There is a common misconception, that we need to focus greatly on protein intake to fulfil our body’s requirements. Protein consists of amino acids which our body needs for grow and repair tissue, a healthy hormonal and immune system and more.
Nevertheless, our body not only needs much less protein than often thought but can also recycle proteins to a certain degree.
Backed by the meat and dairy industry, high protein diets are often marketed as a path to great health, athletic performance and weight-loss. The truth looks very different - although people might experience short-term weight-loss (mostly due to a lower intake of calories) a high protein diet based on animal products might lead to impaired kidney functions, osteoporosis, cancer and heart disease. But what about vegans - do we also need to eat a lot of protein-rich foods like grains, legumes and soy to be healthy and fit?
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein for an average adult is actually much lower than many people might believe. Only 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight is the suggested amount per day.
That would mean for a small woman like me around 43g of protein per day. Do I need to eat big quinoa-chickpea bowls with tempeh for that? Not necessarily - while tracking my intake of nutrients, I can easily get all my protein from raw plant sources like bananas, mango, grapes, other fruits, spirulina, leafy greens or seeds such as pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds. And even coconut water has protein in it! Some other people also like to sprout legumes as a raw source of protein.
For high athletic performance, you might want to increase the protein amount, but there can also be a too much - no matter where it comes from. Did you know, that there are also toxic by-products from protein digestion? This can actually have negative effects on our health so that we should not go crazy with high amounts of protein powders while trying to boost our health and performance.
To learn more about a healthy intake of protein, check out the content by Dr. Garth Davis, Dr. Robert Morse or PCRM.
🍍 If you could use some inspiration for healthy raw vegan meals, I just released my new recipe ebook RAW VEGAN ABUNDANCE.
💫 And for more daily inspiration about raw food, vibrant nutrition, holistic health and conscious lifestyle - check out my Instagram account or the Raw Expansion website
Have a powerful day, everyone! Anais
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