Five Best Vegan Protein Sources

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, chances are you’ve heard the drumbeat of the protein junkies in the media demanding to know how you can possibly get enough protein in your diet without eating animal products. While it’s important to consume all of the essential amino acids found in meat for optimum muscle recovery, these protein building blocks can also be found in plant sources.

Over the past 40 years, soybeans and soy products have been the darlings of the vegan movement because of soy’s high protein content, but lately doctors and nutritionists are advising people to drop soy from their diets altogether. This is because soy has changed significantly in the past few decades. In 1997, 17% of the American soy crop was genetically modified, and in 2012 93% of the American soy crop was genetically modified.

So what’s a strength training vegan to do if soy is now off the menu for good?

We’ve rounded up 5 of the best vegan protein sources that all of us should be including in our daily diets, whether we eat meat products of not.

Lentils

16g of protein per 1 cup serving.

Lentils are a diet staple food in many countries around the world. Lentils contain the essential amino acids isoleucine and lysine. They are high in fiber, folate, iron, and B vitamins.

How to eat them: Cook them and serve them in a chilled salad with shredded carrots, raisins, almonds, chopped apples, caramelized onions, curry, and olive oil.

Black Beans

16g of protein per 1 cup serving.

Black beans are often paired with brown rice in Latin American and Creole dishes for both cultural and nutritional reasons. Black beans and brown rice when eaten together contain all of the amino acids needs to form the same complete proteins found in meat.

How to eat them: Sprinkle black beans into shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa and corn tortillas.

Almonds

6g of protein per 1 oz serving.

You can’t turn around in any grocery store in America without running your cart into a display containing almond products. Almond butter, almond milk, raw almonds, chocolate covered almonds, almond flour almond milk yogurt . . . the list goes on and on. We’re all hooked on almonds for a good reason. Almonds are high in manganese, Vitamin E, magnesium, tryptophan, copper, B vitamins, and phosphorus.

How to eat them: Although there are many almond products to choose from, plain old almonds make a great high protein snack that you can eat on the go.

Quinoa

8g of protein per 1 cup serving.

Quinoa is often called a high protein grain, but in reality it’s an ancient seed that has been cultivated in South America for generations. Quinoa is high in manganese, tryptophan, magnesium, folate, and phosphorus.

How to eat it: Although quinoa is typically eaten as a meal filler at dinner or as part of a lunch salad, quinoa also makes a great hot breakfast cereal alternative.

DailyBurn Fuel

22g of protein per 2 scoop serving.

DailyBurn Fuel is a vegan protein supplement that is high in most essential vitamins and minerals, probiotics, and green tea extract. The DailyBurn Ignite 21 day detox program includes a vegan protein shake made with DailyBurn Fuel each morning.

How to eat it: Pour two scoops of the chocolate DailyBurn Fuel flavor in the blender and mix with almond milk, frozen raspberries, and a tablespoon of cocoa powder to make a high protein chocolate raspberry treat.

Posted By: Kartic Verma.