I tell you this because since I've been a vegetarian (only 8 months), it's been the most common myth I've heard (pretty much every time someone finds out I'm vegetarian). I used to believe that I couldn't get enough protein without meat too; I didn't think I could survive without meat. I'm a skinny guy and I wasn't keen on getting any skinnier!
So what is protein anyway? Basically a complete protein is made up of 9 essential amino acids that the body can't produce (there's 12 others that the body does produce). We have to get these 9 essential amino acids from an external food source. They're all available readily in plants, but animals have already joined them together, so you can cheat and just eat the animal if you want! If you don't want to eat animals don't worry... you don't have to.
There are so many articles about the protein myth; it's crazy more people don't understand the basics already. I did a fair bit of research regarding this topic and this was the most comprehensive article I found.
"... Still, there's a lot of confusion about protein - or to be more precise, the tiny amino acids that make up the long strands of protein - especially as it pertains to vegetarians... All plant-based foods are low in at least one of the nine amino acids our bodies need to get from foods. But the only foods that are truly protein-deficient are fruits, fats and sugars. And you need to obtain all nine amino acids over the course of a day or two, not within an hour of each other.
Even if you ate nothing but rice, which is low in the amino acid lysine, you'd still get enough of all the essential amino acids; if you ate nothing but beans, which are low in methionine, you wouldn't be courting a protein deficiency. But since you do not (and should not) eat just one food all day, every day, the foods that are relatively low in an amino acid are naturally complemented by those that are abundant in that amino acid.
The fact is, protein deficiency simply is not a concern for anyone in the developed world. "We never talk about protein anymore, because it's absolutely not an issue, even among children," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Nutrition, Food and Hotel Management at New York University. "If anything, we talk about the dangers of high-protein diets. Getting enough is simply a matter of getting enough calories."
Source: Debra Blake Weisenthal "Shattering the myth of protein". Vegetarian Times. FindArticles.com. 24 Jan, 2011. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0820/is_n211/ai_17010257/Ok, so in the developed world you don't need to eat animals to get enough protein. And the main people at risk of health complications are those that eat too much animal flesh. So what's the problem??? If a vegetable is low in one amino acid, then the one on your plate next to it almost certainly contains that amino acid. I mean rice is only low in one of the amino acids, so rice and onions will probably give you all the protein you need. Imagine all the protein in a vegetable curry with rice! And of course you're virtually cutting out most of the cholesterol and saturated fat that come with a omnivorous diet.
The other things that come easily with meat but not quite so sufficiently in a vegetarian diet are vitamin B12, iron, calcium & zinc. If you start to feel fatigued after switching to a vegetarian diet, this could be your problem - it definitely won't be a protein deficiency.
For iron and zinc...
...sources include many grains such as wheat and oats, along with lentils, beans, soy, leafy greens like spinach, broccoli, and mustard, and dried fruit. Oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and soy products such as tofu, tempeh, and soymilk are all excellent sources of iron.
Source: www.wisegeek.com/which-foods-are-good-sources-of-iron.htmFor vitamin B12, and calcium you don't even have to think about them if you still consume milk and eggs. Just make sure you're eating organic free range eggs and hormone free milk. If you're not into eggs and diary then soy is a good source of calcium but it may be worth taking a vitamin B12 supplement.
I can't say why I started to head down the vegetarian path - I'm sure the journey is different for all of us. But if you've had second thoughts about buying that factory farmed chicken from Coles, or that factory farmed bacon from Woolworths; try buying a vegetarian cook book and see how you go. Start with one or two vegetarian dinners a week and see how you like it. It felt right for me.
Here's something I prepared earlier... mmm...
No comments:
Post a Comment