The best protein sources in a vegan diet

Veganism is probably one of the most important nutrition trends nowadays. But what does it actually mean to “live vegan”? Roughly speaking when eating vegan, you do not consume any animal products in your diet – this means that you neither eat fish nor meat, nor any other products of animal origin, such as milk, dairy products or eggs. If you want to continue this credo, you can also renounce everyday items made out of animal products such as clothing or cosmetics. For many people the motives for following a vegan diet can be diverse. There are, for example, ethical motivators as well as climate reasons, but partly also religious reasons that lead people to veganism.

People living a vegan lifestyle may have to deal with the same questions by other people day after day:

“How do you get enough nutrients?”
“How do you live without meat or dairy?”
“Aren’t you malnourished?”
“But you need proteins!”

Most vegans probably can’t hear these questions anymore. But even if many people believe, that following a vegan diet leads to a lack of certain nutrients, this usually does not correspond to the truth. There is a wide diversity of vegetable alternatives to an omnivorous diet. This means that vegans are not missing out on anything with a balanced and versatile nutrition. Today we want to deal more deeply with good vegetable protein sources as there are plenty of them.

Delicious & nutritious – our top list of plant-based protein sources

It is well-known that proteins are important for humans. Protein is a biological macromolecule, which is built up from amino acids by peptide bonds. The German term “Eiweiß” which directly translates to “eggwhite” is deceptive, because protein is as a matter of fact not an animal product – quite the opposite! In the following, we want to introduce some important vegetable protein sources to you, as a kind reminder, small assistance or source of information, should you need it.

Nuts and Seeds

Let’s start with something that almost everyone likes – whether they follow a vegan diet or not. Nuts! There are many kinds of nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, cashews or pistachios. These little friends are an incredible source of protein. A handful of almonds contains 6g of protein. In addition, nuts are full of healthy fats which have a positive effect on our cholesterol levels. To all of you who want to eat their nuts in a less crunchy form, we recommend nut butter! Whether it’s almond butter, cashew butter or the popular peanut butter – they’re all the perfect topping on your favourite cereal or porridge.

Our second protein source tip are chia seeds. This so-called “superfood” is also an excellent source of protein. In contrast to conventional seeds, they have almost twice as much protein. For this reason, they definitely deserve the name “superfood”. A further benefit of chia seeds is that they provide you with almost five times more calcium than milk! Just like nuts and nut butter, chia seeds are a wonderful addition to any breakfast bowl.

Our Personal Superhero: Oats

The next protein source (and probably the most important one for us as a manufacturer of breakfast products) are oat flakes. Grain is generally characterized by a very high protein content. Oat flakes are not an exception, but rather considered to be one of the most nutritious fitness foods and also very satiating. With a protein content of 15% and a lot of valuable B vitamins, oat flakes are very popular. – Also with us, which is why oat flakes can be found in almost all of our mueslis, granolas and porridges.

Beans, Lentils and Broccoli

Although they are probably less popular for breakfast, beans, lentils and broccoli definitely deserve to on our list. Beans stimulate digestion and are an excellent source of protein. They can be used very well in both savory and sweet dishes and are therefore a welcome guest in a vegan diet.

Lentils are, beside beans, also an amazing vegan protein source. The legume has a fabulous protein content of 22%. One tablespoon therefore contains 8g of protein. For such a small food this is indeed a lot!

Next, we would like to introduce a vegetable that is very popular among adults, but often causes problems with children (and probably some adults as well) – broccoli. This green tree vegetable is also an incredible source of protein. Low in calories, rich in vitamin K and vitamin C. Is there anything more to say? It is very tasty either as a whole or pureed in soups or pasta dishes or simply as a side dish. By the way, have you already tried our savoury broccoli porridge? It is certainly one of our most polarizing products, but hardly beatable when it comes its nutritional value. 😉

Last but certainly not least in our list of vegan protein sources:

Tofu and Seitan

Some of you might already know this, for some this fact might be new. Tofu is probably one of the best vegan protein sources available. Yes, tofu is probably already a classic in the vegan nutrition. Its preparation could not be more versatile: Whether as a whole as the so-called “tofu steak” or diced into a salad, tofu is always a good option to add protein to your dishes. It tastes best when seasoned well and roasted in natural olive oil. A very popular option is smoked tofu. An important basic rule for tofu is, the firmer it is, the more protein it contains! 100g of tofu contain up to 17g protein.

Finally, an Honorable Mention: seitan! Actually, this concerning the protein content, this should be the winner of this small protein list, but we didn’t want to put meat substitutes on top of it. Nevertheless, seitan tastes delicious if you prepare it properly and with 25g of protein per 100g seitan, nothing else can really keep up.

In our online shop you can find a variety of nuts, oat flakes and other vegan snacks. If you are looking for protein sources, you can easily find them: Simply select “Vegan” from the allergens and set the filter to “Protein source” or “High protein content”. Have fun!

Previous post What you always wanted to know about whole grains

Next post How to overwinter berries