Can I Get Enough Protein From A Vegan Diet?

 

Very few nutrients are as essential as protein. 10 to 20% of your calories must come from protein. Your muscle composition and your overall health will suffer if you don’t eat get enough protein through your diet.

As a reminder, the Dietary Reference Intake is 0.8g of protein per Kg of body weight. This respectively translates to roughly 56g and 46g for an average sedentary man and woman.

If those numbers don’t look unattainable, we need need to remember that these numbers are minimum to avoid protein deficiency. The amount of protein each person needs depends on many factors, including their physical activity. If you undertake resistance training several times a week to grow lean muscle or exert your body through many high-intensity classes, your protein needs will double.

Personal dietary choices will direct the amount of whole food you’ll have to ingest in order to get your daily recommended amount of protein. Meat, poultry, seafood, eggs - animal food source in general - are by far the richest in protein.

On the contrary, vegan sources of food, while they virtually all contain some, are not equally rich in protein. If you can provide your body adequate amounts of essential amino acids with a plant-based diet (lysine and methionine are the toughest to get), depending on the culinary choices you make and your personal food preferences, the amount of food you have to eat will vary a lot, and sometimes it can make it hard to reach your recommended or target daily protein intake.

Let's have a look at different type of foods that fit a vegan diet and highlight the better options available when it comes to getting your daily dose of protein. The following tables present the amount of protein from common vegan food*, as well as the quantity you need to eat to get as much protein as contained in 1 scoop of Go Good pea protein.

Fruits

Food	% of protein	Grams of protein per 30g	Amount needed to get as much protein as from 30g of Pea Protein
Go Good Plant Protein Powder	80%	24g	-
Apple	2%	0.7g	1.680Kg or 6-7 apples
Banana	5%	1.7g	1.410Kg or 5-6 bananas
Grapefruit	8%	2.7g	890g or 3-4 grapefruits
Grapes	4%	1.3g	1.850Kg or 200-250 grape berries
Rockmelon	6%	2.0g	1.200Kg or 1 whole rockmelon
Orange	8%	2.7g	890g or 5-6 oranges
Peach	9%	3.0g	800g or 4-5 peaches
Pear	3%	1.0g	2.400Kg or 10-12 pears
Pineapple	4%	1.3g	1.850Kg or 2 pineapples
Strawberry	8%	2.7g	890g or 30-35 strawberries

 

Beans

Food	% of protein	Grams of protein per 30g	Amount needed to get as much protein as from 30g of Pea Protein
Go Good Plant Protein Powder	80%	24g	-
Chickpea	21%	7.0g	340g
Kidney Beans	58%	19.3g	125g
Lentils	34%	11.3g	210g
Lima Beans	24%	8.0g	300g
White Beans	37%	12.3g	195g
Soy Beans	35%	11.7g	205g
Split Peas	29%	9.7g	250g

 

Vegetables

Food	% of protein	Grams of protein per 30g	Amount needed to get as much protein as from 30g of Pea Protein
Go Good Plant Protein Powder	80%	24g	-
Artichoke	28%	9.3g	260g or 1 Artichoke
Beetroot	15%	5.0g	480g or 4 whole beetroots
Broccoli	33%	11g	220g or 1 head Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts	31%	10.3g	230g or 2-3 Cups (roughly 20 sprouts)
Cabbage	24%	8.0g	300g or ¼ of a whole Cabbage
Cauliflower	32%	10.7g	225g or ⅓ of a whole Cauliflower
Cucumber	17%	5.7g	425g or 2 whole medium Cucumbers
Eggplant	15%	5.7g	425g or 2 whole Egglplants
Green Peas	27%	9.0g	270g or 2 Cups
Capsicum	17%	5.7g	425g or 4-5 whole Capsicums
Kale	26%	8.7g	275g or 4 Cups
Kumara	5%	1.7g	1.450Kg or 6 whole large Kumaras
Lettuce	36%	12.0g	200g or 3 Cups
Mushrooms	56%	18.7g	130g or 10 Mushrooms
Mustard Greens	41%	13.7g	175g or 3-4 Cups
Onions	9%	3.0g	800g or 6 Onions
Potatoes	18%	6.0g	400g or 4 medium Potatoes
Spinach	50%	16.7g	150g or 5 Cups
Tomatoes	19%	6.3g	380g or 4 medium tomatoes
Zucchini	30%	10.0g	240g or 2 medium Zucchinis

 

Grains

Food	% of protein	Grams of protein per 30g	Amount needed to get as much protein as from 30g of Pea Protein
Go Good Plant Protein Powder	80%	24g	-
Barley	14%	4.6g	520g
Brown Rice	8%	2.7g	890g
Buckwheat	15%	5.0g	480g
Oatmeal	17%	5.7g	420g
Rye	18%	6.0g	400g
Wheat Germs	26%	8.7g	280g
Wheat	15%	5.0g	480g
Wild Rice	16%	5.3g	450g

 

Nuts & Seeds

Food	% of protein	Grams of protein per 30g	Amount needed to get as much protein as from 30g of Pea Protein
Go Good Plant Protein Powder	80%	24g	-
Almonds	15%	5.0g	480g or 5 Cups
Cashews	13%	4.3g	560g or 4 Cups
Hazelnuts	9%	3.0g	800g or 5 Cups
Peanuts	18%	6.0g	400g or 3 Cups
Pumpkin Seeds	18%	6.0g	400g or 3-4 Cups
Sesame Seeds	12%	4.0g	600g or 4 Cups
Sunflower Seeds	16%	5.3g	450g or 3-4 Cups
Walnuts	15%	5.0g	480g or 4 Cups

 

*Percentage of Calories From Protein according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.