Those of us of a “certain age” remember the tiny lady on TV asking “where’s the beef?” She held a microscopic hamburger on a large bun and became the spokesperson for a fast food chain. These days, I have many people asking me a similar question about my plant-based diet: “Where’s the protein?”
We were raised to believe that we need meat at most, if not every, meal to be healthy and strong. Well, it just ain’t so.
If you do some research, you will find that we Americans actually take in more protein than we need. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of protein for women is 44 grams per day. The average vegetarian female consumes 65 grams, and her meat-eating sister takes in 74 grams a day. The RDA for men is 56 grams a day. The average vegetarian male eats 105 grams, while his meat-loving brother has 103 grams. Getting enough protein is rarely a problem for any of us.
When I switched to a plant-based diet, I wrote down everything I ate, and then calculated how much protein (among other things) I was eating. I wanted to make sure my diet was healthy. It was not hard to do. There are many resources that will help you do this either on the web (www.mypyramid.gov has a good tool) or in print. I used Corinne Netzer’s book “The Complete Book of Food Counts.” I found that I was getting plenty of protein, even without eating tofu. Sorry, tofu lovers, I know it can be good for you and all, but to me it just seems a little too … weird. Maybe next year.
Yesterday, I had a typical menu. For breakfast, I ate steel-cut oatmeal with some maple syrup and ground flaxseed, a banana and coffee. At lunch, lentil soup made with lots of vegetables, a whole wheat roll and a tangerine. When dinner time came, I made whole wheat pasta with vegetables (tomatoes, onion, garlic, mushrooms) and some white beans. My snack was cornbread with maple syrup. This calculates into 76 grams of protein without really trying. There is protein in the oatmeal, the flaxseed, the lentils, the whole wheat bun, the cornbread, the mushrooms and the beans. Even vegetables average 2 grams of protein per serving.
When I was in school, I was taught that vegetarians have to “combine” proteins (such as beans with rice) to get “complete proteins.” We now know this is unnecessary. According to the American Dietetic Association, we will have a healthy blend of the building blocks of protein, called amino acids, in our diet without thinking too hard about it as long as we eat a variety of foods and take in enough calories.
Protein is essential for health, but animal protein such as that found in meat and dairy carries a high pricetag in saturated fat, hormones, cholesterol and antibiotics. If cholesterol is a problem for you, remember that “cholesterol doesn’t grow on trees!” Plant protein has no cholesterol. If you are serious about lowering your blood cholesterol levels, you need to avoid animal protein and cut back the fat in your diet.
We all manage to exceed the RDA for protein, no matter if we are vegetarian or carnivores. Does that pose health risks? Sometimes.
Protein in excess of the body’s needs is often converted to ... fat. Just what we need! There is data that too much protein is linked with metabolic imbalance, toxicity, nervous system disorders and perhaps kidney problems. It has been found that high animal protein intake in healthy individuals increases probability of forming kidney stones by 250 percent.
Back in the day of the little lady with the hamburger, many of us thought we needed all that meat to survive. No wonder she was so upset with her tiny meat serving. Now we know that serving size might have been better for her health after all.