Mission Statement
Committed to assisting vegans, raw foodists, and transitional omnivores eat well, be well and thrive.Cheryl Hill, HHC
512.382.9031Located in Austin, TX
(Hudson Bend/Lake Travis area)
Serving the world.
Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners
Where do you get your protein from? Protein 101:
Protein is the most misunderstood subject in the world of veganism. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked, “But where do you get your protein from?” As if vegans of the world are suffering from mass protein deficiency or something.
So what exactly is protein?
Protein comes from the Greek “protos” which means “primary” or “first”. Proteins are any group of complex nitrogenous organic compounds of high molecular weight that contain amino acids as their basic structural units and that occur in all living matter and are essential to the growth and repair of animal tissue.
Amino acids are the compounds that make up protein. There are 8 essential amino acids needed by humans to make a complete protein in the body. They are referred to as “essential” because the human body can not manufacture them on it’s own, it needs to acquire them from outside sources. They are:
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
As long as you consume these 8 essential amino acids throughout the day in sufficient quantity, you will meet all your protein needs. You do not need to mix proteins at one meal to form a complete protein either as was once believed, such as combining beans and rice to form a complete protein. The body can do this work for you provided you get all 8 essential amino acids at some point in a 24-hour period. There are an estimated 22 amino acids total, but the body can manufacture the other 14 from the essential 8, pretty amazing huh?
Human being’s protein requirements are as follows:
Women aged 19-70 need 46 grams per day
Men aged 19-70 need 56 grams per day
The body can’t really utilize more than 75 grams of protein per day, and excess protein puts a strain on the kidneys and leeches calcium from your bones, especially if you eat animals and animal products because that form of protein is acidic and human beings optimal state of homeostasis is of an alkaline nature, roughly 7.3-7.4 blood pH.
Homeostasis is the state of physiological equilibrium produced by a balance of functions and of chemical composition within the body. In other words, your body is in a state of optimal health and well being, it is in balance.
Now, where can vegans get these 8 essential amino acids from in the plant kingdom?
Most whole sprouted* grains such as brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, rye, oats, buckwheat, wheat germ. It is best to limit your consumption of grains, and avoid all gluten containing grains such as wheat.
Seaweeds and algaes such as kelp, dulse, nori, spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella.
Vegetables, especially sprouts and dark leafy greens like kale. Sprouts are actually 50% protein. Yes, even vegetables have amino acids in them, which is what makes up a protein.
Remember, you only need to consume the 8 essential amino acids as the body will manufacture the other 14 from those 8. Also remember you do not need the mass amount of protein that the meat and dairy industry says you need, they are trying to sell their products to you and don’t really care about your health.
An aside – the big “protein scare” came into play in the 1940s just after World War II when the meat and dairy industry began to implement “factory farming”. As long as you eat enough healthy quality calories from whole organic food sources, there is no way you can become protein deficient. On average a moderately active adult should consume around 2,000 calories per day to be healthy and in balance.
Fruits, yes, even fruits have amino acids too, everything that is living has some form of amino acids. Fruits and vegetables are living entities, they may not be sentient beings, but they are alive. That is why a raw foods diet is also sometimes referred to as a living foods diet because raw foodists eat their foods in an uncooked state. The foods have not been killed or altered molecularly by being cooked, heated or processed in any way, they are eaten the way nature intended for us to eat them.
Legumes/Beans are a great source of protein, fiber, and iron for vegans. If you soak them overnight and sprout them, they are easier to digest and you'll experience less gas and bloating when eating them.
Nuts and seeds are also great sources of protein or amino acids. Be sure you also soak and sprout your organic raw nuts and seeds to remove the enzyme inhibitors. I’d like to make mention of one especially significant seed here, and that is the hemp seed. The cousin of marijuana, it does not contain any THC, the stuff in marijuana that gets you high. Hemp is a miracle plant in my humble opinion. You can make clothing from it, fuel, oil, and food. You can eat the seeds which are quite tasty, almost like pine nuts. You can add them to just about anything and even eat them plain right out of the bag. They truly are a super food.
Our Chocolate Bliss Elixir powdered drink mix is loaded with hemp seeds!
A very popular complete protein source for vegans is soy protein. This comes in the form of tempe, tofu and the actual bean itself edeme. Now I’m not a particular fan of soy products for several reasons:
Soy is difficult for most people to digest and is among the top 8 food allergens.
Most soy products are from genetically engineered crops.
Most soy products such as faux meats and soy milk are highly processed and refined foods. You don't want to be eating processed and refined foods at all.
Soy contains phytoestrogens, a form of estrogen.
The purpose of the soy plant is to pull toxins out of the soil. If you've ever noticed after eating soy, you will have bad body odor the next day.
Soy is processed by the body like animal foods therefore causing the body to become acidic.
Now in small amounts or as a transitional food, if you are not allergic to soy and can digest it ok, then go ahead and use it as a protein source, just don’t make it a staple food. There are better sources of protein out there for vegans such as hemp, dark leafy green vegetables, sprouted legumes, whole sprouted grains, and sprouted nuts and seeds.
In order to thrive on any diet you need to be consuming whole foods, in their most natural state, and spend the extra money for organic. You can not only taste the difference, but it’s been proven that organic foods have higher nutrient counts then conventional or refined and processed foods, and the objective is to feed your body the optimal fuel source, not garbage. You are what you eat.
A great website to explore is http://www.nutritiondata.com/ This website has a daily needs calculator, a nutrient search tool, a food category explorer, and it even has nutrition facts on several fast food restaurants for those of you who still wish to eat poisonous foods.
So let’s do a quick recap:
Protein is made up of amino acids and amino acids are in everything.
There are 8 essential amino acids the body must get on a daily basis in order to fulfill daily protein requirements.
You don’t need that much protein, 46 grams per day for women, 56 grams per day for men, the body can’t utilize more than 75 grams of protein per day.
Great sources of vegan protein include hemp protein, dark leafy green vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Keep soy products to a minimum.
Eat whole foods in their most natural state and always choose organic.
Eat well. Be well. Thrive!
*sprouting is done by soaking a grain, nut, or seed in pure water to begin the germination cycle. In the case of nuts and seeds, sprouting removes the protective enzyme inhibitors making nuts and seeds easier to digest.
So what exactly is protein?
Protein comes from the Greek “protos” which means “primary” or “first”. Proteins are any group of complex nitrogenous organic compounds of high molecular weight that contain amino acids as their basic structural units and that occur in all living matter and are essential to the growth and repair of animal tissue.
Amino acids are the compounds that make up protein. There are 8 essential amino acids needed by humans to make a complete protein in the body. They are referred to as “essential” because the human body can not manufacture them on it’s own, it needs to acquire them from outside sources. They are:
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
As long as you consume these 8 essential amino acids throughout the day in sufficient quantity, you will meet all your protein needs. You do not need to mix proteins at one meal to form a complete protein either as was once believed, such as combining beans and rice to form a complete protein. The body can do this work for you provided you get all 8 essential amino acids at some point in a 24-hour period. There are an estimated 22 amino acids total, but the body can manufacture the other 14 from the essential 8, pretty amazing huh?
Human being’s protein requirements are as follows:
Women aged 19-70 need 46 grams per day
Men aged 19-70 need 56 grams per day
The body can’t really utilize more than 75 grams of protein per day, and excess protein puts a strain on the kidneys and leeches calcium from your bones, especially if you eat animals and animal products because that form of protein is acidic and human beings optimal state of homeostasis is of an alkaline nature, roughly 7.3-7.4 blood pH.
Homeostasis is the state of physiological equilibrium produced by a balance of functions and of chemical composition within the body. In other words, your body is in a state of optimal health and well being, it is in balance.
Now, where can vegans get these 8 essential amino acids from in the plant kingdom?
Most whole sprouted* grains such as brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, rye, oats, buckwheat, wheat germ. It is best to limit your consumption of grains, and avoid all gluten containing grains such as wheat.
Seaweeds and algaes such as kelp, dulse, nori, spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella.
Vegetables, especially sprouts and dark leafy greens like kale. Sprouts are actually 50% protein. Yes, even vegetables have amino acids in them, which is what makes up a protein.
Remember, you only need to consume the 8 essential amino acids as the body will manufacture the other 14 from those 8. Also remember you do not need the mass amount of protein that the meat and dairy industry says you need, they are trying to sell their products to you and don’t really care about your health.
An aside – the big “protein scare” came into play in the 1940s just after World War II when the meat and dairy industry began to implement “factory farming”. As long as you eat enough healthy quality calories from whole organic food sources, there is no way you can become protein deficient. On average a moderately active adult should consume around 2,000 calories per day to be healthy and in balance.
Fruits, yes, even fruits have amino acids too, everything that is living has some form of amino acids. Fruits and vegetables are living entities, they may not be sentient beings, but they are alive. That is why a raw foods diet is also sometimes referred to as a living foods diet because raw foodists eat their foods in an uncooked state. The foods have not been killed or altered molecularly by being cooked, heated or processed in any way, they are eaten the way nature intended for us to eat them.
Legumes/Beans are a great source of protein, fiber, and iron for vegans. If you soak them overnight and sprout them, they are easier to digest and you'll experience less gas and bloating when eating them.
Nuts and seeds are also great sources of protein or amino acids. Be sure you also soak and sprout your organic raw nuts and seeds to remove the enzyme inhibitors. I’d like to make mention of one especially significant seed here, and that is the hemp seed. The cousin of marijuana, it does not contain any THC, the stuff in marijuana that gets you high. Hemp is a miracle plant in my humble opinion. You can make clothing from it, fuel, oil, and food. You can eat the seeds which are quite tasty, almost like pine nuts. You can add them to just about anything and even eat them plain right out of the bag. They truly are a super food.
Our Chocolate Bliss Elixir powdered drink mix is loaded with hemp seeds!
A very popular complete protein source for vegans is soy protein. This comes in the form of tempe, tofu and the actual bean itself edeme. Now I’m not a particular fan of soy products for several reasons:
Soy is difficult for most people to digest and is among the top 8 food allergens.
Most soy products are from genetically engineered crops.
Most soy products such as faux meats and soy milk are highly processed and refined foods. You don't want to be eating processed and refined foods at all.
Soy contains phytoestrogens, a form of estrogen.
The purpose of the soy plant is to pull toxins out of the soil. If you've ever noticed after eating soy, you will have bad body odor the next day.
Soy is processed by the body like animal foods therefore causing the body to become acidic.
Now in small amounts or as a transitional food, if you are not allergic to soy and can digest it ok, then go ahead and use it as a protein source, just don’t make it a staple food. There are better sources of protein out there for vegans such as hemp, dark leafy green vegetables, sprouted legumes, whole sprouted grains, and sprouted nuts and seeds.
In order to thrive on any diet you need to be consuming whole foods, in their most natural state, and spend the extra money for organic. You can not only taste the difference, but it’s been proven that organic foods have higher nutrient counts then conventional or refined and processed foods, and the objective is to feed your body the optimal fuel source, not garbage. You are what you eat.
A great website to explore is http://www.nutritiondata.com/ This website has a daily needs calculator, a nutrient search tool, a food category explorer, and it even has nutrition facts on several fast food restaurants for those of you who still wish to eat poisonous foods.
So let’s do a quick recap:
Protein is made up of amino acids and amino acids are in everything.
There are 8 essential amino acids the body must get on a daily basis in order to fulfill daily protein requirements.
You don’t need that much protein, 46 grams per day for women, 56 grams per day for men, the body can’t utilize more than 75 grams of protein per day.
Great sources of vegan protein include hemp protein, dark leafy green vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Keep soy products to a minimum.
Eat whole foods in their most natural state and always choose organic.
Eat well. Be well. Thrive!
*sprouting is done by soaking a grain, nut, or seed in pure water to begin the germination cycle. In the case of nuts and seeds, sprouting removes the protective enzyme inhibitors making nuts and seeds easier to digest.