If you follow a plant based diet, I’m sure you have gotten the same question more times than you can count. Well meaning family, friends, and strangers LOVE to question how you could possibly be getting enough protein in your diet. They will claim you need 9 billion grams of protein a day and negative 9 billion carbs. Ok, I exaggerate, but you know what I am talking about. They will tell you how unhealthy it is for your children to not get enough protein and how they really, really need to drink whole milk for at least 2 years, and then 2% for life. I could go on and get pretty sassy about this topic, but I think I will just get to the point.

As stated before, I’m not an expert, and I hold no degree in this particular area. Don’t worry, I have a friend who has the degrees, and I am working on getting some guest blog posts from her. That being said, I won’t go into my opinions, based on research I have done, about how much protein we actually need versus what we have been told. I will, however, take the official recommended amount and show you how easy it is to get that number from plants. I mean seriously, some of the largest, strongest land mammals around are herbivores. How does one propose that an elephant is getting its protein. And might I again stress the point that humans are the only mammals that keep drinking milk after infancy!

Most official nutritional organizations say you need around 0.3 to 0.4 grams of protein a day per pound of body weight. That mean an average adult needs 40 - 60 grams a day.

So here is a break down of how much protein is in a few things you probably already eat.

PLANT PROTEINS:

Tofu - 10 grams 1/2 cup
Seitan - 4 oz 30 grams (same as chicken or lean beef)
Soy yogurt - 10 grams
Nutritional Yeast - 8 grams in 2 tablespoons
Cashew cheese slice - 4 grams
Serving of mixed nuts - 7 grams
Lentils - 9 grams per 1/2 cup
Black beans - almost 8 grams 1/2 cup
Peanut Butter - 7 grams in 1/4 cup
Wild Rice - 6.5 grams 1 cup
Steel Cut Oatmeal - 5 grams 1/4 cup (dry)
Medium Potato - 4 grams
Spinach - 3 grams 1/2 cup (cooked)
Broccoli - 2 grams 1/2 cup (cooked)
Brussels Sprouts - 2 grams 1/2 cup (cooked)
Asparagus - 3 grams 1 cup
Wheat - 6 grams per serving
Quinoa - 6.5 grams per serving

The list could go on. You can google any plant food you eat for its protein content. Clearly it is not hard to reach the recommended daily amount just by eating whole plant foods, and as a bonus, you are getting tons of vitamins and nutrients you need, from eating a rainbow of foods!

So the next time someone comes at you with these questions, just remind them that elephants, rhinos, bison, and hippos seems to being doing just fine eating plants, so more than likely you will be ok too. I mean, I am raising 4 plant based kids that are right where they need to be in their growth charts. Their health has been great and their regular ol, non-holisitc, non-vegan pediatrician seems pretty pleased with their overall health. So we are doing something right ;)