Protein Requirements - Meatless Diet, Milk, Peanut Butter

[Dooga Blackrazor]

How much protein should I be getting within the 2-3 serving a day suggestion? I've eliminated meat from my diet and am using alternatives. I've heard Eggs are a poor substitute in low amounts and I'd prefer to avoid daily Tofu consumption. Peanut butter and milk supposably have protein - or so I've heard.

How much protein am I getting from milk - I drink it constantly, what will peanut butter provide? Any comments on what I've written would be appreciated - diet suggestions are also welcome.

 

[gerben]

http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/ProteinRequie.htm

Eggs are a good source of proteins as is milk, other good sources of proteins would be beans and nuts. You can look on the packages of most products in the supermarket to see how many proteins there are in that produkt, keep in mind that it is important to eat different kinds of proteins because not all proteins contain all the aminoacids that you need.

 

[Monique]

I've recently adepted a vegetarian diet, I use lots of yoghurt in preparing food (the thick Indian variety). Also try tempeh: it's fermented tofu and has a very different structure; it's a good source of vitB12, which will be hard to get from another source: it's mainly present in meat.

 

[nautica]

How about a slab of medium rare prime rib j/k

Why exactly are you eliminating beef and still considering consuming eggs? Just curious.

Other than that eggs are good substitutes, they have around 6 grams of protein per egg (of course that depends on the egg). Fish and chicken are exellent choices if you are just avoiding red meat.

Other good substitutes are protein shakes or bars (Whey protein is a good choice).

Nuts and milk are good choices. I would stick with the skim, unless you are not worried about your waste line.

As far as protein consumption. It depends on your activity. If intense weight lifting is part of your daily activity you should get as much as 1g/lb of body weight. If not, then you could get by with 50gs or so per day.

Nautica

 

[Les Sleeth]

How much protein should I be getting within the 2-3 serving a day suggestion? I've eliminated meat from my diet and am using alternatives. I've heard Eggs are a poor substitute in low amounts and I'd prefer to avoid daily Tofu consumption. Peanut butter and milk supposably have protein - or so I've heard.

How much protein am I getting from milk - I drink it constantly, what will peanut butter provide? Any comments on what I've written would be appreciated - diet suggestions are also welcome.

I've been a vegetarian since 1972, and have tried quite a variety of foods in search of health. If you like, I can share some of what I've learned.

One thing I’ve found is that my protein requirements have varied with my activities and age. When I was younger I seemed to need more, but now I seem to need very little except after I do strenuous exercise, and then I crave more. If you can listen to your body, it will tell you a lot itself. Still, most would say make sure to eat protein everyday.

Two books that influenced me later in my veggie career were “Diet for a Small Planet,” and “Fit for Life.” The former is about food combining, which is a neat thing to know. The idea is that a complete protein, which is defined as containing the eight “essential” amino acids, can be achieved by combining specific incomplete proteins. The general rule of thumb is to combine a bean or legume with any whole grain. So your love of peanut butter (peanuts are legumes), if eaten on with whole wheat bread (a grain), will give you a complete protein! Beans and rice (or any grain) will do it too.

Any dairy product will give you a complete protein, and of course a glass of milk with that peanut butter sandwich really kicks it up a notch. Milk is a great protein, so if you drink a lot you probably haven’t much to worry about. Yogurt, as Monique says, is great too. I love cheese myself, cottage cheese too.

Now, another issue which isn’t so much vegetarian as it is health, is when to eat protein during the day. The second book I listed above addresses that. The idea is that first thing in the morning isn’t the best time to put a lot protein in the body because the body wants to eliminate (rather than be digesting or absorbing). So to encourage that, some people only drink liquids and eat fruit until noon or so when they have their first meal. I’ve been doing this for many years and have found it’s something that really works. I start the day with a tall glass of water as hot as I can stand it (it makes the tummy feel good). Then I eat an orange, or grapes, or mango (as I had this morning, mmmmmm). Then later I have my espresso (got a professional Italian machine, love it). I usually won’t eat something solid until 11 AM or so, but I work at home so I just eat small meals all day, and then have veggies and rice, maybe a few beans or some parmesan thrown in, for dinner.

That first solid food I eat in a day allows me to tell you about another secret, which is bread made from sprouts. There is a brand of bread (your health food store can order it if they don’t carry it) called “Food for Life.” They make what’s known as “Ezekiel Bread,” so called because the recipe is taken from the book of Ezekiel in the OT. Instead of grinding hard grain to make flour, the grain is sprouted, along with beans/legumes, its mashed up and yeast is added, and then baked. What results is remarkably like regular bread, except it’s a complete protein, and much easier to digest than normal bread (flour is sticky in the intestines). I toast it, brush on some cold pressed oil, maybe add a little organic apple butter . . . about to have the raisin-cinnamon sprouted bread now. :!)

Good Luck!

 

[Dooga Blackrazor]

I appreciate everyones(sp) help.

Concerning the egg issue: I see no reason why animals can't be integrated into society through human intervention. If we treat chickens kindly I see no reason against using chickens to get eggs. Unfortanately, chickens are not treated kindly. My reasoning for eating eggs is similar to my reasoning for not being vegan - I am not the one mistreating the animals.

I do accept some responsibility for contributing to the meat industry; however, I am not going to boycott the industry because of the misdeeds of others. I would rather work within the society than try and condemn it in an attempt to create change. I apply the same logic to not being vegan. I don't hold animals as equal to humans, I just believe they deserve a chance to be integrated into society. I choose to contribute to the American economy when I visit the U.S occasionally; however, I do not condemn America because my money could be supporting the death of innocent Iraqis.

Also, I don't feel eating eggs as killing animals directly. I am pro-choice and believe life can be logically analyzed as the point at which a living being integrates into society. Psychological damage does not occur within the chicken to my knowledge - if it does I wouldn't blame myself for the chicken's inability to comprehend the need for contribution to justify existence.

I'm not sure how the above sounds. I have a strange writing style and I wasn't intending to sound hostile, if I did, my apologies.