Is there a vegetable protein?
Is there a vegetable protein?
Yes. Although many people believe that only foods of animal origin have proteins, most foods have them to a greater or lesser extent, and those of vegetable origin (cereals, legumes, nuts …) are no exception, as explained by nutritionist dietitian Lucía Martínez, author of the blog Tell me what you eat, in her book Vegetarians with science .
Vegetable protein foods
Vegetable protein foods
As you can see in this list, there are plant-based foods with a high protein content, such as the textured soy you see in the photo.
Amount of protein in plant foods
Proteins per 100 g according to data from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).
- Textured soy: 50 g
- Peanuts: 23.7 g
- Almonds: 21.2 g
- Seitan: 21.2 g
- Oat flakes: 16.8 g
- Cooked soybeans: 16.6 g
- Walnuts: 15.2 g
- Hazelnuts: 15 g
- Bread: 9-13 g
- Tofu: 8-12 g
- Cooked lentils: 9 g
- Cooked chickpeas: 8.9 g
- Cooked beans: 8.5 g
- Cooked pasta: 5.3 g
- Soy yogurt: 4.6 g
- Cooked quinoa: 4.4 g
- Cooked amaranth: 4 g
- Soy milk: 3 g
- Cooked rice: 2.3 g
Amount of vegetable protein needed
Amount of vegetable protein needed
In the event that no animal protein is eaten (neither eggs nor dairy), Lucía Martínez says that a well planned diet, which includes daily servings of legumes and derivatives, nuts, seeds and whole grains can perfectly cover our protein needs .
And we do not need to be aware of adding the grams of protein we eat: "It is enough to include a serving of quality protein food in each intake, or at least in the main intakes." This means that in all meals we include a serving of quality vegetable protein.
Recommended servings
Approximate servings of vegetable protein for adults.
- Legume: A full plate.
- Legume + cereal: A plate filled with one half of each, or a little more legume than cereal.
- Tofu, Seitan and Tempeh: A serving the size of the palm of your hand.
- Textured soy: Half a glass (hydrated).
- Nuts: A handful.
But is vegetable protein just as 'good' as animal protein?
But is vegetable protein just as 'good' as animal protein?
Of course. It is often said that only animal proteins are complete. This means that, in its composition, they have all the essential amino acids and in sufficient quantity. However, Lucía Martínez, warns that it is not true: "Soy, chickpeas, some types of beans, pistachios, quinoa, hemp seeds, amaranth or spinach also contain them."
- Now, he recognizes that, "although their proteins are of good quality, the quantity they contain is low, so we would have to eat a large quantity to obtain a remarkable protein ration"; and also explains that some plant foods fall a little short of some of the essential amino acids.
How to get complete plant proteins
How to get complete plant proteins
As Lucía Martínez explains, the trick to compensate for the lack or shortage of an amino acid in a certain food of plant origin is to combine it with another that has it. For example, the vegetable protein in legumes is poor in an amino acid that cereals do have. By joining the two foods, "they complement each other and we obtain complete proteins, with all the essential amino acids in sufficient quantities," he explains.
- However, contrary to popular belief, it is not mandatory to combine them in the same meal: "Eating lentils with rice is just as effective as eating rice and having lentils for dinner," he continues to explain. Our body stores amino acids and uses them as it needs them. "For this reason it is not necessary to make combinations of foods in the same plate, not even in the same meal to ensure complete proteins," he concludes.
Good combinations of vegetable protein
Good combinations of vegetable protein
If you still want to ensure both by combining vegetable protein so that it is complete in the same meal, here are the three main ways to combine it.
- Legumes with cereals: lentils with rice, hummus with bread, corn fajitas with beans, bean burgers with oatmeal …
- Legumes with nuts: chickpea salad with nuts, pea and almond flour burgers, lentil and macadamia paté …
- Cereals with nuts: rice with almonds, nut bread, almond cakes, oatmeal cookies with nuts …
And is vegetable protein digested the same as animal protein?
And is vegetable protein digested the same as animal protein?
Not quite. It is more difficult for our body to digest and take advantage of plant protein because it is necessary to break the wall of plant cells to reach it and, in addition, it contains compounds called antinutrients that make it difficult to absorb other elements.
- How to solve it? Soaking, cooking, and sprouting increase digestibility and effectively counteract antinutrients. Which is, for example, what has been done all his life with legumes, leaving them to soak and cook them later.
