Where do vegetarians get their protein?
Since we traditionally associate the word "protein" in a meal or in a diet plan with meat, chicken or fish, it is difficult for us to imagine how it is possible to meet one's protein needs when one has excluded this food group. his diet. But since you may be thinking of reducing meat from your daily life, or even removing it completely at some point, here you can find ways to make your plate nutritious, even if it only contains vegetarian options!
First, let's look at some sources of protein of animal origin, which are animal derivatives. We find them in the diet of vegetarians. These sources are of high biological value, just like meat, since they contain all the amino acids we need and in the right proportions:
- eggs
- milk
- yogurt
- cheese
If, again, you have chosen a diet pattern completely free of animal source products, you will need to rely on the following:
- legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, chickpeas, and their flours)
- nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, etc.)
- soy and its derivatives, such as tofu
- starchy products (rice, pasta, bread, cereals, quinoa)
- tahini
Care must be taken in this case with food combinations. As vegetable protein rarely has the amounts and proportions of amino acids that we need exactly, many times we may need to combine options that give us "whole protein" in a meal, and thus it becomes of equivalent biological value to animal protein. For example, combine legumes with rice (lentils, chickpeas) or whole grains with nuts (eg. a bowl of cereal with almonds).
You can learn even more on this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp2N0qAW6Wg&ab_channel=WallStreetJournal
Maira Stefanakou, Dietitian - Nutritionist
HR. PSYCHOLOGY - TODAY