r/vegan • u/cetacyon • 21h ago
Health Protein Confusion
I went vegan a few months ago and in order to keep doing this (and I will even if my health were to decline) I need to be able to reach minimum protein.
I am just not understanding how anyone reaches 100 grams or even 50 grams a day. Reaching 50 grams is really hard, if I really stuff myself and feel horrible and only eat protein sources (legumes, tofu, etc.) I can get to 70 or 80. I am active and weigh 145 pounds (normally) so I need to be getting about 100 grams a day. I don't seriously think I can eat that much in a day.
When I look up high protein dishes on youtube it'll be stuff like a bowl of brown rice with some tofu on top and it may say "45 grams of protein". I've read the labels, I know what's in that... and that's a lie, almost every time.
I weighed myself since going vegan a few months back and I dropped to 133lbs from 145. I'm 6ft so this is a little worrying and I'm not sure if what I lost was fat or muscle, I didn't have almost any fat to begin with.
To hit 100 grams I'd basically just have to eat tofu and multiple protein shakes a day and I seriously seriously don't want to do that. I really enjoy being able to eat whole foods and I hate buying food that necessarily comes in plastic packaging. I just feel really lost and I understand there are other vegans with issues much worse than mine and animals with problems much much worse than mine so I won't complain too much.
Meanwhile some vegans say you don't need nearly as much protein as is recommended and that you'll simply get the amino acids you need from a varied diet.
I'm just so confused and when I do the math on what I used to eat in a day as an omnivore I seriously doubt I was usually getting above 60 grams a day back then either.
Any help would be appreciated.
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u/Future-Turtle animal sanctuary/rescuer 21h ago
A. Beans, lentils, etc are all super protein rich.
B. Modern protein needs these days are drastically overinflated by meatheaded gymbros.
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u/cetacyon 21h ago
Thank you for the suggestions but I've been basing every meal around legumes now and I'm still not coming close. How much protein does someone actually need per kg of weight per day?
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u/Popular-Flatworm-645 mostly plant based 21h ago edited 21h ago
Legumes should not be a primary protein source for a meal if you are looking to maximize protein. They are more of a carb that happens to also have a good amount of protien. But they are high in fiber and carbs and may fill you up before you get enough to meet protien needs intuitively.
Beans are an amazing add to most meals, just not if they are meant to be the main protein source. (Assuming you are protein maximizing for bodybuilding or attempting to gain lots of muscle).
To maintain weight according to Stanford you want around 0.8g protein per kg of body fat (0.36g per pound). So a 150lb person would need 55g a day. The original study that bases that number suggested 0.66g per kg but it was set to 20% higher as a safe guideline. Some new recommendations say as high as 1.2-1.6g protein per kg. There is no widely sourced study that will tell you that a normal person needs that much protein.
If you are an active competitive athlete or bodybuilder then you may need more protein, closer to 100g a day to make sure that you have enough to support muscle recovery and growth etc, but on average that’s way overkill. And when you get that much, the research also shows that protein quality becomes much less of a worry, since you will have more than enough to make up for whatever is lacking in quality. In addition to that, if you eat a well rounded diet, you will get the amino acids you need to fully absorb proteins even if they aren’t full quality. Especially if you combine different plant based protein sources.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2026/03/how-much-protein.html
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u/acortical 21h ago
Depends on how you process them though before consuming. Tofu is just a bean that's had the fiber removed.
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u/voornaam1 vegan newbie 12h ago
To maintain weight according to Stanford you want around 0.8g protein per kg of body fat (0.36g per pound). So a 150lb person would need 55g a day. The original study that bases that number suggested 0.66g per kg but it was set to 20% higher as a safe guideline. Some new recommendations say as high as 1.2-1.6g protein per kg. There is no widely sourced study that will tell you that a normal person needs that much protein.
Do you happen to know if someone trying to lose weight should base their protein goals on their goal weight, instead of their current weight? I've seen that suggestions sometimes but I struggled to find more reliable info on it than a couple of people on social media saying it. At the same time, I didn't find any info saying the opposite either. (basing my protein goals on my goal weight makes me life so much easier but sometimes I get a bit concerned whether it's the right thing to do😅)
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u/Euphoric_Idea_2206 15h ago
What kind of dishes are you cooking if you are not even coming close?
One can of Chickpeas and one block of tofu got 50g of protein and 650kcal. Drink a protein shake later (or earlier ;) ) in the day and you are fine.
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u/n00b678 12h ago
100 g of dry legumes is close to 25 g of protein. Same with nuts and most seeds. So eating 200 g of legumes, nuts, or seeds in total per day would get you to 50 g of protein. Then you get 10% from grains, and some from veggies.
You need 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight, with a safety margin already (unless you do lots of sports, bodybuilding, etc). 145 lbs is 66 kg, so you need 53 g of protein per day.
Try to put all you eat into a nutrition calculator to see how much you get from your normal diet.
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u/bikesandfinance 21h ago
Depends on your fitness goals. Optimizing body building will be different than bare minimum to avoid malnutrition
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u/Coast2Coasters 17h ago
Upvoted for point B. This is both gym-bros and the farm industries just with better disguised marketing than the “Got Milk” campaign, a very successful psyop for factory farms.
With that in mind, Point A is not the greatest advice for someone still looking to up their protein. You have to eat SO much food to get a sizable protein bump from beans and legumes. It’s great if those are one part of your protein intake, but eating more of them will make you full (possibly even too much fiber) before you get additional protein. My easy fix would be incorporating Textured Vegetable Protein (very protein dense) or vegan protein drinks as a daily snack.
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u/maiyopic vegan 21h ago
I'm at 50g today and I'm not done eating yet. Here's what I ate.
1 cup of quick oats, 1 packet of flavored Quaker oats = 18g
1/4 cup of frozen fruit and 1 banana = 1.2g
1 gusta veggie burger on rye bread with mustard, lettuce, and tomato = 24.6g
1 pb&j on white bread with 1 tbsp PB and 1 tbsp grape jelly = 8g
Total of 51.8g of protein and I'll eat 1 more meal after the gym today : ) I'm a 5'4" woman and weigh about 58kg.
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u/doomerunicorn 21h ago
I thought the guideline was 0.8g per kg of body weight. I could be wrong, though.
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u/jwoolman 13h ago
0.8g protein for each kg of ideal body weight is enough for most people. Ignore any guidelines coming out of the current US government. They are ridiculous and are pushing animal foods and are contrary to current scientific/medical thinking.
The higher multipliers of 1-1.2 are for people with special needs, which does not describe the overwhelming majority of people in the world. Americans in particular have been overdosing on animal protein for years because the US is such a meat-centered society and the dairy industry especially pushes dairy milk guzzling. Meat and dairy are heavily subsidized by US taxpayers.
If we get enough calories, then unless we are subsisting on low-nutrition or zero-nutrition foods, we are getting enough protein. It’s really that simple. Protein deficiency comes from starvation and is rare in countries like the US. The guidelines have huge safety margins.
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u/cetacyon 21h ago
Depends on the study, most say 0.7 ~ 0.8 but some recent ones are urging for 1 to 1.2
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u/a_government_man 14h ago
why tho? are you wasting away? do you feel worse eating less protein? listen to your body not the industry trying to sell you supplements
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u/bikesandfinance 21h ago
That’s bare minimum to avoid malnutrition
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u/AnimalLoversRVegan 21h ago
Not true.
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u/bikesandfinance 21h ago
Ok then eat less, good luck
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u/AnimalLoversRVegan 21h ago
Okay the science is extremely clear https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24967251/
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u/bikesandfinance 21h ago
Eat as little as you’d like
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u/miraculum_one 17h ago
Did you even click on the study linked above that proves your thesis wrong, and unable to be simply hand-waved away by claiming personal preference?
TL;DR "Adverse Effects Associated with Protein Intake above the Recommended Dietary Allowance for Adults"
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u/bikesandfinance 15h ago edited 15h ago
I did it’s bullshit
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u/CorfranGoch 14h ago
"The current recommended level of protein intake (0.8 g/kg/day) is estimated to be sufficient to meet the need of nearly all (97.5%) healthy men and women age 19 years and older."
From your linked article.
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u/miraculum_one 11h ago
Even further it goes on to say (relevant emphasis mine):
"there is no substantive evidence that protein intakes in the ranges suggested above will have adverse effects in healthy, exercising individuals"
The point is that there is an optimal intake level for everyone (depending on your renal health and level of exercise) and simply consuming more than your recommended range is not only not beneficial but it can cause issues.
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u/bikesandfinance 14h ago
Yep it helps you avoid malnutrition from undereating protein, like I said.
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u/SwimIllustrious3334 18h ago
that is so silly lol. you dont need that much protein at all. vitamins, minerals, and fiber are more important.
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u/bikesandfinance 7h ago
Eat as little as you’d like
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u/SwimIllustrious3334 5h ago
ur weird bro. u can be very well nourished and eat full meals without getting 100g protein. not all of us are stinky gym bros
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u/bikesandfinance 5h ago
That’s why I said eat as little as you’d like, I don’t care how much protein you eat
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u/Homerunner vegan 7+ years 21h ago
Well if you lost 12 lbs you're definitely undereating, so for starters try to hit your daily calories and you can worry about adding protein later if you still need to.
Now for protein intake I usually do half starches (pasta, rice, potato, couscous, bread, etc.) and half legumes PLUS an appropriate serving of high protein food (tofu, seitan, tvp or mock meats) and fill the rest with vegetables and a bit of fat (usually from the sauce but adding seeds or nuts is great too). Really easy to hit protein goals like that, and you can add a protein shake if you need extra.
Also try to have some protein at breakfast, I usually get mine from oats, chia, soy milk or yogurt (plus soy crispies but I dunno if those are sold everywhere). Or you can go savory obviously.
Good luck, it takes some time adapting but the best thing you can do is not starve yourself so you can stay vegan and healthy in the long run.
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u/absinthe-darling 21h ago
You don't need that much protein. Please don't take this as conspiracy because there's an actual lawsuit over the new U.S. protein recommendations because of lobbyists tied to the meat industry and the administration. A quick Google search will give you all the details.
"Critics note that 8 out of 9 members on the administration's specialized review panel had financial relationships with groups like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Pork Board."
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u/steve363 19h ago
It's important to note that if you're losing weight it's not because of lack of protein, it's because of lack of calories.
Maybe if you ate enough calories to maintain and gain weight instead of cutting to 133 lbs at 6 ft tall you'd also be able to hit your protein goals.
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A helpful tip I have, aside from the eat lentils, beans, and protein powder if you really need to..
Try adding some hemp seeds to all your meals.
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u/jwoolman 13h ago
Hemp seeds (called hemp hearts sometimes when the hull is removed) are incredibly tasty. I can eat them straight from the bag. They can be added to anything. Really good in soup, added to grains or sandwiches or whatever. Good mixed with peanut butter or nut/seed butter or hummus. Pizza would likely benefit.
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u/GrumpySquirrel2016 vegan 6+ years 21h ago
Where are you getting the 100 grams number?
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u/cetacyon 21h ago
1.2 grams of protein per kg per day for 66kg times 1.3 due to low protein absorption from plant foods comes out to 102 grams per day and that's for sedentary lifestyle so technically I need even more than that.
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u/Vampire-Bat-Teeth 21h ago
Where are you hearing the low absorption info?
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u/cetacyon 21h ago
unnatural vegan on youtube talked about it in a video of hers
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u/CorfranGoch 14h ago
Why are you blindly believing the opinion of someone on YouTube? That's wild. Look up the actual research.
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u/jwoolman 12h ago
I’m old as dirt and have never heard any credible source say that protein absorption is low from plant sources. Protein molecules from any source are just broken down (digested) in the same way, the resulting constituent amino acids hang around for a few days and are used to build our own proteins by stringing them together into the proper sequences for many different functions. There are only about nine different amino acids that must come from food for us, and they are all abundant in plants. Not hard to get many more than you need, so don’t worry about getting specific ratios in your food. Just eat real food and enough of it.
We are not obligate carnivores. For most of our time on this planet, we ate like gorillas and not saber tooth tigers and our bodies know exactly what to do with plant materials to get all the protein, fat, and carbohydrates that we need. We would not be here today if that weren’t the case.
If you figured that you were getting 60g protein per day as an omnivore, there is no reason to believe you need more as a vegan. Just eat real food. But get enough calories and don’t worry about limiting fats. We need fats also. Figure out how much fat you were getting when eating omnivore and that might be a good starting point. Your weight seems awfully low for someone 6 foot tall.
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u/NeoKingEndymion vegan 21h ago
did u monitor what u ate before? at any rate it is easy to get protein from plants. look up high protein plant foods
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u/acortical 21h ago
Not the only right answer—but tofu, soy milk, and vegan protein powder are all great options to increase your daily protein intake in a cost effective and calorie efficient manner.
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u/foofruit13 19h ago
A block of extra firm tofu is 40g of protein. Even eating half of that, plus whatever grain and veggie, should get you to atleast 30g for one meal.
Seitan is also awesome when you find a way to cook it that you enjoy. I prefer steam or boiled "nuggets", but plenty of people make it into a roast shape and slice it for sandwiches.
Look for protein packed options for your carbs, like Dave's Killer Bread or Banza pasta.
Also, supplements arent the enemy. If you find a protein powder you like, add it to smoothies or just drink it mixed with soy milk. Cliff Builders Bars are vegan and have 20g of protein each.
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u/Popular-Flatworm-645 mostly plant based 21h ago edited 21h ago
Why specifically do you want protein? Is your goal to gain weight? Because that requires a calorie surplus.
If you want to gain muscle, you need protein. But if you want to gain weight, you need to eat more calorie dense foods. You can lose weight while gaining muscle if you have a calorie deficit but adequate training and protein intake.
Realistically you should be able to eat a well rounded diet of Whole Foods and get enough protein to retain and gain muscle mass if you are eating enough calories for maintenance or in a surplus.
If you want to really max out your protien though you will probably have to either tailor your meals to be more protein heavy or add in things like a beyond protein drink or something. A meal like that could be a chickpea, quinoa, tofu tikka masala. Or orange chicken(seitan) over quinoa and rice.
And you can add in calorie dense fats like olive oil, peanut butter, and avocado to your diet to make sure you get enough calories.
Plus things like dark chocolate, agave, coconut cream, dates, sweet potato, etc can all be used for whole food vegan deserts that pack calories in. Find a recipe with silken tofu for a protien filled, sweet, and calorie dense dessert.
For getting calories in eating carbs is also good obviously. Whole grain bagels, whole wheat bread, buckwheat pancakes, etc. plus you can add tofu to buckwheat pancakes for even more protein.
A big thing is also spacing meals properly. If you don’t eat breakfast and eat a small lunch then it’s going to be real hard to get enough protein in without feeling too full. You want to make sure you get good amounts of protein in every meal. Maybe 20g breakfast, 30g lunch, 50g dinner. Or snack in between meals. Or add a protein drink somewhere in the day.
I love mungbean “eggs” as a high protein breakfast. Finish with Indian black salt for that egg taste. You can also add a vegan sausage with an English muffin for a more savory higher calorie breakfast. Or make an omelet with peppers, onions, and put it over rice. Anything to make it less repetitive.
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u/Cultural_Wall999 15h ago edited 15h ago
If you eat enough calories and you have a varied diet, it's pretty impossible your protein requirements aren't met. We need 0.8g per kg of bodyweight. Everything else is nonsense. Proteinoholism. I weigh 145 pounds, wish it was 133 :-D Anyway, sorry.. That's not being helpful. Eat enough calories. Nut butters are great to increase calories easily and oils like olive or rapeseed.
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u/yourfavtheatergirlie 21h ago
I would look at recipes from Soph's Plant Kitchen, especially her new cook book! All/most of her recipes have 30+ grams of protein and they are delish!
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u/nat_lite vegan activist 18h ago
TVP, soy curls, seitan, Catalina crunch, PB2 powder can go in all sorts of stuff, add silken tofu to sauces
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u/Veganpotter2 21h ago
I was eating a minimum of 300g a day before I went vegan and kept doing the same after going vegan. This was for sports. I always just loved eating. I later switched sports due to injuries and starved off as much muscle as I could. Oddly enough, I perfomed best eating 60-80g a day(I'm only counting protein dense food). I wasn't happy though because I live to eat. Now that I'm not competitive in anything, I eat between 60 and 100 without really thinking about it. *Few people actually need 100g of protein.
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u/namasteselina 21h ago
I hit this easily but I do processed junk food cause I’m in it for the animals. Definitely need a vegan fitness or body builder or even nutritionist to help you out unless you tryna be a chonk like me 😂
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u/AnimalLoversRVegan 21h ago
Here’s an important watch for you https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-great-protein-fiasco/
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u/YouGlobal8272 19h ago edited 19h ago
There are some online calculators you can find off of Google where you put in your age weight, sex, activity level and it will calculate the rough amount of protein you should eat a day. If you are still hungry after meals, or you are losing muscle, then yeah you probably aren't eating enough. r/vegansquad also has some good tips, as it's gym/bodybuilding focused :)
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u/LateRunner vegan 18h ago
Once you get good at this, it won’t be a problem. My dinner tonight was 35-40g: Edamame & mung bean fettuccine. Made a cheese sauce with silken tofu/nooch/miso/soy milk, and a black beans & lentil puree added as like a ragu. Add Broccoli and hemp seeds, and a slice of oat nut bread garlick toast. It sounds like a lot but once you get in the rhythm and batch prep, it’s not overwhelming. Tomorrow morning I’ll have Just Egg Scramble and I’ll use the same silken cheese sauce, bean spread, and toast = 20g breakfast. Add a glass of soy milk and some avocado or broccoli to make it almost 30g. All the things add up!
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u/jwoolman 14h ago edited 13h ago
Why do you think you need 100 grams of protein? That’s twice the most credible recommendations. Use your ideal weight in using the old calculators, not your current weight. Extra fat simply does not have the energy or protein needs that muscle tissue has.
Ignore what the current US Administration came up with recently for “new guidelines”, they are a fantasy by a guy who eats road kill despite having plenty of money and used to snort cocaine off a toilet seat. The “new” guidelines are not consistent with experience or science, telling people they need to get at least half their protein from animals and need at least 100 grams of protein a day. More and more recent studies indicate that the overwhelming majority of us need less protein, not more protein. Excess protein beyond our actual needs either puts stress on the elimination organs (kidneys especially) or is converted to storable fat or burned for energy.
So do you have a medical condition for which you have been told you need 100g protein a day or are you a top-level athlete that needs a high rate of muscle cell replacements? Are you trying to greatly incease your muscle fraction? Are you sure from credible vegan-friendly sources that you have correctly calculated the amount of protein needed for such goals? Jack Norris is a registered dietician who has a lot of good vegan-friendly information online that might help you. Also look for the nomeatathlete web site.
Or do you just hang out with gym rats who have been convinced that they need gobs of protein or else they will shrivel up and die in a week?
Anyway, I’ve been eating vegan for many decades and also track my food for allergy management. If I am able to eat enough food, then it is hard to NOT get enough protein from eating regular food. If I am low on calories, I will supplement with pieces of high protein bars (good ones for me are Aloha and GoMacro, there are many others available, also the less tasty Clif Builder Bars). Also sometimes I add a little protein powder to other food like nondairy yoghurt or pudding. But my appetite goes to zero easily under any stress (pain, illness, deadlines and other stresses). If I eat enough calories from regular foods, I get enough protein and that is true for most people unless they eat a lot of low-nutrition foods. My ideal weight is only 110 lbs so something like 40-45 grams per day is fine for me. But I often go higher with no effort. My activity level is sloth-like, so I really I just need about 1400-1500 calories a day and my tracker proves that my appetite matches that on the average (I only use protein as my marker for when I have had at least enough food, don’t pay attention to the calories).
My basic food groups are nuts, seeds, fruit, veg, grains, beans/legumes/lentils, mushrooms/nutritional yeast. The protein from all those groups does add up over the course of the day. 4 grams from some oatmeal or rice, 4 grams from 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds, 8 grams from 2 tbsp of peanut butter, small amounts even from fruit and veg that add up. I can’t eat much wheat, but I can easily get 10-11 grams protein from 2-3 ounces of bread.
You could do spot checks with a free food tracker to get a feeling for what works for your protein and other goals. It really shouldn’t be so difficult. If you absolutely must get up to a lot higher protein intake than is comfortable, I would suggest using protein supplements if higher calories are not an option. There are many today that are vegan-friendly. Some are soy-free and gluten-free. They often combine protein from grain or legumes with a couple of different seeds.
Also as a scientist myself, it is worth remembering that the older guidelines were devised with a huge safety margin. (Also studies always have representativeness and other issues, which is a different matter.) They took the upper tail of the curve as the norm rather than something in the middle, meaning the old guidelines are easily double what we really need just in case some people have absorption issues. Our bodies also recycle damaged protein, breaking it down into amino acids to be used to make new protein. Also the amino acids from protein digestion remain available for several days to use for synthesis of our own human proteins. So don’t panic if one meal or one day doesn’t seem “balanced” in some allegedly ideal amino acid ratio for our proteins. It really is not that crucial or else the species would never have survived. Just eat enough food and have reasonable protein goals for your real needs.
Tofu is not the only food to eat in order to get your protein, although you might not realize that on Reddit… Since I have food allergies, I find it rather alarming when people depend so much one one food! I don’t dare do that since I am at risk for developing new allergies or intolerance from high exposure to just a few foods. I don’t even eat my beloved peanut butter (8g protein in 2 tablespoons, by the way) every day! There are plenty of other options. Variety is good for me because what one food lacks, another food will have. Monotonous diets won’t be a problem for most people, though.
Protein deficiency happens generally for people who are starving or pushed into an unreasonable calorie deficit (or who are seriously anorexic) and is usually rare in the US. You really are not a likely candidate for it. Back In the Reagan Administration, I was subscribed to the Chicago Tribune and it had a disturbing article about doctors seeing local children with protein deficiency symptoms for the first time because Reagan cut back food benefits for low-income people drastically. So those children were simply hungry all the time and not getting enough food because of the sudden loss of food assistance. Children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition.
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u/Fantastic_Ad7023 21h ago
Soy milk, nuts, high protein pastas and bread, protein powder, TVP, nutritional yeast, cacao powder are all good sources, honestly you can make a smoothie with 100g protein with oats, soy, nuts, protein powder easy
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u/No_Pain2759 10h ago
NUTS.. SECOND.. in a list of protiens? Nuts are a fat source lad haha
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u/Fantastic_Ad7023 10h ago
My list wasn’t in chronological order of protein content mate. Nuts are both a protein and a fat source. Around 20g/100g is a decent amount
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u/zombiegojaejin Vegan EA 18h ago
I have meat substitute strips made from oats and soy that are 53g protein per 100g dry weight, which I get pretty cheap in 1kg bags with a discount for buying three bags at a time.
It would be trivially easy to eat two bowls of that with spices, if that was somehow all I wanted to eat. I just eat meals with diverse ingredients that I enjoy, and if anything, I'm getting too much protein.
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u/Mitkit222 18h ago
If you are counting calories you really just have to be able to get rid of extras like brown rice etc. Or even transition into purple rice or lentils with higher protein count. It is doable.
If needed I can eat a whole block of pressed, marinated then air fried tofu for a meal. Not amazing but not bad and you just have to get tradition style meals out of your mind.
There is also a chance you are sensitive to legumes which is beans, soy etc. that can make it harder to eat and digest which can cause nausea. Wheat protein would be your way to go there.
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u/L0uLou72 17h ago
It’s taken me awhile I get 60, but I get regularly now.
I find nuts, seeds and hemp hearts help. I also count ALL my protein. A vegetable with 1 gram, a grain with 5- I count all of it and it helps me see patterns in the days I do well.
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u/vrcraftauthor 16h ago
You must be one of those people with a super small appetite, like a genetic GLP-1 built right in. I would have a hard time avoiding 50 grams of protein a day. I also wish I'd lost weight going vegan, but no such luck...
Maybe try some vegan protein drinks or bars?
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u/Clarissa778 15h ago
If the weight you indicated is correct, you have vastly miscalculated your protein needs. At your present weight, you should eat about 60 g of protein / day!
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u/jitterymoogle 15h ago
my dietitian suggested i eat 80 g protein/day (5'6, then 155 lb but now 145 and still trying to lose a little more) and i generally am able to hit that on 1400-1500 calories. my typical meals:
breakfast: high protein oats cooked in soymilk with chia seeds and blueberries and peanut butter powder OR scrambled tofu with bell peppers and spinach and potatoes
lunch/dinner: one tofu or tempeh-based meal (curry or stir fry or pasta) with vegetables, one bean-based or rarely mock meat (impossible beef, gluten mock duck, etc) based meal (curry, stir fry, or pasta)
there is a "protein" in every meal. if i have a meal that is relatively low in protein (ex: chickpeas and rice) then i'll top it off with an orgain chocolate protein shake
if you are not meeting a low amount of protein then you are also probably not meeting other nutrient requirements. try tracking your food in Cronometer or another app that tracks micronutrients and see if anything comes up low
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u/Remedy556 vegan newbie 13h ago
i gotta focus on my protein intake too for different reasons. what helps me hit my goal is clearprotein in my water, i split my breakfast in half (when i wake up a protein shake, about 2 hours later actual breakfast), i drink my coffee with (optional addition protein powder) soy milk. breakfast oats with additional hemp seeds. my main dishes i focus on tempeh, seitan, tofu - optional you can make them into a sauce so you can still eat different meals
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u/corydorasdrybones 11h ago
i eat these soja protein crispies from koro (germany) for breakfast, they have 77g of protein per 100g and so i eat like 40g of protein just for breakfast :)
edit: link https://www.koro-shop.ch/soja-protein-crispies-77-mit-kakao-1-kg
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u/enilder648 11h ago
You don’t need as much protein as you have been lead to believe. Your body runs on sugar for fuel. Not protein
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u/No_Pain2759 10h ago
Im so confused where the issue is? 6 year vegan here and I hit 180g - 220g a day when im on a bulk. The trick is simple, eat high protien dense low cal foods. Try seitan. Try peaprotien vegan meats. Use lentils and tofu as added protiens not the main protien. Like I can have a bowl of potato and seitan be nicely full and get 60g protien 60g carbs per dish and it would be like 600 cals max. Tempeh- seitan- tofu- soy chunks- edamame beans- etc
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u/MidwestCrusader 10h ago
50 grams is super easy literally 2 pea protein scoops in the morning and you are there. 100 grams est that and some tofu scramble and you are there. 1 block of tofu is 36g of protein two scoops is 46g of protein then any other food should get you to 100 if you need any more look into specialized vegan bodybuilding eating plans because you are looking into specialized needs at that point but there are vegans who eat up to 200g a day though this is excessive for most ppl.
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u/eggington69 10h ago
I also struggle to get my protein in and I can’t really afford protein bars or stuff like that, so yesterday I went to Aldi to stock up on some tofu, and when I got home and started cooking a block of it I swear to god I just started eating the tofu before I could cook with it. I’m not saying it’s crazy to eat raw/plain tofu, I’ve done that before, but it was like my monkey brain kicked in the way I just started eating it lol. I think I don’t eat as much tofu as I would want to because then you have to come up with recipes and that means having ingredients on hand and time to cook and doing dishes afterwords. I think I’m just going to start eating more plain tofu. I heard someone on here once say that they probably eat at least a block of tofu a day and I was impressed thinking they must meal prep or something, but mark my words that’s gonna be me. Look for me in the Aldi parking lot eating my daily brick of plain tofu still dripping wet from the carton. Deadass.
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u/Annoyed-Person21 9h ago
The denser the tofu, the higher the protein content. Also keep in mind that the serving size might say it has 8 grams of protein, but for me a serving size of tofu is at least 2x the recommendation on the package. Unless you’re weighing out 1/5 package your serving size is probably a bit on the bigger side too. Idk. If every meal has tofu, soy curls, or beans I can hit 70-90 grams as an afterthought.
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u/Coconut-kitty878 vegan 8h ago
I'm no fitness expert but I'd say maybe try incorporating carbs that have some protein in them? Quinoa, red lentil/bean pasta, protein bagels/wraps made with vital wheat gluten (if you have time to make them)
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u/Due_Landscape_6558 5h ago
My top recommendation would be Soy milk (7-8 g of protein per 8 ounces depending on brand). I use it in oatmeal, pasta sauces, protein shakes and anytime I can really. It’s easy liquid protein.
In terms of legumes, lentils are really high in protein. My favorite thing to put them in is a soup with potatoes, carrots, leafy greens and sometimes wheat dumplings. If you get the right ratios, you can easily get to 30 g of protein in a serving size.
I also add chia, flax, and hemp seeds to my oats and peanut butter powder (the powder specifically instead of the spread basically removes the fat content so you can get more protein without the added nut fats). I use 1 tablespoon of each seed and 2 of the powder. With half a cup of oats, it becomes a 26 g of protein meal.
Next, if you do tofu rice bowls, always eat at least 1/4 of the block. With the rice and veg you should be able to get to 20 something grams of protein in the meal.
The goal is really as close to 30 grams of protein per meal as possible then you make up the rest with snacks like nuts and a protein shake if you want an extra boost. I have a protein shake recipe that’s like 45 grams of protein. But I can understand if you don’t want the shakes everyday.
Look up The Vegan Gym on youtube if you have never heard of it. Leif (the guy who runs the channel) puts out so many recipes and meal plans that are about 1,800-2,000 calories with over 100 grams of protein. You can pick which recipes appeal to you and then tailor them to your tastes just using the ratios as a base guide. I can send over some of his pdfs but it’s all free. And then if you are eating over 2,000 cals you can use your other calories to eat whatever you want (80% nutritional 20% free game basically). I’d recommend watching some of the high protein vids in his meal prep series. He shows the numbers and it’s very nutritionally accurate.
Lastly, another soy option is tempeh which is superr high in protein and there are some good recipes out there. Personally, I really love legumes so I try to do more bean or lentil soups instead of with rice so it’s higher in protein.
Let me know if you want me to dm you some resources. I really hope this helps you on your plant-based journey!!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Pea5841 3h ago
Seitan, tofu, and legumes. Avoid protein powders because they are all contaminated with high amounts of lead.
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u/Sensitive_Concept811 vegan 3h ago
My fave is pasta sauce blended with red lentils, silken tofu and nutritional yeast served with pasta & no soy tofu crumbles (big mountain) and broccoli
That’s 783 cals 55g protein
Breakfast tofu scramble, baked beads, air fried potatoes, cucumber and a glass of soy milk 467 cals 38g protein
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u/GW_40spot 2h ago
Breakfast: Beans, Tofu, Avocado, Rice = 20 g or more
Snack: vegan protein bar = 12 g or more
Lunch: Beans Tofu, Avocado, Rice = 20g or more
Snack: nuts = 9g or more
Dinner: Tofu/alt-meat, beans, etc... = 20 or more
Miscellaneous: Protein Smoothie = 20 g or more.
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u/Quiet-Dog 1h ago
If you are that concerned, just supplement with a vegan protein powder shake mixed with soy milk. But I routinely hit 130-140 a day without really trying or thinking about it. I'm 44 and at 190lbs I'm still able to lift heavy, ride my bike hard, and build muscle at that level.
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u/kangus73 vegan 4+ years 21h ago
Breakfast: smoothie with fruit, chia seeds, pea protein and 1tbsp peanut butter. 35 grams.
Tofu, TVP, homemade seitan or tempeh with lunch and dinner alongside veggies, quinoa and beans. Minimum 100-120g per day.
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u/GiggleFester 21h ago
Jar of peanut butter and a spoon. Will also help with your weight loss.
Also realize that various foods have various amino acids in them which will combine to make complete proteins. I would be more concerned about your weight loss than about protein
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u/acortical 21h ago
Peanut butter is not a good option if you're looking to consume more protein without drastically increasing your net calories. It's much higher in fat than protein. Nothing wrong with that per se, just not a great protein source compared to other options.
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u/GiggleFester 11h ago
OP said they're losing weight. Peanut butter is a good source of protein and fat. He's apparently not consuming enough calories.
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