How to get enough protein on a plant based diet.

Anyone else seen Seaspiracy?

One thing you should know about my husband is that he is a scuba diving instructor and he is extremely passionate about marine life and nature, as am I of course. So after watching the documentary my husband came home one day with the most hilarious impulsive buy I've ever seen a man make: 2kg of tofu.

We started reducing our meat intake years ago to cut down our carbon foot print, I'm not saying we gave it up, but we very rarely eat red meat nowadays, so naturally after watching the show, we were left wondering what else we could eat on this planet without destroying it.

Could we get enough protein on a fully plant based diet?

The simple answer is ‘yes’, but it’s likely you’ll need to do some planning. I know there are a lot of people on the fence about it, so I thought I'd discuss some of the pros and cons of going fully plant based and what you’re options are.

What exactly is protein and why do we need it?

Most gym rats already know that building muscle requires protein, but protein is more important than that. Protein helps us grow hair, skin and nails, heal cuts and bruises, keep our bones strong, and even fight off infections by providing the building blocks to antibodies. Simply put, we need protein to stay alive.

All proteins are made up of amino acids.

Our bodies use 20 different amino acids. 7 of those amino acids are non essential amino acids, which means our bodies can make them ourselves. 4 of those are conditionally essential , meaning we can make them but not always, and 9 of them are essential amino acids (EAA), meaning that our bodies can’t make them and we need to get them from our diet.

You may have heard of BCAA or branched-chain amino acids, which are a sub category of EAA’s. Leucine (a type of BCAA) has the ability to repair and build muscle, which makes it a popular supplement in the fitness industry.

But besides worrying about preventing muscle loss, you’ll also need to consider what other nutrients you are potentially missing out on when considering going full plant based.

Because humans have a digestive system that has evolved to consume varying types of food, the amino acid profile of a food can determine how well something is digested. What this could mean is that, if your diet is completely plant based, you may need to consume more protein to make up for the protein that may have been lost due to the lower digestibility of some plant based foods.

So how do we make sure we get enough protein without animal products?

Here are few things you could eat to make sure that you stay on top of your protein targets on a fully plant based diet:

• Tempeh

• Tofu

• Edamame

• Split peas

• Black-eyed peas

• Lentils and beans

You could also supplement with protein powders, but as always, the more natural the food source, the better.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that going plant based means “healthier”. One could argue that you could be “healthy” or “unhealthy” following any type of lifestyle. It’s down to the individual and the habits they have around their food choices. Eating KFC’s fully vegan range everyday isn’t going to make you any healthier. So while it doesn’t really matter whether you choose to eat meat or not, it does matter how you choose to nourish your body.

Here are a few tips when starting out on your journey to becoming plant based:

• Do your research. Planning out what you can eat before taking the plunge will make the experience of going plant based much more enjoyable.

• Introduce one thing at a time especially if you aren’t used to following a high fibre diet. Suddenly introducing lots of vegetables and beans might….. well, lets just say you might want to avoid lighting a match in your house for a few days.

• Keep it minimally processed. Enjoying the odd faux meat burger and bacon is absolutely fine, but choosing whole foods when you can will give your body the nutrients it needs.

• Keep it varied. Research has shown that the more varied an individual’s diet is, the more likely they are to get all the important nutrients.

• Consider taking B12 vitamins. Because B12 isn’t found in any plant based foods you might want to venture out into the world of vegetarianism and flexitareanism and eat some dairy and/or eggs every once in a while, otherwise it might be a good idea to supplement with multi-vitamins.

Are you considering going fully plant based? Tell me your thoughts.