Protein for Vegetarians. This is a guest post from Matthew Ruscigno, MPH, RD, whose personal blog, True Love Health, is about veganism, adventure, and being stoked. But where do you get your proteinAs a vegan, a nutrition professional and an athlete, I get this question more than any other. At a recent talk I gave on vegetarian nutrition to 2. American Dietetic conference, my message about protein was that it should be a non issue High quality protein is abundant in plant foods. Yes, even for athletes. So what happened at the end of my presentation A dietitian approached me and said, I understand what you are saying, but where do you get your proteinIf youre confused about protein or have a feeling in the back of your mind that you arent getting enough, relaxyou are not alone. The good news is that vegetarians even vegans can and do get enough protein. Easily. This is the message I have to share with the world. Id like to start with this article for No Meat Athlete, one of my favorite blogs. What exactly is protein Protein, most simply, is a combination of amino acids. These amino acids have specific roles in our bodies, from metabolism to muscle development. Nine of them are absolutely essential to our basic functions, because they cant be created by our bodies. When we talk about dietary protein and getting enough, our concern is with these indispensable amino acids. So how much protein do you need In the U. S., the Dietary Reference Intake DRI for protein is 0. To calculate your weight in kilograms, divide your weight in pounds by 2. For those whose eyes have already glazed over because youve now seen two numbers with decimal points in them, the USDA provides a handy DRI calculator. This equates to roughly 1. Vegetarians and vegans easily get this amount of protein. Why the advice that athletes need more protein is misleading. Sure, athletes need more protein than non athletes. But we also need more carbohydrates and fatour overall caloric needs are much higher since we burn so much energy in our training. So because were eating more calories, were automatically consuming more protein if we stay at 1. For example Im about 8. I need 2. 50. 0 calories most days. If I want ten percent of those calories to be from protein, then I need about 6. When Im Ironman training or have an otherwise heavy load, my caloric needs double. Therefore, so does my protein, to 1. Low-Carb-Low-Sugar-Diet.jpg' alt='High Fibre And Protein Diet Plan' title='High Fibre And Protein Diet Plan' />I tell the vegan athletes I consult to shoot for 1. You can see from my numbers above that even when protein is only ten percent of calories, Im getting 1. Contrary to what most people believe, more isnt necessarily better when it comes to protein. The body can only process so much per day, and any additional protein is inefficiently converted to energy or even stored as body fat. Dont stress over combining incomplete proteins at meals. If I am going to rid the world of ignorance about plant proteins, Im going to start by eliminating the phrase incomplete protein. It is misleading and biased and vegetarians should stop using it. The problem with the idea of complete and incomplete proteins is this It assumes we only eat one type of foodInformation on Dr Atkins Diet plan including how it works, some sample of Atkins diet menu and recipes. Www. nutritionaustralia. Page 2 Published 2006 from adoption of this diet plan is rather. Its an example of a common mistake in the nutrition field focusing on the specific nutrients of one food without seeing it in the context of an entire diet. Saying a protein is incomplete ignores the big picture and is often used by pseudo nutritionists as a critique of vegetarianism. While its tempting to want to combine these incomplete proteins to form a whole, the truth is theres no need to combine protein sources within a given meal. Really.   I know you have heard this one over and overeven the college textbook I teach from says its a mustbut trust me, it is not necessary to form complete proteins within single meals. Our bodies pool the amino acids we need as we eat them, and we use them when needed. Dietitian, Juliette Kellow identifies high fibre foods and gives her advice for getting more fibre into your diet. Easy to follow ketogenic diet plan optimised for minimum cooking time and maximum results. Lose weight by eating real food Since foods are a package deal, Dr. Walter Willet, the Chair of Harvards nutrition department, recommends we emphasize plant sources of protein, rather than animal. Some combinations happen naturallythink pinto beans with rice, chickpeas with couscous, or granola with soymilk. But this is not a requirement in order for us to get all of the indispensable amino acids. Combining proteins was popularized in the 1. Lite Lunch Ideas there. What it means when people say animal protein is higher quality than vegetable protein. When you hear about one protein source being better than another, its in reference to the amino acid makeup. Its true Animal foods contain all of the amino acids in the amounts we need. So if you ate only beef and nothing else for months and months, you would not get an amino acid deficiency but probably a host of other ones. Do the same with only lentils, however, and you may not get enough of the amino acid methionine. Fortunately, no one eats like this. We eat a variety of foods, most of which have some protein, and at the end of the day, we get all of the amino acids we need. Okay, okay, enough with science and numbers, what do I eat If youre eating enough for your activity level and consuming a variety of whole foods, you will get all the protein you need. Guaranteed. No need for supplements For example, lentils and soymilk are over 3. Fifteen percent of the calories in whole wheat pasta are from protein, and even brown rice has protein, at about eight percent of calories. See Its that easy to reach 1. If you want more help in creating a nutrition plan with adequate protein, see a fantastic list of vegetarian protein foods and meal plans compiled by my colleague Reed Mangels. Now go fight for vegetarians The choice to be vegetarian, like the choice to do anything beyond whats considered normal, constantly puts us on the defensive. But with the knowledge Ive now given you, you can speak confidently the next time you get the protein question. Oh yeah, and you can tell Uncle Jerkface at Thanksgiving that you arent about to die of protein deficiency. Also check out Matthew Ruscigno, MPH, RD is a 1. Chair Elect of the Vegetarian Nutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. He has completed numerous marathons, iron distance triathlons and ultra cycling events including the Furnace Creek 5. Death Valley. Matt worked with Isa Moskowitz on her upcoming book Appetite For Reduction. You can read more from him at his personal blog, True Love Health, or follow him on Twitter.