Being vegan does not mean giving up the essential nutriments necessary and required for a healthy and balanced diet. Proteins are not contained only and solely in animal-based food, but even vegetable products are rich in that.

We must take a fundamental premise: animal proteins are called “noble proteins” because they contain all the essential amino acids our body requires, while those found in plants and vegetables are called “simple proteins” because they do not contain all the essential amino acids. Anyway, through a process called protein complementation, this shortage can be compensated: what is required is to combine correctly different vegetable proteins. For example, pasta with legumes represents an excellent pairing, because the amino acids of which beans or lentils are deficient are provided by cereals, and vice versa.             
Therefore, with a vegetable-based diet is possible to assure the right quantity of proteins, meaning that the amount of protein needful for the daily requirement of our body is fulfilled, taking into account and always remembering that these quantities vary considerably according to one’s age and weight.

Among the most protein foods, we can find:

  1. Tofu: 140 grams contains 11 grams of proteins. Moreover, tofu is rich in minerals (e.g. iron and magnesium)
  2. Tempeh: less known than tofu or seitan in the West, this product (derived from the fermentation of soy) is one of the major source of vegetable protein. 100 grams contains 18.2 grams of proteins.
  3. Quinoa: 4,4 grams of protein every 100 grams. It looks like a cereal, but differs from this latter because it contains 9 amino acids. It also presents a good balance of proteins and carbohydrates.
  4. Hemp seeds: so little, so precious. 6 grams of protein every 30 grams. They contains the 8 essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan and valine)
  5. Almonds: among the dried fruit, almonds have a high content of protein. 100 grams of shelled almonds contains up to 20 grams of proteins. Almond milk partially maintains the proteins.
  6. Chickpeas and other legumes: 200 grams of chickpeas contain 16 grams of protein, while other legumes have 12 grams of protein for the same portion of food.
  7. Lentils: are among the vegetables with the highest protein content (almost 23 per 100 grams of dried lentils). They also have good amounts of iron: consumed in combination with cereals, represent a unique dish complete and balanced.
  8. Seaweed: represents an important source of vegetable proteins, with 6 grams of protein each 100 grams of dried seaweeds.
  9. Spelt: the oldest wheat, known and used since the Neolithic age. A pound of spelt provides about 15.1 grams of protein.
  10. Barley: widely used in cooking especially for the preparation of soups, barley has a moderate amount of protein (10.4 grams/100 grams), mineral salts and starches and is the cereal with the lowest glycaemic index.

The best advice is possible to give consists in foreseen the consumption of a vast class of vegetable-based foods. In the long run, the failure in combining vegetable proteins could lead to protein deficiencies; otherwise, in the short run, that is not true: our body is perfectly able to regulate the protein synthesis. Thus, although we dissociate into two separate meals the consumption of legumes and cereals, implementing the limiting amino acids with those present in the endogenous reserves is still possible for our body.

Interesting combinations guarantee the increase in the power of vegetable foods. For example, pasta with lentils, chickpeas and nuts salad, seitan and peas, or the more Mexican “tortillas and beans”. What matters is to combine vegetables and cereals, using a little of fantasy and imagination to experiment new combinations.

OIPA supports the only lifestyle that makes all the sentient being living together in harmony, without exploiting the others. Find out more: https://www.oipa.org/international/veg/

Author 
Paola Colombo