When vegans try to increase their protein intake, they often rely on foods like beans, nuts, and seeds to meet their daily protein requirements. However, this approach can sometimes lead to an excessive intake of carbohydrates. This may result in unwanted weight gain or make it more difficult to lose weight. Research suggests that consuming a balanced diet consisting of a wide variety of whole foods should provide an adequate amount of protein1, but you may be wondering, how as a vegan can you find the right balance to suit not only your goal of meeting your body’s basic nutrition needs, but also to meet your personal protein consumption goal?
In this article we are setting aside discussions of "good carbs," "healthy fats," "essential vitamins," or other nutrients and focusing on exploring protein sources to help you to make food selections that align with your personal preferences and goals as a vegan.
The basics on protein
Protein is a vital nutrient that helps build and repair tissues, produce enzymes and hormones, and support immune function. For vegans, there are plenty of plant-based sources of protein, including beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, chickpeas, edamame, and seitan. Nuts, seeds, and whole grains like oats and brown rice also provide a good amount of protein, making it easy to meet your protein needs without animal products.
How much protein do you need?
There is a lot of information available on the recommended amounts of protein based on your age and body composition goals. The general recommended daily allowance of protein is 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight (BW) which equates to 0.36 grams per pound, indicating that a person weighing 150 pounds would require 54 grams of protein a day. Keep in mind that this recommendation is for a sedentary human not one who is exercising and is written as a minimum requirement. To meet more physically active requirements to promote muscle growth, research supports a dietary intake of 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 g protein per kg BW per day for those with minimal, moderate, and intense physical activity, respectively. Long-term consumption of protein at 2 g per kg BW per day is considered safe for healthy adults, and the tolerable upper limit is 3.5 g per kg BW per day for advanced athletic subjects2.
Here is a handy key based on body weight:
Sedentary person: 0.8g per kilogram = 0.36g per pound
Active person: 1.0g per kilogram=0.45g per pound
Moderately active: 1.3g per kilogram=approximately 0.6g per pound
Very active: 1.6g per kilogram=approximately 0.75g per pound
** Always work with your personal medical provider or registered dietician to determine what is right for you.
How to meet your protein needs if you’re trying to lose weight
If you’re on a weight loss journey, research suggests that you should strive to be in a caloric deficit to meet your target weight3. This can be difficult for vegans as they navigate the protein space. It can be difficult, but it is not impossible!
As a vegan myself I created a personal tier system to help me consume enough protein and keep my carbohydrate intake in check. So, if you want to increase your protein intake but find that highly fibrous plant foods—like beans, nuts, seeds, potatoes, and other fiber-rich options—are too filling, making it difficult to reach your protein or calorie goals, continue reading below as I break down my top tips for selecting foods. But first a disclaimer - Traditionally protein sources are evaluated based on their PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score) which measures protein quality based on its amino acid profile and digestibility. The scoring system ranks foods from 0-1.0 based on how complete they are. Proteins with a perfect score of 1.0 include eggs, whey protein, and soy protein, as they provide all essential amino acids in optimal amounts and are easily digested. On the other hand, some plant-based proteins, such as those from grains like corn or rice, tend to have lower PDCAAS scores (around 0.4 to 0.6) due to limitations in certain essential amino acids, although they can still be valuable when combined with other protein sources to form a complete amino acid profile. Today I’m ranking protein based on my own personal formula, but it does have some general alignment with the formal method.
Tier 1 foods
I personally defined Tier One Proteins as the most protein-dense food options. They generally also have the highest ratio of protein to carbs/fats. These include foods like tofu, tempeh, seitan, protein powder, and some processed meat substitutes like Tofurky sausages. Let’s say you want to increase your vegan protein intake to 100g or more per day while maintaining a caloric deficit, you could hit 100g a day with relative ease by incorporating these foods.
Example: Half a block of tofu in a breakfast scramble: 20g. Five-eighths of a pound of seitan for lunch: 37g. Protein powder snack after workout: 23g. Tofurky Italian sausage fried in a little oil: 23g. Total: ~ 100+ grams.
Tier 2 foods
My Tier Two Proteins include foods which contain a good amount of protein (say, 5g or more) but are predominantly comprised of a different macronutrient such as beans, lentils, and legumes (which are predominantly carbohydrate), nuts, nut butters, and seeds (predominantly fats), some vegan dairy products, and certain other meat subs like Beyond Beef (which is about equal in protein and fat). By focusing on foods from this group you can add 50g a day of protein easily.
Example: In a day you can be creative and consider for breakfast, ½ cup of oatmeal with chia and hemp seeds, plus peanut butter: 20g. For lunch, chickpeas are curried in coconut milk on brown rice with seared veggies and salad: 15g. Vegan soymilk yogurt snack with chia: 13g. Pasta fagioli for dinner with white beans, carrots, tomatoes, and vegan sour cream with wheat bread: 12g. Total: ~ 60 grams.
Tier 3 foods
Tier Three Proteins in my plan include plant foods of which the vast majority is another macronutrient. These include grains and other starches like potatoes, greens and other vegetables like peppers, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and fruits including avocados. If you ate predominantly Tier Threes, you’d have difficulty getting more than 50g a day.
Example: Breakfast: oatmeal with bananas: 7g. Lunch: hummus sandwich on wheat, an apple, arugula salad with avocado: 18g. Snack: raw fruits and veggies: 5g. Dinner: rice and beans with sweet potato: 15g. Total: 45g
Finding balance
To maintain a balanced diet and meet nutritional recommendations, it's important to include a variety of foods from all food tiers. Relying too heavily on any one group can cause you to miss out on essential vitamins and minerals. For example, focusing solely on high-protein sources might limit your intake of key nutrients found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. If you cut out carbs, you risk not getting enough vitamin A from foods like sweet potatoes and carrots, or vitamin C from fruits like oranges and strawberries1,4. When I’m personally in a muscle building phase I have a desire to focus heavily on tier 1 which for a set duration is great for me, but you must be the master of your own body and balance in a way that suits you.
Conclusion
If you are trying to lose weight avoid being a French fry vegan, a term we use for those who stick with high carb foods and forget to focus on protein and the essential balance that is important for good health and optimal body composition. Ultimately, variety is the key to supporting your body’s health—heart, brain, muscles, and beyond.
References
1. American Heart Association (2024, August 28). Protein: What’s Enough? https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/suggested-servings-from-each-food-group. Accessed 19 November, 2024.
2. Wu G. (2016). Dietary protein intake and human health. Food & function, 7(3), 1251–1265. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5fo01530h. Accessed 19 November, 2024.
3. Kim J. Y. (2021). Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome, 30(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.7570/jomes20065. Accessed 19 November, 2024.
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. https://DietaryGuidelines.gov.
Mark Ludas PN-NC1 is a Certified Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition with over a decade of personal training and nutrition consulting experience. Mark trains and coaches people of all dietary stripes but especially loves helping people incorporate more plant-based eating into their nutrition outlooks. He empowers people through active listening, validation, and a dose of REAL TALK with no judgy aftertaste. Find him on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and at resistancequest.com.
