Proteins; they are in a lot of food which is seen as daily food for many people. However, this is not the case for vegans. Why is it more difficult for vegans to get enough protein?
Proteins are mainly found in meat & fish and animal products. These are exactly the type of foods vegans don’t eat. Is it even possible for vegans to get protein, you may wonder?
Yes it is! We will explain how this is possible.
Table of Contents
- How can vegans get proteins?
- Difference between animal and vegetable proteins
- How much protein do you need?
- Vegetable protein sources
How can vegans get proteins?
First of all, it is important to understand why we actually need protein.
Protein is the most important building material for our body, it forms the basis of our muscles.
With proteins, a distinction is made between animal and vegetable proteins.
Due to the diet of vegans, they can’t get animal proteins.
The solution for vegans is therefore in vegetable proteins. Vegans should therefore look for vegetable protein sources.
Difference between animal and vegetable proteins
Maybe you are now wondering whether vegetable proteins are just as good as animal proteins.
Vegetable proteins contain fewer essential amino acids than animal proteins. Essential amino acids are amino acids that your body can’t make on its own.
What does this difference mean in practice?
If you only get your proteins from vegetable protein sources, it is recommended to consume more protein.
How much protein do you need?
The required protein intake is very different for each individual.
There are 2 factors that mainly determine this intake; body weight and the amount of physical activity.
It is also important whether you also get animal proteins, in this case the amount will be lower. However, we now assume purely vegetable protein sources.
In this case, the protein requirement in people who do not perform strenuous physical activity is approximately 0.8-1.0 grams per kg body weight. In people who do perform heavy physical activity, this is about 1.2-1.7 grams per kg body weight.
Vegetable protein sources
There are a lot of vegetable protein sources. The problem with most of them is that they are low in protein.
Because of this you will have to eat a lot of these foods to meet your protein needs.
That is why we provide an overview below with 10 good vegetable protein sources. These protein sources contain a high protein content, the protein content per food item is indicated.
| protein source | protein content (grams of protein per 100 grams) |
| spirulina | 60 |
| pea protein | 80 |
| hemp seed | 33 |
| chia seeds | 16 |
| quinoa | 14 |
| buckwheat | 9 |
| pumpkin seeds | 19 |
| nutritional yeast | 50 |
| soybeans | 36 |
| lentils | 26 |
Lifestyle coach [5+ years of fitness experience]