{"id":29594,"date":"2017-09-11T11:04:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T15:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=29594"},"modified":"2023-11-08T10:09:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T15:09:43","slug":"protein-for-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/protein-for-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Protein and the Vegan Athlete: All You Really Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can you be a plant-based athlete and still meet your protein needs?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you get all the protein you need without having supplement your vegan diet<\/a> with it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you’ve been living in some magical No Meat Athlete bubble we don’t know about, you’re probably no stranger to vegan protein<\/a> questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And luckily, neither is science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a long time, athletes, coaches, and trainers alike have worried that vegan and vegetarian diets may not be sufficient to support the nutritional requirements and performance goals of athletes. They wonder if animal products are necessary to perform at one’s highest level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m happy to report, the research says otherwise. And that there’s an easier way to think about how (and where) you get your protein on a plant-based diet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before we get into the details, let’s take a step back:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Heck is Protein Anyway?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your body contains thousands of different proteins that serve different functions, all made from amino acids. It’s the arrangement of these amino acids that determines the type and function of a protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 20 different amino acids that combine to form proteins, and although your body requires all of them, you only have the ability to make 11 of them. These are termed non-essential amino acids<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other nine\u2014those you can’t make\u2014are termed essential amino acids<\/i>, and must be obtained from the diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is true that all animal-source foods (meat, dairy, and eggs) contain all essential amino acids, they can also be obtained by eating a variety of plant foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proteins containing all nine essential amino acids can be used immediately by the body. If a protein is low in one or more of the essential amino acids, the availability of the protein is limited until the body can complete it. Which brings us to… wait for it…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complete vs. Incomplete Proteins (The Old Way of Thinking)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More often than not, when you hear someone talking about getting enough protein, they refer to something called \u201ccomplete\u201d protein.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The notion of complete vs. incomplete protein was popularized in the 1971 book, Diet for a Small Planet<\/i>, by Frances Moore Lapp\u00e9. Lapp\u00e9 said that plant foods are an incomplete protein because they\u2019re deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids. Thus, being a healthy vegetarian would mean that you need to combine plant proteins at each meal to get a “complete” protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to the impression that plant proteins are completely devoid of at least one essential amino acid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nope. False.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All plant proteins have some of every essential amino acid. Did you get that? All of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While certain (quite delicious, I might add) foods\u2014like quinoa, chia, buckwheat, and soy\u2014contain all nine essential amino acids in roughly equal amounts, other plant proteins have a lower amount of at least one essential amino acid. (See our list of vegan protein sources<\/a> and their amino acid breakdown.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not a problem because your body does the work of making complete proteins for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you have to do is rub your belly three times, wiggle your nose, and count to ten…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only kidding. It\u2019s actually way cooler than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your body creates a “pool” of amino acids from the food you eat throughout the day. So, if you eat oats in the morning, a salad at lunch, and legumes for dinner, your body will pool together all the essential amino acids from these foods and use them as needed to make proteins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means you don’t have to worry about getting all the essential amino acids at any given meal. As long as you are eating an assortment of plant foods over the course of a day, your body will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beautiful, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lysine: The Limiting Amino Acid in Vegan Diets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alright, so there is one thing in particular we vegans need to consider more than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lysine<\/a> (very different than Lysol\u2026 do not <\/i>consume that).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lysine is an essential amino acid that plays an important role in producing carnitine\u2014a nutrient that helps convert fatty acids into energy and helps lower cholesterol, and it also helps produce collagen\u2014a fibrous protein found in bone, cartilage, and skin. Lysine is considered a limiting amino acid because plant foods generally only contain a small amount of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Recommended Daily Allowance<\/a> of lysine is 38 mg per kg (1 kg = 2.2 lbs) of body weight. So, if you weigh 132 lbs (60 kg), you would need 2,280 mg of lysine. (Update: Calculation corrected)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some vegan nutritionists argue that meeting your daily lysine need is more important than meeting your overall daily protein need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By focusing only on the amount of protein in food, you might hit a huge number of one thing, but totally miss the mark on something else. If you aim instead for your daily lysine requirements, you’ll almost certainly meet your overall protein requirements as a result.<\/del><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foods richest in lysine are tempeh<\/a>, seitan, lentils<\/a>, and tofu<\/a>. Amaranth, quinoa<\/a>, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds are also good sources. (It’s also in Complement Protein, No Meat Athlete’s vegan protein powder<\/a>.) Here’s a chart that breaks down the amounts of these high lysine foods:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Food<\/th>Serving<\/th>Lysine (mg)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Tempeh<\/td>1\/2 cup<\/td>754<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seitan<\/td>3 oz<\/td>656<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lentils<\/td>1\/2 cup<\/td>624<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tofu<\/td>1\/2 cup<\/td>582<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amaranth<\/td>1 cup<\/td>515<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quinoa<\/td>1 cup<\/td>442<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pistachios<\/td>1\/4 cup<\/td>367<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pumpkin seeds<\/td>1\/4 cup<\/td>360<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Okay, So How Much Protein Do I Actually Need?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Protein and amino acid needs are the same for women as for men, and the amount is based on body weight in kg. For the general adult population (ages 19-59 years), the Recommended Daily Allowance<\/a> for protein is 0.8 g\/kg\/day. That means if you weigh 60 kg (132 lbs), you would need 48 g of protein per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put into practice? One cup of cooked oatmeal contains about 6 g of protein, add a tablespoon of peanut butter (4 g of protein) and \u00bd cup of soy milk (4 g protein) and you are up to 14 grams of protein at breakfast, which would be almost 30% of your daily requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For athletes, however, it is a little different:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2009 joint position paper<\/a> on nutrition and athletic performance, the American College of Sport Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Dietitians of Canada recommended a higher protein intake for athletes. They said that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n