So I have recently begun eating less animal products. I feel better, feel it has a lesser impact on resources and also it’s easier on my finances. But I wanted to make sure I got all my amino acids. We need 20 of them and must obtain 9/20 from our diet because we cannot manufacture them ourselves. Animal products give us all 20 in one food – meat/dairy/eggs. Vegetable products also give us the 20, but not necessarily all together in high levels (though soy, quinoa, and hemp do). So we complement the right vegetable-based foods within 24 hours and can get it all in. But here’s the thing, I have learned that eating grains + legumes, or grains + nuts gives us the full complement, but recently was mind-blown that green vegetables have the samecomplementation ability as grains, with a much lower energy cost. We need to look at nutrient density. Nutrient density is nutrient per calorie instead of nutrient per weight. This means that a nice BIG green salad with various vegetable toppings and toasted walnuts and pumpkin seeds is quite full enough of complete protein for a meal, with tons of fiber and is quite low on the energy budget. Another plant protein chart. Brussels Sprouts, broccoli and spinach are big powerhouses. Hooray! Oh I just found one more article on the misconception of how much protein we ‘should’ be getting. Seems like as long as we are getting a variety of plant foods to meet energy requirements, protein levels are more than adequate. That’s a LOT of vegetables.
Creating Healthy Lifestyles