I recently became a vegetarian, how many grams of protein do I need to consume to stay healthy?

Question

And what food are really high in protein?

Answer 1

Congrats on becoming vegetarian. You are on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

The average person needs approximately 60 grams of protein per day. If you are an athlete or someone who is extremely active, you could need more (up to 1 gram per pound).

There are some excellent, vegetarian sources of protein. If you go to your health food store, you'll find a plethora of soy-based protein foods that taste good. Soy milk, dairy products, eggs, tofu, beans, veggie burgers, chillis, etc are all excellent sources of protein.

I recommend that you take a multi-vitamin every day -- one that includes iron / minerals. Most newbie vegetarians often don't eat enough minerals and wind up deficient. Consider using a free web site such as http://www.fitday.com to monitor your protein and mineral / vitamin intake.

Good luck.

Answer 2

College textbooks on nutrition say that protein deficiency is rare in the world and does not exist in this part of the world. Americans get too much protein. There is a lot in beans, nuts and seeds.

Many vegans eat over 80% fruit. BUT there are things that vegetarians get too little of. See site below. I checked UK veg site above and it says that EXCESS dietary protein is bad and vegetarian may be better since it provides enough but not excess.

Answer 3

This is the link to the Vegetarian Society UK's food fact information. You should be able to find what you are looking for here....

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/foodfacts.html

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Being female, you need to be careful with soy products. Soy is high in estrogen, and too much of it can screw with your body and make you ill. I recommend seeing a nutritionist to work out some sort of meal plan to keep yourself healthy!