But where do you get your protein?

 

When I say that I am a vegan the person asking invariably gets a worried look on his or her face and asks, "But where do you get your protein?" To this I typically respond with two questions: How much protein does one need? How much protein are you  getting? When I ask these questions all I get is the gentle sound of crickets in the background. The fact is most people have NO CLUE how much protein they need or are getting on a daily basis.

For some odd reason an urban legend got started somewhere that says one can only get protein from meat.  Or at least sufficient amounts of it for survival. Of course that is not true.  Plenty of vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes have protein. In fact, it is very difficult to NOT get enough protein if you are eating enough good food.  Sure, if all you eat is iceberg lettuce you will be in trouble.  But most don't go on that diet.

How much protein do I get?  Well, here is a typical day for me:

Breakfast
2 cups of Life cereal: 8g
1 cup of almond milk: 1g

Lunch:
1 Zucchini 2.4g
1 carrot 1g
1/4 cups nuts 8g

Supper:
3 cups of spaghetti: 24g
1 Slice homemade white bread: 3g

Total 47.6g

Now some of you who are in the know will start jumping up and down screaming, "But you need at least 56g of protein to stay healthy, according to the RDA!"  (You know this because you just googled it).

Well, to ease your mind, here are a few things to consider:

1. I am mostly sedentary.  Hey, I'm a programmer.  What did you expect?

2. When I was super active, I drank vegan protein drinks and ate quite a bit more.  Which put me way over the RDA. When I need more protein, I eat more protein. All from plants.

3. The RDA for protein was, in part, determined using data provided by companies funded by the meat, egg and dairy industry. So I have serious questions about the numbers for the RDA for protein.

4. The number is an "average" and a recommendation. Some will need more and others less.  As it stands, I do good on that amount of protein. Get to know your body.

5. I've been a vegan for over nine years and still alive and healthy. That counts for something. Sometimes the obvious facts are the right facts.

6. Finally, many athletes are vegan, including MMA fighters and competitive weight lifters.  They've figured out the protein thing.

I would argue that the average America is actually getting too much protein in their diet. If you aren't a body builder or long distance runner, then eating bacon and egs for breakfast, chicken sandwich and yogurt for lunch and a stake for supper is probably WAY to much protein for you. And yes, too much protein can hurt you. Here is what a pre-vegan meal looked like for me:

Breakfast:
2 eggs: 12g
4 slices of bacon: 12g
1 slice of toast: 3g

Lunch:
Chicken sandwich: 24g
Yogurt (Greek): 27g

Supper:
1 Stake: 62g
1 potato: 7g
Maybe a salad (Leaving that off, but it DOES have protein)

Total 147g

Do you really need THAT much protein? If you are very active, then yes, maybe. But if you are the typical American, no. 

The problem is, when people ask me about my protein, underlying the question is the assumption that vegans should be getting the same amount of protein as a carnist. And even though most people don't know what that amount is, they  assume it should be the same.  But that simply isn't true.  Vegans have been around for thousands of years, even before protein shakes and cliff bars, and if it were a serious threat to health we would have known it by now. The simple fact is, meat is not necessary to your health.  In fact, plenty of data is emerging that indicates the complete opposite may be true. It may be doing more harm than good.

So, don't worry about my protein intake. I'm doing just fine.  But you may want to take a look at yours.

[Note: The silverback gorilla, pictured above, is vegan. I dare you to ask him where he gets his protein. :) ]