Though most vegetarians eat lots of protein, they often do not absorb as much as they might on a non-vegetarian diet. It is because plant proteins are considerably less digestible than animal proteins, which contain amino acid chains that are nearer or identical to human amino acid chains. Eating animal proteins might yield near to a 1:1 absorption ratio, while eating plant proteins, such as wheat, may only yield 50% of the amino acids required to create a "complete protein" or a protein that can quickly be assimilated into the body. In order for vegetarians to absorb a healthy quantity of protein, they need to consume various plant proteins to make complete amino chains. By consuming vegetables,legumes, seeds, nuts, fruits, and whole grain products, vegetarians can improve the quantity of complete proteins they produce by combining a number of varieties of amino acid chains. One helpful plant that you can think about is stinging nettle. It's thought that stinging nettle contains 25% protein, dry weight throughout the peak season. You can learn more about this by checking out this article on stinging nettle (ortie) as it contains some interesting point. Vegetarians must also consume more foods that contain proteins since plant proteins are often difficult to digest. While a nutritional label may indicate that pasta has 5 grams of protein per serving; you might only manage to digest 2-3 grams of that protein, which means you must complement the pasta with other protein sources. As well as natural protein sources, vegetarians must also seek foods that are "protein-fortified"--or artificially-infused with protein. For example, many supermarkets provide a variety "protein-fortified" pasta and bread. I have seen pasta which has up to 12 grams of protein per serving. Soy milk can also be a useful source of protein for vegetarians. Studies on isolated soy protein show that it can be absorbed nearly as well as animal proteins, yielding close to a 1:1 protein absorption ratio. For non-vegan vegans, yogurt, milk, and eggs (that have complete proteins) are excellent sources of protein. As a vegetarian you have many options for boosting your protein intake - and you ought to consider making the most of all of them. You should diversify your food selections, consume more soy products, and prefer "protein-fortified" breads and pasta. Published by Sarah Bellarmine For those that might find it a bit difficult to consume a lot of vegetables and fruits there are several tricks which exist. This French document on smoothie (smoothies) might prove helpful in this instance.
Related Articles -
vegetarians,
|