You’re already eating a plant protein diet
You’re already eating a plant protein diet

You’re already eating a plant protein diet

Kicking it off with plant protein

When it comes to protein, meat might be the thing you think of after all meat is the “King of Protein”, or so I have been told my entire life. So you may think meat is the logical place to start a series of blogs on protein, #talkingprotein, but I beg to differ. The logical place is to start at the beginning, the first proteins of life.

Plants, the OG of Protein

Plant protein is the OG

Plants have existed for millennia and are the original source of protein and were evolutionary building blocks of all living creatures, including ourselves. Unlike humans who are heterotrophic, meaning we rely on food, including essential proteins to sustain life, plants are autotrophic, they produce their energy, including proteins. Plants need to produce their proteins to transport nutrients, provide intracellular structure and to assist in the absorption and reaction to light. To produce their proteins, plants form amino acids through nitrogen assimilation, in which nitrogen (nitrates and ammonium) is absorbed from the soil. If plants are the OG, then maybe nitrogen is the “King of Protein”, without it the world we rely on wouldn’t exist.

Legumes provide future protein for the next generation of crops

Nitrogen is essential in the life of plants and protein. Agricultural crop production relies heavily on the use of nitrogen fertilizers to provide crops with the necessary nutrients to thrive. Nitrogen fertilizers (synthetic and organic sources) offer both a balance to the soil quality, plant nutrition, but also the plants’ health and producers’ economic returns. A healthy plant will be more bountiful in yield and profits. For legume crops, however, nitrogen fertilizers are not necessary, through nitrogen fixation these crops convert nitrogen gases from the air and fixes the nitrogen into nodules in its root system to supply itself with the future protein food. This is beneficial to the plant, and future crops, as it produces its own nitrogen food, and leaves nitrogen in the soil for future crops to access. Recently North America has seen an increase in acres for legume crops, as they are both environmentally beneficial crops, but they have also increased in profitability for producers. Given the environmental gains which legume crops can offer, they also have grown in popularity as a ‘sustainable’ alternative of protein.

Small but effective

Thanks to the growing demands, marketing, ‘sustainability’ and increased profitability of producing ‘protein’ crops, consumers are seeing and hearing more about plant proteins. What needs to be remembered about plant protein is that they are not equal in quantity. Instead, we should think about what amount of protein is daily recommended? The average woman and man need 46 g and 56 g of protein, respectively. So let’s look at the quantity of proteins in a food serving and see how it could be both very filling and daunting if we chose to source all of our protein requirements from one plant a day. I’m not suggesting you eat just a single plant protein a day, the table merely helps put into context the volumes required, when compared to an animal protein, such as a steak or glass of cow milk. When it comes to achieving your daily protein from plants you might need to eat more in sheer volume, but you have the benefits of being full, sourcing fibre and other nutrients which have health benefits far great than what can be explored in this mere blog.

Plant protein per recommended serving
FoodServing SizeProtein (g)Total serving needed per day for:
Women (46g protein)Men (56g protein)
Tofu, extra firm3 Oz. = 85 g = 1/3 cup8460 g (~1.9 cups)560 g (~2.3 cups)
Soybeans (green), cooked1/2 cup112.1 cups2.5 cups
Almonds, sliced1/4 cup52.3 cups2.8 cups
Lentils, cooked1/2 cup92.6 cups3.1 cups
Black beans, cooked1/2 cup82.9 cups3.5 cups
Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans), cooked1/2 cup73.3 cups4.0 cups
Quinoa, cooked1/2 cup45.8 cups7.0 cups
Rice, long-grain, cooked1/2 cup211.5 cups14.0 cups
Broccoli, fresh or Potato, cooked1/2 cup123.0 cups28.0 cups
Spinach, fresh1 cup146.0 cups56.0 cups
Almond milk8 fl. Oz. = 1 cup25.4 Litre6.6 Litre
Beef, top round steak4 oz.257.2 oz. steak8.8 oz. steak
Cow’s milk, 1%8 fl. Oz. = 1 cup81.4 Litre1.7 Litre

Source: WebMD Food Calculator, 2015 (source originally from ESHA Research, Inc., Salem, Oregon)

A healthy dose of plant protein

There are benefits to having plants in our diet, I can’t imagine a dietician recommending you cut them out of your diet. The magic of plants is that they offer us a spread of different nutrients, and offer carbohydrates, fibre, lipids and protein. As a bonus, plants have beneficial advantages such as carbon sequestration, and nitrogen fixation by the legume family. However, relying on plants as a sole protein source is not as easy as sourcing from an animal product, as shown in the above. In our next blog, we explore the ‘trends’ in processed plant proteins, and how to find a balance that works for you.

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: Finding your protein balance with plant options -

    1. Roberta Cox

      The figures for almond milk vs cows milk don’t make sense. If almond milk has 11 gms of protein per serving that is more than cows milk so the amount needed should be less.

      1. Thanks for catching this Roberta! SO it was supposed to say 1g/cup and not 11g. We have looked a bit more at other labels, hand decided to list the higher range of protein of 2g/cup rather than 1, which actually means half the litres reported previously. Thanks again for catching this.

  2. Pingback: Finding your protein balance with plant options – Times Herald Daily News

  3. Pingback: Plant-Based Protein: What are the myths? - SAIFood

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