Protein problems.?

Question

Okay, I'm a vegitarian, and I don't eat meat, I never really have eaten meat, and I find it rather descusting. What food would substitute the meat protine problem I have?

Answer 1

Protien
First off you need less than you think and many vegetables have some protein.

The easiest way though to increase your protein is to use meat substitutes in your cooking. In the freezer section of your grocery you should find Morningstar, Boca, and Garden Burger products that can be either eaten on their own or put into recipes. Some of my favorites:

Veggie Burgers by any of them many flavors and choices be sure to try several to find your favorite.
Morningstar "Sausage" links or patties.
Morningstar Burger Crumbles for putting in spag sauce or chili.
Garden Burger Riblets

My kids also like the Morningstar Chick patties and nuggets.

The next best way to increase protein is to get Legumes (beans and nuts).

Lastly there are many forms of Tofu available to that can be used as a meat substitute in recipes or eaten on its own.

Answer 2

Protein problem? Unless you're not eating enough calories or you're a body-builder, that's probably not the issue here.

Do you just think you don't get enough or are you feeling ill? If you feel tired, achey, etc, then it's probably a vitamin deficiency, most likely iron. Go to a nutrition store like GNC and get a vegetarian formula multi-vitamin and make sure it has iron in it. You should also find a breakfast cereal that is fortified with iron and eat veggie pasta (the pasta that is red and green, dyed with natural vegetable powders) because it contains extra iron from the spinach powder. Most young women, vegetarian or not, could use some extra iron. It's a common problem and new vegetarians tend to mistake it for lack of protein since they hear that ever so irritating question "where do you get your protein" a million times a day.

Answer 3

I agree nasty stuff..I too have felt that way all my life. I was made ot eat meat, eggs & dairy as a child.. I had to disguise meat & eggs with catsup to be able to eat it..milk, ice cream alsways gave me a tummy ache.. meals were generally awful for me I always felt ill afterwards.
High Protien foods, Nuts, seeds, Legumes(beans/peas) but there is more plant sources for protien than most people realize.
here is a great article by Dr. John McDougall.(who is a vegan)
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/apr/dairy.htm

Answer 4

Veggies have LOTS of protein: broccoli has 45-47% by calorie.

There's also every amino acid in some vegetable or another, but you have to mix it up; use lots of vegetable proteins to get them all: soy is great, peanuts, legumes, beans, even wheat, corn and potatos all have protein.

You don't need meat to get protein, you only need meat cause it's so dang tasty!

Answer 5

The easiest way to get protien if you don't eat meat and won't eat anything having to do with it is by cooking rice and baked/refried beans and eating those together. This gives you the full amount of essential protien that you need as a vegetarian or vegan.

Answer 6

It's not just a question of how much protein, it's more a question of the kind of protein. Proteins are made of amino acids and we need a good range of them as part of balanced diet. The key is to eat what's know as a complete protein (although it can be made up over different meals).

While fruit & veg might contain protein, they don't necessarily contain all the amino acids we need.

Dairy products will add some of the other proteins to your diet.

But there are vegan options too. Pulses (beans, lentils etc) and grains contain important proteins. I have heard it said that lentils and rice together form a complete protein. So if you have something like tarka dhal and rice, you get all the amino acids you need.

Answer 7

Fake meat has a nice amount of protein in it also peanut butter and some cereals! Also eggs! Also if you go to the health store get some protein powder! It is a little costly but blend it with a shake you can't tatse it! Good luck!

Answer 8

I think you should try tofu is not much like the real meat but i guess it can be a substitute since you're a vegetarian... there are few recipes on tofus... try it...

Answer 9

Where do you get your protein?
The WHO (World Health Organization) says humans need about 5% of their daily calories to come from protein to be healthy. The USDA puts this figure at 6.5%. On average, fruits have about 5% of their calories from protein. Vegetables have from 20-50% of their calories from protein. Sprouted seeds, beans, and grains contain from 10-25% of their calories from protein. So if you are eating any variety of living plant foods, you are getting more than adequate protein. Numerous scientific studies have shown the daily need for protein to be about 25-35 grams per day. So if you ate 2,000 calories per day, and ate raw plant foods that had an average of 10% of their calories from protein, you would get 200 calories worth of protein, or 50 grams. This is more than adequate to support optimal well-being. Other studies have shown that heat treating a protein (such as with cooking) makes about half of it unusable to the human body. So raw plant food protein is even a better source than cooked plant foods or animal foods. There is still a huge, foolish, misguided idea that plant protein is not "complete". This is based on studies done on rats in the 1940's. This false conclusion was drawn before we discovered the bodies protein recycling mechanism and its ability to "complete" any amino acid mix from our bodies amino acid pool, no matter what the amino acid composition of a meal consumed. This false idea is still perpetuated by the meat and dairy industries, in an attempt to influence people to continue consuming their truly health destroying products.

Answer 10

You most likely do not have a problem. Almost all foods have protein and in developed countries, there is no such thing as protein deficiency.