take multivitamins religiously?   As Melinda points out there are many different varieties of multivitamins yet there is no specific formulation that specifies what a multivitamin should look like.  ...
4 comments
Read more