How much protein does a person need?

In Answer To The Protein Question:

As vegans, we have to be careful about our food choices in order to insure well-balanced nutrition. One of the quips I hear most from omnivores who find out we're on a vegan diet is "Give up meat? Where do you get your protein?"

When I ask them how much protein they think they need... the answer, almost without exception, is "I don't know". The meat and dairy producers have done an EXCELLENT job convincing the general public that they absolutely, positively, MUST have meat and dairy in their diet or they will wither away and die!!

When I realized that I only needed about 50 grams of protein per day in my diet, finding it from plant sources got a whole lot simpler. Heck, if you look at these charts, you'll wonder why in the world you ever thought that the measly 3-6 grams per ounce in your meat source was a better deal!

Beans (including soy)

Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein
Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams
Soy milk, 1 cup - 6 -10 grams
Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans
Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein
Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams

Nuts and Seeds

Peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons - 8 grams protein
Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams
Cashews, ¼ cup – 5 grams
Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams
Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams
Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams

In fact, beans are so nutritious that the latest dietary guidelines recommend we triple our current intake from 1 to 3 cups per week! Not a problem for me, since we've always got a big pot of our Pinto Beans, Pea Soup, or Lima Bean Soup on hand!

Beans are comparable to meat when it comes to calories, but - unlike meat - they're rich in terms of fiber and water content, two ingredients that make you feel fuller, faster. Adding beans to your diet helps cut calories without feeling deprived.

The average American consumes only 15 grams of fiber daily, which is just plain awful for our hearts and our waistlines. One cup of cooked beans provides about 12 grams of fiber -- nearly half the recommended daily dose of daily fiber for adult women and over one-third of the requirement for men. Meat, on the other hand, contains no fiber at all.

So the next time someone makes you doubt your decision to maintain a plant-based diet - remind yourself that it's all a bunch of sales "shtick" meant to sell meat and dairy, and has nothing to do with the facts.