{"id":30184,"date":"2018-02-13T09:14:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T09:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shawellness.com\/shamagazine\/en\/?p=30184"},"modified":"2023-03-06T17:24:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T15:24:29","slug":"a-guide-to-plant-based-protein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shawellness.com\/shamagazine\/en\/a-guide-to-plant-based-protein\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to plant based protein"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since we start learning about nutrition, we\u2019re told that <strong>animal protein is one of the most important pillars of a healthy and balanced diet<\/strong>. The truth is that <strong>protein is a crucial component of our body<\/strong>, as our <strong>cells<\/strong> <strong>contain thousands of protein molecules<\/strong>. They <strong>carry out nearly every biological role in the body<\/strong>, from repairing, building and strengthening bone, tissue, skin, hair and nails, <strong>as well as carriers of hemoglobin<\/strong>, <strong>enzymes<\/strong> and <strong>hormones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst <strong>protein is essential for our health<\/strong>, the biggest <strong>myth<\/strong> that surrounds this i<strong>s that the only source comes from animal derived products<\/strong>. This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. <strong>Plant-based foods are also rich in protein<\/strong> and can completely cover the protein intake our body needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Proteins<\/strong> are <strong>made up of 20 amino acids<\/strong>, of which <strong>9 of these<\/strong>, our <strong>body isn\u2019t able to synthesize<\/strong> <strong>on its own<\/strong> and can only obtain them through food; these are called <strong>essential amino acids<\/strong>. The <strong>misconception<\/strong> is that you can only<strong> find essential amino acids in animal foods<\/strong>, however, <strong>plant-based foods also contain complete proteins<\/strong> and in fact, studies show that those <strong>who follow a vegetarian<\/strong> or vegan <strong>diet meet their protein requirements<\/strong> and even exceed them.<\/p>\n<p>In order <strong>to get all the essential amino acids your body needs<\/strong>, you can <strong>eat foods that contain all nine of them<\/strong>, like <strong>quinoa<\/strong> and <strong>buckwheat<\/strong>, or <strong>ones<\/strong> that <strong>don\u2019t contain all essential amino acids<\/strong> but when <strong>combined with other protein rich foods<\/strong>, <strong>provide all the 9 amino acids<\/strong> that the body needs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The plant-based foods rich in protein that you should include in your diet are:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>Complete proteins:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li><strong>Seeds:<\/strong> chia seeds and pumpkin seeds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greens:<\/strong> spinach.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cereals and grains:<\/strong> quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Non-complete proteins:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li><strong>Nuts and seeds:<\/strong> almonds, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, flaxseeds and sesame seeds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legumes:<\/strong> beans, chickpeas and lentils<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greens:<\/strong> peas and artichokes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cereals and grains:<\/strong> oats, millet, brown rice and kamut.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>foods that aren\u2019t complete proteins<\/strong> should be <strong>combined with other plant-based proteins<\/strong> to cover the 9 essential amino acids. For example, if you\u2019re<strong> eating lentils<\/strong>, you should later on in the day <strong>eat a handful of nuts<\/strong>, or if you\u2019re having a meal with <strong>beans<\/strong>, <strong>combine<\/strong> them with<strong> brown rice<\/strong> and a <strong>handful of nuts<\/strong> and seeds later on in the day. A <strong>great food<\/strong> combination is <strong>hummus<\/strong>, as it <strong>contains<\/strong> <strong>chickpeas<\/strong> (non-complete protein) and <strong>sesame seeds<\/strong> (non-complete protein), and <strong>together covers all 9 essential amino acids<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>trick<\/strong> is to<strong> have a varied<\/strong> and <strong>balanced diet<\/strong> that is<strong> rich<\/strong> in <strong>legumes<\/strong>, grains, <strong>nuts<\/strong> and seeds as well as <strong>greens<\/strong>, to insure that you\u2019re <strong>eating<\/strong> a wide variety of <strong>vitamins<\/strong>, <strong>minerals<\/strong> and <strong>amino acids<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Eating a <strong>plant-based diet<\/strong> can <strong>provide<\/strong> many<strong> health benefits<\/strong>, from reaching an <strong>optimal weight<\/strong>, lowering blood pressure and <strong>cholesterol levels<\/strong>, balancing blood sugar levels, as well as <strong>lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes<\/strong>, obesity, <strong>cardiovascular disease<\/strong> and cancers.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re<strong> considering going plant-based<\/strong> or simply want to improve your health, <strong>replacing animal protein with plant-based protein<\/strong> will provide very <strong>positive affects<\/strong> to your health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since we start learning about nutrition, we\u2019re told that animal protein is one of the most important pillars of a healthy and balanced diet. The truth is that protein is a crucial component of our body, as our cells contain thousands of protein molecules. They carry out nearly every biological role in the body, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":30188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-nutrition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A guide to plant based protein | SHA Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover what plant-based foods provide your body with the essential amino acids to meet the nutritional requirements your body needs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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