Seared filet mignon with baby carrots

Where do you get your protein? 

By SA Tripi  

If you are vegan or vegetarian, the most asked question you get, once people get over the shock that you live in Texas and don’t eat barbecue, is, where do you get your protein? Can you get enough protein if you don’t eat meat or cheese or eggs? The answer is much easier than most people think. 

Americans equate eating a lot of protein (meat) with good nutrition. But too much protein can be harmful to the body. In the U.S., people, rich or poor, eat twice as much protein as they need and it’s a good bet that it isn’t from broccoli and black beans.  

It’s difficult to eat too little protein. (And there’s always an exception: Women who are nursing, small children, and surgical patients require more protein than the rest of us). All plant proteins and nearly all animal proteins are actually complete proteins. Both contain all nine essential amino acids.  

If you eat a T-bone steak or a meal of rice and beans, they have the same amount of protein. The difference is that the steak you will be consuming has excessive saturated fat and cholesterol. (Milk is second only to beef as the largest source of saturated fat)  

Fat is not a bad thing. It’s just that Americans eat too much of it. Each gram of fat you eat has over twice as many calories as a gram of carbs. Just remember, the fat you eat is the fat you wear.  

Fat calories are harder to burn than calories from carbs. Dietary fat can convert to body fat whereas very few of the complex carbs in your diet are converted to body fat.  

Where do I get my protein, you ask? Potatoes. Pasta. Grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit, tofu, non-fat yogurt, and, in small amounts, non-fat milk. When people hear my answer, a puzzled look still comes over their faces. I then say: Look at that steak you just ate. It smelled delicious and looked great. Now, look at the grease left on your plate. Think of the fat that just went into your body.  

I’ll take my pasta and beans any day. 

SA Tripi is a recent convert to a WFPB lifestyle. 

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