Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with vegetarian and protein

How can I eat more protein within a vegan diet?

jfricke — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:43:07 -0800

I was shocked how little protein my current diet consists of. How can I make sure that I get enough protein? Problem: I am almost vegan I have been a vegetarian since I am twelve and I have been almost vegan for two years now. Almost vegan means I eat vegan at home but when I am invited or eat outside I also eat cheese from time to time.

Last week I started a nutrition log at gyminee.com. I was quite shocked about the little amount of protein in my current diet. My questions are:

(1) How much protein should one eat daily? The gyminee.com suggestion of 150 to 200mg seems extremly high to me. Do you need more or less protein, when all your protein sources are non-animal?

(2) What is the best vegan food to increase my protein intake besides soya milk and tofu? If you are vegan, how do you make sure to get enough protein?

(3) Is soya protein powder a good alternative?

Eating mostly-plain cottage cheese and tofu.

lemonade — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:22:25 -0800

How many ways can I spice up plain tofu and cottage cheese...snackwise, with no cooking? I need to increase the amount of (lowfat) protein I eat, and while I can and do eat both cottage cheese and tofu plain, it gets old really quick. What I'd like to do is have a whole bunch of mix-ins or maybe sandwich-y things, so I can more or less grab-and-go. I haven't tried these yet, but I was hoping for ideas along the lines of tofu and mustard on crackers, or cinnamon in cottage cheese? Maybe something with relish? And of course I often snack on the old standby of fruit in the cottage cheese. What else can I try?

Vegetarian needs "respectable" article about protein in all foods

AllieTessKipp — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:49:16 -0800

My new doctor is one of those older doctors who believe that vegetarian diets lack protein unless you eat the "right" things. I would like to find an article to give her about how there is protein in everything. The doctor asked about my "protein source" foods and I didn't have an answer for her. She is not up to date on vegetarian protein information and I suspect I must be her only vegetarian patient, or else her other vegetarian patients also are not up to date on this issue.

I need an article that would be from a respectable source so that she does not think I just "got it off the internet." Something short and simple would be best (she is, like all doctors, very busy), and I prefer something that does not lean on soy products, because I don't eat many of those.

I plan to include my diet for a typical week, along with amounts of protein in each item/amount I've eaten so she can see I don't have just one or two protein sources, but that everything I eat has protein in it and that I'm fine.

Beef and guns

saysthis — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 06:31:44 -0800

I am: vegan, mildy exercise-induced asthmatic, non-car owning & often-biking, slightly scoliotic (not visibly, but there's back pain here and there), have virtually no access to exercise equipment other than a set of ancient free weights, weight bench, and mat, without much money. I desire hulking guns and beefiness all over. It's high time I started exercising. I look sturdy, I'm not noticeably plush, and I've been told by various people that a larger upper body would complement me nicely (these are not understatements/I am not a pear/I am however vain). Since I don't eat meat, protein intake can be a problem. I tried a regimen recommended by the dude at the health club a few eyars ago and it made me lose muscle. Another issue is that with my back and lungs the way they are, I'm limited in how XTREEM I can make my exercise. Neither are a problem so long as I'm not moving especially fast for long periods of time or lifting three times my own body weight. I'm looking to accomplish mainly more toned legs, bigger shoulders & chest (without losing too much fat in that area), and a tighter jawline (I hear face exercise exists?). There's a Mr. Universe in all of us (with steroids, even the ladies). Help me make mine visible.