Vegetarian Diet- Where to get protein from ?

[taitouwah]

i wonders where do all the vegetarian get their source of protein from? do they just never include protein in their diet or reduce it ?

i read many benefits of being a vegetarian , but some of but vege friends they are very skinny looking guy. Is this vege people meant to be or is it because they are eating vegetarian diet the wrong way???

[bwb]

Protein deficiency in vegetarian diets is a long-time myth that is unfortunately still quite prevalent. A couple of years ago I would've asked the same question.

It turns out that most people get much more protein than they need, and this extra protein, especially from animal sources, is harmful to long-term health. Something that many people have noticed is that a diet rich in plant-based whole foods helps in maintaining a healthy weight. It is certainly possible, however, to malnourish yourself by not having enough variety in your diet. The myth that you need to compose each meal so as to provide complete proteins has been thoroughly debunked, but that, of course, doesn't mean you can survive forever eating just celery and carrots.

Lacto-vegetarians tend to get tons and tons of protein from dairy products. Mind you, this is horrible, cancer-promoting protein, but complete protein nonetheless.

Many people who eat a strictly plants-based diet find that they consume a much wider variety of foods than they did before. Eating more whole grains, nuts, and legumes is a healthy way to get protein in your diet.

-Brian

BBC article on vegan protein sources
Wikipedia article on protein in nutrition

[Uplift]

Giddat taitouwa, a guy (Joey M) who posts here provided the following web site link. hhttp://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler53.htm
I have been exercising and training people for around 35 years and I have never seen any better info or advice, for anyone that doesn't want to eat any animal products. If you can eat milk products, then I can vouch for Whey and Calcium Caseinate protein powders. Your observations about many vegetarians shouldn't be ignored.

[escapee]

Lacto-vegetarians tend to get tons and tons of protein from dairy products. Mind you, this is horrible, cancer-promoting protein, but complete protein nonetheless.

Another myth continued to be spread by unimformed vegetarian that protein is cancer causing. Protein does not cause cancer. However, Protein can be really bad for kidney,bone and etc if you are eating a diet that is deficient in essential fatty acids, Vitamin D, calcium and etc (Watch out for those man made isolated protein powder ! ) .

If protein is cancer causing, the entire Eskimo and Masai population would be bedridden with cancer and heart disease but this is not the case in reality.

Another myth busted .

[Bitsy]

Originally Posted by taitouwah

i wonders where do all the vegetarian get their source of protein from? do they just never include protein in their diet or reduce it ?

Virtually all food contains protein, except for fat and sugar. I am on a special medical diet that requires me to calculate how much I eat of a certain amino acid - amino acids are what make up protein, so essentially, I am on a diet that severely restricts my protein in-take. There are people who tell me I can eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, because they don't have much protein. These people are ignorant of the protein content in fruits and vegetables. They have way too much protein for me to be able to eat them without calculating (to also make sure I get enough calories in a day without exceeding how much protein I can eat)

As a person who weighs, for example, 53 kg, or about 112 pounds, you only need c. 50 grams of protein per day. This is information from my doctors and dietitian.

Now look on the nutritional labels of food you buy and eat, and you will see how easy it is to get enough protein in a day without eating any meat, or even without eating dairy or soy products. There are types of beans that have in excess of 20 grams of protein per 100 grams. Cashews, 15.3 grams protein/100 grams, peanuts, 25.7, peanut butter, 22.6, almonds, 20, the list goes on and on. Compare these with meat: beef, 22 grams of protein/100 grams, liver 20 grams, bacon 13.4, chicken 21.5, turkey 22.*

You don't need meat to get protein.

*This information has been obtained from a list provided for dietitians for medical purposes by "Livsmedelsverket" of Sweden. I have the list to help me manage my diet. The list contains all typical foods, but no brand name products.

[taitouwah]

thanks u guys for all the useful information .

But i have being wondering... i have being carrying weight for sometime , bacause i wish to get more muscle and get more muscular . So i have read thru a lot of body building books . Their advice is to take macronutrient in the ratio 40:40:20 for protein carbo and fat.... so if i want to gain muscle , is it appropriate to follow this ratio?

by then , being a vegetarian is it possible to still gain muscle ? if yes where is the muscle that will be gain came from? is it from protein? if is from protein what are the examples of vegeterian food that has high in protein?

[Uplift]

Check out that Mahler site, he answers the exact question regarding vegetable sourced proteins.
Bluntly, plenty of people have advice about gaining muscle that have never actually done it. As soon as they try, they learn like every one else, that it has to be manufactured from something. It's not complicated at all. It's ridiculously obvious. If you weigh 80kgs the amount of what you are eating supports that weight, body composition and activity level. If you want to weigh 90 or 100, or 120kgs and so on, it is going to take an increased activity level of a very intense nature, to convince your body of the need for more muscle (unless you are happy for it to be blubber). So if you want more muscle, you need considerably more building material, and repairing material, and maintenance material - or protein, considerably more energy for everyday function of your growing muscles, plus the extra exercise, again with growing muscles - or carbs, and more good fat, for essential and ideal body functions, including the hormone profile and levels that produce and support growth. 40/40/20 is a guide, as long as the intake is high enough, otherwise it is nothing but important sounding numbers. Whether you are big or small isn't really a big deal, it's up to what you feel like doing... but, the facts are, little guys have been trying to tell big guys for years that they eat too much protein...and the big guys just keep getting...BIG! Just keep health in mind, whatever your goal is. Between 1 and 2 grams per kg of body weight is constantly, real world proven to be enough protein to grow and be super fit and healthy. You also need plenty of other nutrients - vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidents, and other micro nutrients found in good, healthy food, for your body to funtion and grow and repair healthily. Don't forget water, you'll need more of that too. It's all just common sense.

[bwb]

Originally Posted by escapee

If protein is cancer causing, the entire Eskimo and Masai population would be bedridden with cancer and heart disease but this is not the case in reality.

Another myth busted .

Average age at time of diagnosis of prostate cancer: 70
... cervical cancer: 50 to 55
... Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: 60
... breast cancer: 62
Average age of patients at time of first heart attack: 60 (men), 70 (women)

Average life expectancy of the Inuit Eskimo: 30 years.
Average life expectancy of the Masai: 43 years.

[escapee]

Show me the data for cancer/heart disease rate per population Vs any population in the world.

You need reference when posting such data .

Plz be noted that Inuit population is known for alcoholism. Furthermore, The modern Inuit has also shifted their diet closer to SAD ( FLour, Sugar and etc) . All these alone could easily account for the low life expectancy of the population.

n-3 Fatty acids and cardiovascular disease risk factors among the Inuit of Nunavik -- Dewailly et al. 74 (4): 464 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Conclusions: Consumption of marine products, the main source of EPA and DHA, appears to beneficially affect some cardiovascular disease risk factors. The traditional Inuit diet, which is rich in n-3 fatty acids, is probably responsible for the low mortality rate from ischemic heart disease in this population.

In 1992 daily intakes of n-3 fatty acids from traditional food, especially fish, marine mammals, and piscivorous wildfowl, were high among Inuit persons compared with intakes by other populations (2, 17, 18). However, strong evidence exists of a decrease in traditional food consumption by the Inuit, primarily from 1950 to 1970, when Inuit populations settled into permanent communities and market foods became increasingly available (18, 19). In several native populations, a shift away from traditional lifestyles and diets is associated with an increased prevalence of risk factors for CVD, such as high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids, diabetes, and obesity (20–23). Additionally, evidence points to increasing rates of death from IHD and stroke among native populations. In this study, we examined the n-3 fatty acid status of a representative sample of Nunavik Inuit and verified the relation between plasma phospholipid concentrations of n-3 fatty acids and various CVD risk factors.

This is what brought the craze of fish oil, not knowing that there is hidden risk of overdosing on the Omega 3 derivatives

Frozen food - 18 January 1997 - New Scientist

[escapee]

Environmental Human Rights & Justice: Killing The Inuit & Culture

According to the Quebec Health Center, a concentration of 1,052 parts per billion of PCBs has been found in Arctic women's milk fat. This compares to a reading of 7,002 in polar bear fat, 1,002 ppb in whale blubber, 527 ppb in seal blubber, and 152 ppb in fish. The United States Environmental Protection Agency safety standard for edible poultry, by contrast, is 3 ppb, and in fish, 2 ppb. At 50 ppb, soil is often considered to be hazardous waste."

Not surprisingly, Inuit babies now have serious health problems, with "strikingly high rates of meningitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and other infections," chronic hearing loss, life-threatening meningitis and dysfunctional immune systems.

The sources of the discharges have been traced back to US, Canada and Mexico, which release pollutants and toxins into our environment, and then the poisons are carried north by sea currents and weather patterns.

Now the Inuit are warned to change from their traditional healthy diet to a diet of store-bought food to avoid reduced fertility, genetic damage and deformities in children. While their traditional diet has protected them from health problems associated with industrialized nations, now the Inuit are becoming ill with heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

It's sad that ppl (especially some vegetarians) continue to blame fish protein for poor health when it's caused by other obvious factors .

[joey m]

Average age at time of diagnosis of prostate cancer: 70
... cervical cancer: 50 to 55
... Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: 60
... breast cancer: 62
Average age of patients at time of first heart attack: 60 (men), 70 (women)

Average life expectancy of the Inuit Eskimo: 30 years.
Average life expectancy of the Masai: 43 years.

This could not be summed up any better! Nicely put!

Best,
Joey