Your Body Needs Protein Not Meat: 5 Ways Plant-Based People Get Their Protein and How You Can, Too!
The myth that people who eat plant-based diets aren’t getting enough protein is one that simply won’t go away, no matter how many times science has proven it false but these 5 Ways Plant-Based People Get Their Protein are more than capable of providing enough for the average person. After all, the animals that we kill and eat to get our protein…ironically, get all of their protein from…you guessed it, plants!
Been to a restaurant lately? Ordered a salad? Want to add a “protein”…? Along with fats and carbohydrates, protein is one of the macro-nutrients we need to live, but trust me, your server isn’t asking you if you want some extra avocado or black beans on that salad!
The myth that people who eat plant-based diets aren’t getting enough protein is one that simply won’t go away, no matter how many times science has proven it false! Somehow, there remains the narrative that vegetarians and vegans are weak, sickly, and generally unhealthy because of the lack of animal protein in their diets.
Ironically, the top-two, of ten, killers of Americans, according to the CDC, are still heart disease and cancer, both largely shown to be linked to the over-consumption of processed meat. Want to know what isn’t on that list? Protein deficiency from lack of animal-based-eating.
Traditionally, meat has long been thought of as the Westerners’ main source of protein, so much so that the words “meat” and “protein” have almost become interchangeable! We can thank the industrial meat industry and the beef ads from the 70s and 80s that we all grew up with…or the outdated food pyramids printed in our 3rd grade textbooks…or even the athletic-celebrity, endorsements of burgers, chicken, and pork…but the truth is that there are plenty of other diverse protein sources out there…and spoiler alert: they all come from plants!
Contrary to what your Uncle Fred says at Thanksgiving dinner, or the YouTube video he claims proves otherwise, there are plenty of ways for people eating a plant-based diet to get enough protein! So, here are my top 5 Ways Plant-Based People Get Their Protein and How You Can, Too!
#1: Tofu, Tempeh, and Edamame
Soy based products are some of the best sources of plant-based proteins, not to mention the diversity of dishes that can be created with these ingredients, make them an obvious choice for many plant-based diets! They are also praised for diminishing hot flashes, warding off osteoporosis, and protecting against disease.
And, yes…I know what you’re thinking. “What about the hormone issue? I heard that soy products are bad for your hormones…”
Ironically, I hear this argument most often from people who, still, also consume copious amounts of dairy and eggs, which let’s face it, both are literally chocked full of the fertility hormones from another entire species of animal…so, if you ask me if I’m worried about moderate amounts of soy in my diet and my hormones, the answer is, no…not really!
#2: Beans and Legumes
It’s no secret that beans are a great source of protein, along with being a fantastic way to help maintain GI health they have also been shown to help lower cholesterol.
Beans are an easy way to not only get healthy protein but also much needed vitamins and minerals, which lets face it, most Westerner’s are significantly more deficient in than protein. Eat them in soup, toss them in salads…you can even grind the dry beans up and use them in place of some flours to make pasta!
Did you know that 1 cup of lentils has nearly 18g of protein, almost no fat and is loaded with both iron and b-vitamins? 1 cup of kidney beans and black beans, both, have over 15g of protein plus black beans are a great source of calcium and magnesium. Black beans, in particular, actually contain more than twice the amount of magnesium, per 8 ounces, than cows milk does.
#3: Quinoa
Oh, Quinoa! (pronounced Keen-Wa, for the less hippie-dippy crowd) Quinoa has really come into it’s hay-day in the last several years, making appearances on major restaurant chain menus like BurgerFi, Einstein Bros Bagels, Panera Bread, and Chili’s!
This humble little grain, is an amazing source of protein as well as being what is called a “complete protein” - meaning that it contains all nine essential amino acids that our bodies do not make on their own.According to the Whole Grains Council, quinoa is a gluten-free, whole-grain carbohydrate, as well, so it’s safe for both people with celiac disease and diabetes. Because of this, it makes a great substitute for rice in soups, stews, burritos, and wraps plus, like beans, the uncooked grain can be milled down into flour and easily adapted to a broad range of baking recipes!
#4: Leafy Greens
Ounce for ounce, spinach is packed with more protein and iron than beef, chicken, or pork at rate of more than twelve-to-one! 8 ounces of a steak has only about 8% of the protein that 8oz of spinach (by weight) contains. I’m not kidding…do the math!
Now, having said that, is anyone going to realistically going to eat 8oz of spinach, by weight, in one serving? No! But, the good news is that you don’t need to. It is commonly recommended that adults should consume somewhere between 50 and 60 grams of protein every day! (Ironically, about one portion of meat…more on that later!)
Leafy greens, cooked down and added to stews, gravies, and sauces, lose significant volume but retain their protein benefits! That’s why I love recipes like THIS ONE so much because it allows you to consume far more greens than you would by simply eating a salad!
#5: Nuts and Seeds
Some of the nuts and seeds with the highest protein counts may surprise you! They include hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds!
Chia seeds, in particular, are an easy and delicious way to pack extra protein into your plant-based diet, even being used, by many, as an egg-replacement in vegan and plant-based baking!
Rich in vitamins E, B6, niacin and folate; and they provide minerals such as magnesium, zinc, plant iron, calcium, copper, selenium, phosphorus and potassium, many nut and seed butters are another great way to sneak in extra protein, but be careful, because they can also pack a fatty-punch per serving!
Back on #4, when we were talking about leafy greens, I said that the recommended protein intake for an adult was somewhere between 50-60 grams, per day! I also mentioned that this was just about equal to one portion of steak, chicken, or pork…but I want to be clear, that’s an 8 ounce portion. Despite how this article may seem, my intention is not to shame anyone into eating less meat, but I do think it’s a valuable exercise to really look at how much animal-based protein that many Americans eat in a day, specifically when the counter argument for a plant-based diet, is so often that vegetarians and vegans “won’t get enough.”
Think about this!
If you stop for a breakfast sandwich at your local fast-food joint on the way to work, gobble down your favorite chicken sandwich and fries for lunch, and come home to a steak dinner…in reality you are likely consuming double the protein that you need in a day. And, this is not a over-dramatic scenario…as I think we all know many people who can easily eat two of these kinds of sandwiches as their “lunch” portion, not to mention the the marketing campaigns of many fast-food restaurants boasting an entire 1/2 pound, or more, of meat layered onto their sandwiches.
Simply put, not only are humans really, really bad at guessing at portion size, we also need significantly less protein than most of us are routinely consuming. With these two facts in mind it’s actually quite simple to see how these 5 Ways Plant-Based People Get Their Protein are more than capable of providing enough for the average person…
After all, the animals that we kill and eat to get our protein…ironically, get all of their protein, from plants!
Sarah Seeds, CNHP and UNOS Ambassador
Sarah, aka: The Plant Based Ginger, has been in the plant-based community for 20 years and has worked in natural skincare as well as the health and wellness sector. Over the years her love of holistic wellness, essential oils, and plant-based cooking has merged to create the PBG website and social brand. Sarah is currently living back in Central Florida, where she was raised, after spending over a decade up in Ohio’s Amish Country! She is a Certified Natural Health Practitioner, UNOS Ambassador, Homecook, Coffee Lover, and Fur Mom!
Why You Should Be Cooking More If You're Struggling With Your Mental Health: Five Emotional Benefits of Preparing and Serving Food
While cooking at home might seem like another stressor, and something better off avoided, the reality is that, for many, shopping for, prepping, and preparing your own food on a regular basis can do wonders to help lift mood and calm stress and anxiety. Turns out, in this case, eating your emotions might not be such a bad things after all! Here are FIVE simple ways that cooking is good for your mental health and why you should be doing it more often!
“No one tells you the hardest thing about being an adult is deciding what to make for dinner. Every night. For the rest of your life.”
These days lot of people seem to have a love it or hate it approach to food and cooking. It’s either something you really enjoy or something you can’t seem to master, don’t have time for, and wish you didn’t have to tackle every single day! It’s no big surprise, then, that the fast-food industry alone accounts for over $110 billion dollars annually and over 35% of American adults eat fast food every single day!
Sadly, the irony, for folks struggling to stay emotionally healthy, is that a diet that includes fast food on a regular basis, filled with its excess sodium, trans-fats, refined carbs, not to mention loads of sugar, in reality, will only serve to hinder health; mental, emotional, and otherwise.
Here are FIVE simple ways that cooking is good for your mental health and why you should be doing it more often!
1. You get to take control!
Like a lot of things in life, cooking is about more than just the finished product. It’s about the process. For many people there are a lot of control issues, that are all tied up for them emotionally, when it comes to food. Cooking can help to untie all those knots. Cooking allows you to take back control of the chaos. The process of creation can be a very emotionally empowering. When you’re cooking you have the ability to take all of these individual elements, sometimes seemingly unrelated things, that on their own seem disjointed or even off-putting, and carefully rearrange them, restoring order, and creating something beautiful and delicious.
2. You get to use all your senses!
Grounding is a practice that is often taught and used by those who struggle with anxiety or experience panic attacks and centers around quieting the mind by focusing on the use of each of the 5 senses. Cooking is a perfect vehicle to practice grounding:
Touch: You can focus on the feeling of the weight of the chef’s knife in your hand or the resistance as you slice through the onion. You can feel how the soft fluffy tops of a bunch of carrots almost tickle your palms or how rough the bumpy skin on an avocado feels under your fingertips as you prepare to bisect it’s exterior.
Sight: The world of cooking is full of beautiful things to look at; the sheer rainbow of colors in your local produce department to start with! When you are cooking you must constantly be monitoring the process with your eyes. Is that oil smoking? Is the pasta floating in the water, or did it sink? Are those mushrooms taking on too much color? Does that sauce look thick enough?
Hearing: This might not seem like an obvious sense that is used in cooking but you may be surprised! Does the lettuce sound crisp and crunchy as you slice through it to make your salad? Does the garlic sizzle as it hits the hot pan…how much sizzle? Too much and it may burn. Can you hear your pasta sauce boiling? If so, it means it’s time to turn down the heat to a simmer!
Smell: If you’re cooking endeavors are successful, hopefully the smells emanating from your kitchen will be pleasant ones, but try to pick up on some of the more subtle smells as you are cooking. Do herbs smell different after being toasted? How so? What about adding salt to vegetables when sauteing them? How does that open up their scent? Can you smell the slight tart difference between milk and buttermilk?
Taste: The most obvious of the senses when cooking is clearly taste but try not to take this one for granted. Take the opportunity to taste the individual ingredients and not just the finished product. What does tofu really taste like…anything? Or, does it take on the favor of the sauces it’s being cooked in? How do Sweet Basil and Thai Basil differ? How does the addition of texture (using flour or corn starch to thicken a soup or sauce) change a dishes flavor?
3. Cooking allows you to exercise your creativity!
As a person who likes to consider herself a creative type, I have always found it fundamentally sad to hear people tell me, “Well, I’m not creative.” I have a personal theory that I repeat to people as often as they will listen. “Not everyone is artistic but everyone is creative.” I truly believe this, with all my heart, I believe this! All of our minds work in slightly different ways and that’s what makes us beautiful! All of our taste-buds do too and that’s what makes cooking beautiful! Cooking is more of an improv class than a classic Shakespearean drama and it’s a great place to experiment and let your creativity run wild! Does the recipe call for capers but you don’t have any? What other ingredient might you have that has that same or similar flavor profile…perhaps you could dice some green olives and use them instead? Improv in the kitchen is no different than improv on the stage…a little intimidating at first but once you learn to trust yourself it honestly becomes the most fun part!
4. It’s a healthier choice!
When we’re struggling emotionally it can often bleed over into the physical areas of our lives. You may find yourself feeling less motivated to care for yourself like you normally would. Consistent sleep habits go out the window, personal hygiene seems less and less important and exercise may seem like too much of a chore to tackle but you’ve still got to eat! People who frequently cook meals at home eat healthier and consume fewer calories than those who don’t cook and, as we stated earlier, consume far less sodium, sugar, and fat…all which can contribute to feeling sluggish, unmotivated, foggy minded, and bloated, none of which support good mental health. The one simple step of cooking at home is an easy way to set your feet squarely back onto the path towards making more healthy choices. It’s amazing how much easier that healthy choices number two and number three become come once you have tackled the first one.
5. Cooking can connect you to other people!
One of the hardest things to overcome when you’re struggling inside your own mind is the impulse to self-isolate. Mental illness lies to you and tells you that you’re the only one who has ever felt this way, that no one else can understand what you’re experiencing, and that you don’t have any value to others when you’re feeling like this! Food says, “nonsense!” Distraction can be a powerful tool when you’re fighting these kinds of feelings and cooking a delicious meal that you can share with others is a great distraction. You don’t need to throw a 5 course dinner party with the perfect wine pairing and french inspired dessert! You can ask a co-worker you know is missing her kids, who are away at college, to come over for some homemade soup and garlic bread or pack a picnic with handmade sandwiches, a tossed salad and fresh squeezed lemonade, and ask a friend to meet you at a local park! Food is best when shared with people and conveniently so are most of us!
While cooking at home might seem like another stressor, and something better off avoided, the reality is that, for many, shopping for, prepping, and preparing your own food on a regular basis can do wonders to help lift mood and calm stress and anxiety. Turns out, in this case, eating your emotions might not be such a bad things after all!
Sarah Seeds, CNHP and UNOS Ambassador
Sarah, aka: The Plant Based Ginger, has been in the plant-based community for 20 years and has worked in natural skincare as well as the health and wellness sector. Over the years her love of holistic wellness, essential oils, and plant-based cooking has merged to create the PBG website and social brand. Sarah is currently living back in Central Florida, where she was raised, after spending over a decade up in Ohio’s Amish Country! She is a Certified Natural Health Practitioner, UNOS Ambassador, Homecook, Coffee Lover, and Fur Mom!
New Study Finds Women Have 84 “Bad Skin” Days A Year! Five Habits to Take Back Your Skin and Your Pocket Book!
According to a new poll, the average woman says that she experiences 84 “Bad Skin” days a year! EIGHTY-FOUR! That’s 7 days a month…once every 4.5 days, spending, on average, over 10k in the course of her lifetime on products designed to combat her troubled-skin. With most women citing wrinkles, acne and dark circles among their biggest anxieties, dry skin, enlarged pores and age spots also made the list.
According to a new poll, the average woman says that she experiences 84 “Bad Skin” days a year! EIGHTY-FOUR! That’s 7 days a month…once every 4.5 days, spending, on average, over 10k in the course of her lifetime on products designed to combat her troubled-skin. With most women citing wrinkles, acne and dark circles among their biggest anxieties, dry skin, enlarged pores and age spots also made the list.
Sadly, one in three adult women claims that her skin makes her feel insecure and stressed. Ironically, most skincare experts will agree that stress and anxiety can be major factors in all kinds of skin trauma from eczema and acne flair-ups to premature wrinkles and a sallow complexion.
One of the major problems in today’s beauty industry is that the products that these women are buying to try to “fix” their skin are actually, in most cases, helping to contribute to the overall skin challenges that they experience! Did you know that creams, serums, lotions, and washes that contain chemical fillers, toxic preservatives, unnatural fragrance and added dyes are actually working to further your skin problems? (And that is just how the big brands like it.)
The current philosophy on skincare from the big-box brands is closer to triage than therapy…a band-aid on a bullet hole, if you will. Products designed for immediate, albeit temporary, results make us feel good about our purchase but in the long run, rarely ever deliver the advertised results. Instead, the products are actually designed to keep your skin in an unhealthy cycle so that you will need to buy more of their products!
But, you can break the cycle…take back your skin and your pocketbook by adopting these 5 healthy skincare habits today:
1. You are what you eat. Clean food. Clean skin.
People don’t much like this fact, but it’s a fact, none-the-less. You simply can not put trash into your body and expect your skin not to suffer. Like any organ, our skin feeds and is maintained by the food and nourishment that we ingest. We aren’t talking about the old wives-tale of eating a chocolate bar or some fries today and having a break-out tomorrow, that’s not how the science of nutrition works. Our bodies, however, were designed to run best on fresh fruits, lots of vegetables and minor amounts of lean protein and our skin is no exception! Oh, yeah…and this should go without saying but DRINK WATER…lots and lots of water. (You already know this…now, just do it!)
2. Get a little sun!
In moderation, of course! We aren’t saying to skip the sunblock if you are planning an entire day at the beach or a family vacation to a theme park this summer but remember a little Vitamin D is good for you and your skin! Extreme sunburn and sun poisoning is nothing to mess around with but on a daily basis, when you are simply out running errands…try skipping the chemical-laden sunscreen. In fact, some research may point to synthetic, chemical, sunscreens doing more harm, and leading to more cancer long-term, in patients that overused the products than in those who simply avoided the sun or only experienced moderate sun exposure without consistent or long-term burning. If you really feel the need to lather up…try a sunblock made with natural ingredients, like essential oils, for a more eco-friendly way to protect your skin.
3. Ditch the “Pretty” Scents and Colorful Creams.
Love the smell of a Toasted Marshmallow Latte, Caribbean Teakwood, or Coconut Vanilla Breeze? Our advice, buy a candle…and keep it out of your skincare. The world of sweet-smelling creams, lotions, body mists, and shower gels is almost infinite at this point. Thanks to the scientific technology of fragrance engineering if you can wish it, you can probably smell like it. Everything from Cucumber to Cotton Candy Cola is up for grabs when it comes to scented body products. The problem is that almost all of these scents are synthetic and loaded with all kinds of chemicals and preservatives that have no place on our skin, or in our bodies. Beware of packaging that says things like, “Made with All Natural Moisturizers” or “Enriched with Organic Ingredients.” These claims may be partially true but even products and brands that actually do use other reasonably high-quality ingredients often blow it at the end with the addition of artificial perfumes and synthetic dyes. Instead, look for all natural brands that use 100% pure essential oils to add scent to their products and natural mica powders, sea clay and minerals for color.
4. Start Dry Brushing Daily!
What is dry brushing? Dry brushing is pretty much just what it sounds like. A practice that reminds us that our skin and skincare is a total body objective, not just something we do to our faces! With a dry, short-bristled body brush, lightly stroke the skin, beginning at the toes and ankles upward toward the heart. Continue up the legs and torso and then brush the hands and arms, always working with long, gentle, strokes moving toward the heart. Dry brushing is not only a natural and gentle way to exfoliate the skin, it also helps promote circulation and aids the body in moving toxins through the lymphatic system and out of the body. Dry brushing is especially beneficial when combined with a daily prayer or meditation routine helping to detox both the mind and the body.
5. Start with quality, all natural, SOAP!
In truth, this last one should maybe have been #1 on our list because it really is the easiest thing to do for your skin to see major results! The most simple, and most beneficial thing that you can do, on a daily basis, for your skin is to use an all natural soap when you shower and bathe. Did you know that most of the products that we use as “soap” today are actually not soap at all? The body bars, the cleansing gels, and the foaming micro-scrubs that line the “soap” isles of our popular big box and drug stores are primarily, chemically developed detergents, not soap. Switching over to a preservative-free, natural soap, like these, can not only help to balance the pH of the skin but because there are no toxic components it won’t contribute to dry or flaky skin or aggravate irritated or acne prone skin. Restoring a natural balance to your bodies largest organ, you will find that, over time, you need less lotion and have fewer problem areas to deal with, overall. Your skin will maintain a natural glow and not need to be pampered like it once was, saving you not only time but money, as well.
Sarah Seeds, CNHP and UNOS Ambassador
Sarah, aka: The Plant Based Ginger, has been in the plant-based community for 20 years and has worked in natural skincare as well as the health and wellness sector. Over the years her love of holistic wellness, essential oils, and plant-based cooking has merged to create the PBG website and social brand. Sarah is currently living back in Central Florida, where she was raised, after spending over a decade up in Ohio’s Amish Country! She is a Certified Natural Health Practitioner, UNOS Ambassador, Homecook, Coffee Lover, and Fur Mom!