These days, many people are trying to switch to a vegan diet, mainly thinking that it's healthier. But a vegan diet does not always provide us with everything we need in terms of nutritional values. An example of this was given in a conversation with Dr. Maya Roseman and an avid listener of her show on the 103FM radio station, where he spoke about his diet.
"I wanted to become a vegan and it seemed to me that it was difficult to get the necessary amount of protein, so I decided to eat a portion of salmon fish - 150 grams a day," he said. "Now I want to reduce it, I wanted to ask, how do I supplement it in my diet, and is the protein that I get sufficient enough?"
The listener then shared with Roseman what he usually eats daily.
"I eat oats, whole wheat pita, lentils, peas, lots of nuts, almonds, a tablespoon of grounded flax seeds, a tablespoon of chia seeds, and tahini. It turned out that I reach about 51 grams of protein, and I would like to add at least 25 grams of protein," he said.
Roseman's response
Roseman then explained the amount of protein present in each food and recommended the vegan food products that should be added.
"The proteins in the food are scored according to their suitability for building the muscles of the body. An egg scored 100, meat/chicken/fish/dairy products scored approximately 85, and legumes less. You need to add about another 10-15 grams of protein per day. If you ate fish, it would solve that problem, but since you don't, are vegan protein powders still out of the question?
"There are protein powders for vegans, which comes out to 23 grams per serving that contains about 120 calories," she continued. "You can add it to oatmeal with a little more water.
"Another option is to add tofu. Half a package of tofu contains about 25 grams of protein. Another option is edamame, which is actually green soybeans. You can also add other legumes, but then you will get a lower amount of protein, about nine grams per cup after cooking."
Is it complete protein?
"No, but it turns out a little better because you eat oats or wholemeal flour during the day, and the body knows how to supplement protein even if you don't eat it at that very second, but there's nothing else you can do in that situation. It's at least a little less quality protein - that's the less preferable option," she concluded.