How can I get plant protein without eating soy?
Before I answer, I’d like to make everyone aware of a page on protein at veganhealth.org/articles/protein. It is a technical article and definitely not necessary to read in order to eat a healthy vegan diet. But, if someone out there is haranguing you about not getting enough protein, you might find it helpful. My one concern is that all the technical information might make it seem difficult to get the protein you need. The most important things to know are right here.
First of all, soy is an excellent source of protein for vegans and as long as you do not have an allergy or intolerance to soy, it should be safe to eat 2 to 3 servings of soyfoods per day. (See veganhealth.org/articles/soy for more info on soy safety.)
In addition to soy, the best whole food sources of plant proteins are legumes, followed by nuts.
Legumes include a wide variety of foods including:
Garbanzo beans — falafel, hummus, chana masala
Pinto beans – refried beans, burritos
Black beans – soup, burritos
Lentils – dal, soup
Split peas – soup
Peanuts – peanut butter
Chili beans
Green peas
Almond butter is high in protein and other nuts are also decent sources.
While most grains have only moderate amounts of protein, quinoa is the exception in having quite a bit (8 g per 1 cup cooked). I found quinoa to taste unusual at first, but I quickly grew to like it. Make sure you rinse it thoroughly before cooking.
In terms of total protein content, products made from wheat gluten, such as seitan, are some of the highest in protein. Like soy, it’s probably good to minimize the wheat gluten products to 2 to 3 servings a day.
Finally, there are both soy and non-soy vegan protein powders on the market, such as Naturade Soy Free Veg Protein Booster (an Internet search will provide many places from which to purchase them).
As a general rule, if you eat 3 servings of the above foods per day, your protein needs should be taken care of.
February 1st, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Thank you for this. My 7-year-old daughter loves tofu and other soy foods, but has a little tummy upset with large amounts. I’ve been looking for alternatives for her.
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
When our dogs where born – we really wanted to make sure that they do not consume too much of their protein from soy products. (We human apes do not need as much protein as our dogs.) We went for the beans and lentils thingy as well, combined with some grains. Our dogs also get their extra B12, taurine etc but have never in their lives consumed D3 – only D2.
It has worked out better than expected. After years of being life-long-vegans – we still have to meet an omnivorous dog with a better health record than our vegan pack. Blood tests confirm the obvious. (To be fair – given what is being fed to dogs these days – it is not surprising that ours appear younger and healthier.)
PS: Our dogs still get some soy products as they are not allergic to them. We just try to keep the intake below 1/4 of all protein. Variety is never bad. But they sure like the taste.
When we first brought them to puppy school – the “teacher” refused to work with us unless we used “proper” treats. Only cow cheese will do the trick nicely she insisted. This was utterly strange to us. Most dogs at the school were off mother’s milk and where developing their natural lactose intolerance. For them to suddenly consume cow’s milk did not make much sense to us.
We offered a compromise to the teacher: we would bring soy cheese – she could bring cow cheese and we simply tested which of the two our dogs preferred. They went for the soy cheese.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
[...] So what’s the first thing people ask you when you say you’ve gone vegan? Where do you get your protein? Jack Norris, co-founder and current president of Vegan Outreach, and Registered Dietician, is authoring a blog of his own… JackNorris.com. Fittingly, his first (real) post talks about protein. [...]
February 4th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Thanks! Curious why gluten should be limited like soy. (I’ve actually read more stringent restrictions for soy – one or two servings a day.) Thanks!
February 5th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Jaime,
I’m taking my soy recommendations mainly from Virginia and Mark Messina’s article Is It Safe to Eat Soy?, which is the most research-based article that I’ve seen on the subject of soy intake for a large cross-section of various diseases.
That’s a good question about wheat gluten. I will address it in a blog post as soon as I get a chance.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I’m surprised that quinoa wasn’t on your list.
It’s a little more obscure, but I’ve read many positive descriptions of it as a protein source.
Is its reputation justified?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Now that you mention it, even I’m surprised I didn’t have it on my list!
Quinoa is a very good source of protein with 8 grams per 1 cup cooked. I will edit the above post to include it. Thanks for the reminder!
February 6th, 2009 at 2:43 am
Your info (How can I get plant protein without eating soy?) might
lead someone to believe that they could obtain all their protein requirement
from legumes and do so without eating soy. My understanding however is
that, especially in the absence of eating soy, one needs to complement
those proteins with grains, seeds or nuts.
While I understand that thereis less emphasis on complementing proteins because they need not be eaten in the same meal, and one will likely easily accomplish this by eating a varied diet, should that not at least be stated? Would not someone get insufficient protein by relying solely on non soy legumes for their entire protein intake?
February 6th, 2009 at 7:18 am
[...] That’s one reason I’m really excited that Jack Norris, Registered Dietician and President of Vegan Outreach (one of my all-time favorite non-profit groups) has started his own blog with “news for vegan advocates and those eating plant-based diets.” Vegan Outreach (VO) is well-known for working hard to ensure that their information is accurate and credible; many of their quotes and statistics come from industry sources. As part of VO, Jack has a website, VeganHealth.org, which provides great information for those interested in the health aspects of a vegan diet. Now Jack’s blog will provide more frequent health information, analyze recent research, and answer questions. His blog has just started, but already he has tackled a great question — one that many people have asked me: “How can I get plant protein without soy?” [...]
February 9th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Rick,
Except for soy, legumes are low in one amino acid: methionine. People are going to eat a lot more foods throughout the day than the non-soy legumes I listed in my sample diet above, and they will get the methionine from those other foods.
Even if someone’s only significant source of protein were legumes, meeting the RDA for methionine would not be terribly difficult – they would only need to increase their intake by about 40%. For example, for a 140 lb person, it would take about 2.5 cups of cooked legumes to meet the RDA for most of the amino acids, while it would take 3.5 cups to meet the RDA for methionine. That should be doable unless someone is really filling up on non-legume foods that are very low in protein.
You can see how much of a particular food it takes to meet the RDA for the essential amino acids in the charts at http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/protein.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:53 am
A simple Kiwi has a better amino acid score…
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1934/2
…than some beef?
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/beef-products/7491/2
It’s just the amount we would have to eat… As apes – we would have to eat like apes in order to reach optimum health? Apes do not eat soy! But who would want optimum health? Nobody I know – not even those with severe diseases who could save themselves…! That is why we stick to beans, legumes and grains – the lazy man’s, second-best health diet
February 14th, 2009 at 9:57 am
There would be a couple problems with relying on kiwi for protein if you want optimal health. In order to meet your protein needs, you would have to consume a very large volume of kiwi which would probably have a negative effect on your digestion, as in diarrhea. You would also have to eat many more calories than you need (in the form of carbohydrate) in order to consume enough kiwi (or kiwi-like foods) to meet your protein needs.
February 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Hello,
I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and don’t seem to do well with gluten as well as kamut, spelt, oats, rye, etc. The only “grains” I have been able to tolerate are rice, quinoa, possibly amaranth and corn. I have serious problems digesting food and have bad problems with gas and bloating. I am wondering what low-gas producing sources of vegan protein there are. I already eat a lot of soy and I think it is helping cause problems. I definitely can’t have nuts. Do you think I should stick with peas, quinoa and maybe some lentils now and then?
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I’m sorry to hear about all your digestive problems. Have you tried vegetarian digestive enzymes? Solgar makes a Vegetarian Digestive Aid. They might help reduce your gas, and possibly other issues. Naturade makes a soy-free protein powder.
Other than that, I would suggest eating whatever you can tolerate. Good luck!
February 28th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hi, Jack–Thanks for the great blog. In the spirit of helping vegans to eat more tasty food than anyone else I have this comment:
I have always found quinoa–while not tasting bad–to be quite yawn-inducing. I think it’s the mouth feel more than anything else. We recently came across “red quinoa” at Whole Foods though which is much nuttier and appealing.
The price is similar and the red quinoa appears to have slightly more protein, but hedonist that I am the real issue is that it’s just yummy.
Mmmmmm…red quinoa. Now when do we get to talk about dessert?
February 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Thanks for the tip, Eric!
Personally, I think regular quinoa is pretty good – not dessert by any means, but I like it.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Jack – I am a tad late and missed your reply. I did not mean to imply that we could live off kiwis only (not enough overall protein compared and too many carbs) or only beef (not enough carbs). Although I do believe that we do not need nearly as much protein as we assume. I’d be interested to see in the EPIC-Oxford study if there is a link between protein and fat intake and say cancer or other diseases? It would not surprise me. Both vegetarians and meat eaters consume lots of saturated fats and protein… etc.
What I meant to point out is that meat-eaters have misconceptions regarding vegans. Everybody knows that if one wanted to survive as a meat-eater – one would still have to mix it with plant food.
Yet when vegans bring their argument that for proper protein one has to mix plants with plants – many meat-eaters and vegetarians react as if it sounded “spooky” and “unhealthy”. What is going on here? This strange dynamic is what I what wanted to point out.
April 11th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Hi Jack – I’m very interested in your website and thanks for all the useful info.
I have tried becoming a vegan several times in the past but find hunger and muscle weakness to be a problem in the longer term, despite careful protein combining and multivitamins. Any suggstions?
The other point I wanted to mention about quinoa – although it is technically high in protein, I find one can’t really break the grains down by chewing as they are quite ‘springy’, and I’m finding they reappear undigested later on! This would obviously reduce their usefulness as a protein source. We can buy them here in the UK as a porridge, so this may help but of course then you don’t have any texture! Can’t win ‘em all!
Another item we can get here in the UK which you haven’t mentioned are dehulled hemp seeds which are quite useful for Omega 3 as well as protein. I believe they are imported from China – don’t know whether you would be able to find a source over there as well. A company here who make hemp cosmetic products and also produce hemp protein powder and dehulled seeds are Yaoh.co.uk – they may be able to assist you with further information.
Cheers
April 13th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Alison,
Do you follow these recommendations? I would recommend reading Staying Healthy on Plant-Based Diets.
Other questions are: Are you eating enough? Do you lose weight when you try to go vegan?
May 9th, 2009 at 7:17 am
Hey, what about leafy greens?!! Green smoothies are a great way to get lots without suffering :^)
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Silvie,
Thanks for all the tips and I’m sorry it took me so long to put your comments through.
While broccoli and kale have a lot of protein per calorie they don’t provide a whole lot of protein per serving, and are not foods most people can rely on for meeting much of their protein needs. (I wonder if that sentence could have any more qualifiers!)
It is rare in the U.S. to find someone who is suffering from a serious protein deficiency, especially if they are not living in extreme poverty or have a long-term illness. However, you cannot necessarily know by looking at someone whether they are suffering from mild protein deficiency or not. If someone gets less than their protein needs day after day for years on end, it will likely have long-term, negative effects, including loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis, lack of immunity, and other things. So while protein isn’t something you need to worry much about, it can happen and people should make sure they are getting some good sources of protein each day.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I love Quinoa. It actually works really well in a vegan burrito. I like to take Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas, add quinoa, pinto beans, onions, salsa, avocado slices and corn. Its delicious. Its a great way to enjoy a fantastic healthy grain.