Proteins for vegans and vegetarian

There is a lot of info going on about proteins, and there is always someone who will tell you : "you need proteins from meat."

Obviously I disagree with that. Through history, billions of people have proved that you could be healthy and fit by relying on vegetarian and vegan sources of protein, most of the time actually healthier than meat eaters.

From the Shaolin monks to India, examples are numerous. Just check online. ;)

I'm not gonna force you to get vegan or veggie, because I can't anyways ! hehe, but my aim here is to provide the information, so people can make an informed decision about their diet.

What is the difference between vegetarian and vegan ?

 

Vegetarian : can eat anything that doesn't directly require killing an animal.

Includes:
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Animals sub products such as :
       - Milk and dairy products (which I definitely do not recommend)
       - Egg
       - Honey

Vegan : can eat anything that doesn't require killing AND exploiting an animal :

Includes :
-Vegetables
-Fruits
-Nuts

Since milk, eggs and honey require to "make the animal work for you", vegans will not take any of these.

My personal choice :

 

I try to go closer and closer to vegan diet.

Exception 1 : It's quite hard at home to avoid eating eggs, so I set the rule that we should only buy organic ones to minimize the suffering caused to these animals. Nevertheless, egg industry tends to kill the males chicks because they can't lay eggs obviously, and they won't grow fast enough to make meat. So they will either be gased, crushed, or simply thrown away. I can't hide that I therefore finance this process and this is something I need to get clear on.

Exception 2 : I try to control my chocolate / biscuit addiction, but since these most often contain dairies, I'm definitely not a pure vegan... This one will take a few years before I can learn to control that...

So my ideal target would be a vegan diet.

1. Debunking milk and dairies

Even if you decide to remain vegetarian, I strongly do not recommend milk and dairy products.
There is so much misinformation going on about this, in particular from the milk industry, and I do believe our body is not engineered to digest other animals milk. It is only designed to drink the human mother's milk in the first baby years.
Many people's sickness and digestive problems are simply linked to the dairy intake. Chinese traditional diet also is against milk and dairies.

For more info on the milk myths :
http://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/5-ridiculous-myths-about-cows-milk/

 

2. So what should I eat then ?

I've made this list based on google results. For instance type "cashew protein" on google, and it will show you the grams of protein per 100g based on USDA database. Clearly, there is plenty of choice to get your protein.

In particular, big up to these few ones :
- Quinoa which contains all nine essential amino acids that the body needs for growth and repair, but cannot produce on its own. (Because of that, it's often referred to as a "perfect protein.")

- Spirulina for its super high content of protein, but also vitamins and detoxifying abilities.

- Brown rice because its hypoallergenic and easy to digest.

- Chia seeds which is 17g /100g, and you can make dessert with it, mix it with some fruit juice and it will turn into jelly !

Note on Nut butters : avoid those you find in the normal supermarket. they're often overloaded with salt, sugar, and hydrogenated oils. I prefer to make my own peanut butter and simply add a bit of rice milk or raisin oil, it's fresh and natural.

Another good source is milk-free milks. Here’s a nutritional breakdown for a cup (8 ounces) of the most popular milk-free milks from health.com :

 Source : http://news.health.com/2010/03/23/the-best-of-milk-free-milk/

Clearly, there is plenty of sources of protein other than meat !

So how much proteins do I need per day ?

There are several figures on the web, I gathered some here :

1.This first one for a person who 58 Kg would recommend :
58 x 1.7 g = 98.6 g of proteins per day

2. The CDC recommends 56 g per day but it's not clear : for people who want to increase mass ? sedentary ? 

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html#How%20much%20protein

3. On this french website, for a 58Kg weight, they recommend 81 to 93 g / day for a bodybuilder.

http://www.passeportsante.net/fr/Actualites/Dossiers/DossierComplexe.aspx?doc=pouvoir-proteines-nos-besoins-quotidiens-en-proteines

Conclusion : take your weight in kg, and multiply by 1.7 if you want to increase muscle mass. I guess it's the safest bet. However, I noticed that the more you eat, the more your body takes energy to digest. So look for your best balance between your intake targets and what your body really needs...