You’re vegan? Where do you get your Omega 3's, Protein, Calcium, Protein, Iodine, Protein...
Magnesium, Protein, Iron, Protein, Zinc...
...Vitamin D, Protein, B12, Protein
Protein?...Let's, ask a doctor. Protein.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. I’m excited to
bring to you the first video in a new series covering all the major nutrients of concern
on a vegan diet, with the incredible Dr. Michael Greger of Nutritionfacts.org If you’re not
familiar with Dr. Greger, he’s a medical doctor, author, and internationally recognized
speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. He’s a licensed general practitioner
specializing in clinical nutrition. He provides the invaluable public service of nutritionfact.org,
a totally free website and repository of videos and articles on the most current issues in
the field of nutrition.
And, since he provides these free updates as his site says, “via bite-sized videos,”
I’m obviously a fan. So I wanted to be able to provide new vegans, the vegan curious,
and even established vegans with a series of videos addressing the most common nutritional
worries surrounding a vegan diet. And we’re starting with the one every vegan hears more
times than we can count: Protein.
Well, thank you so much Dr. Greger for giving us some of your very valuable time
to sit here and tell us a little bit about how to ensure that you get proper nutrition
when you’re going onto a vegan diet.
Happy to help!
Alright so...I thought we start with the one that’s like the most controversial
nutrient when you’re talking about...eating a vegan diet, and that is protein. So, I was
wondering if you could talk a little about how it is that we get protein when we’re
not eating animal products.
Yeah, surprising there’s so much fuss and the average requirement is about
42 grams. And, meat eaters get about 75 grams, and so do vegans, and so do vegetarians.
Everybody gets about 70% more protein than they need. They only need about...0.8 grams per kilogram,
healthy body weight. The only people really...so about 3% of people in the nation, in a study
of about 13,000 people...a survey that the government does every few years. About 3%
are not getting enough protein, but that’s just because they’re typically not eating
a lot. If you don’t eat enough food, you don’t eat enough protein. So, if you’re
on a severely calorie restricted diet, you have to be more careful about nutrients. But
you know, the ironic thing is there actually is a nutrient for which 97% aren’t sufficient,
but actually deficient and that’s fiber. And the question isn’t, ‘where do you
get your protein?’, the question should be ‘where do you get your fiber?’, because
fiber is the one that 97% don’t even reach the recommended daily minimum. And that’s
the one that actually has consequences, and tied to, you know, getting sufficient amounts,
lower rates of cancer and heart disease, and diabetes, and obesity, and hypertension. And
so, I mean, these are the nutrients we have to think about getting enough of, living basically
anywhere in the industrialized world.
And would you say that there’s more, of at least, with people who are getting sufficient
calories...would you think there’s more of a worry of almost getting too much protein,
rather than too little, like when we’re eating animal products?
You just need to get...it’s the source that matters, alright. So, when
we’re talking about carbs, or fat, or protein, it’s really the source, right. Carbs are
lentils and lollipops, right, protein...you know, fat can be crisco and lard, or it can
be walnuts. I mean you gotta...you know they just can’t care about
the source. So, we got whole food sources of nutrition, and you don’t have to worry
about these things. So, where do you get protein from? The protein super stars of the plant
kingdom are the legumes, right...beans, peas, you know, chickpeas, split peas, lentils.
I mean, that’s what we should all be including legumes in our daily diet that are packed
with all sorts of wonderful things, you know so...get proteins from whole grains and nuts,
and seeds, and things. But, I encourage people to eat legumes everyday because they’re
so powerful in supporting healthy long life.
I think, that you know, obviously the protein one is what everyone focuses on and
just like you said, its very much a non-issue which is...it’s kind of interesting when
you really break it down, and show people that there’s really no concern. I’ve told
people before, if you’re eating enough calories there’s no way that you’re not getting
enough protein, so.
Unless you’re eating junk food, I mean, so there’s no protein in cotton
candy. Alright so, you can eat a strictly vegan, sufficient calorie diet that’s completely
lacking protein if you just ate hard candy all day. So, it’s important, you know, to
be a healthy, you know...plant based eater, we have to actually eat our plants.
Absolutely yes, anything naturally made is going to have it in there.
I hope you enjoyed hearing from Dr. Greger on the issue of protein in a vegan diet. Links
to his site and channel are in the video description below. If you want to see my personal protein numbers
after a day of consuming some series plant matter, check out one of these two videos. I even
show you the breakdown of my nutritional intake.
Now I’ve had more inquiries than I can count about what software I used on those videos
to track my nutrients. It’s a fantastic free service called Cronometer. If you want
to go vegan and have sound nutrition, Cronometer is a great way to stay on track.
And, as an example of just how awesome they are, they’re sponsoring this video to help get
this important information out to potential and current vegans. So, be sure to use the
link in the video description to go show the people at Cronometer some love. It’s not
an affiliate link, so I’m not gonna get any money when you click on it, but it will let Cronometer
know that I sent you, so they know the Bite Size Vegan audience is awesomely engaged [ding]
And one thing I really want you to remember in all of this, a vegan diet can be as varied as you want and can come in countless forms.
So if the way that I eat or any individual eats doesn’t work for you, don’t
swear off being vegan. You can eat any type of cuisine under the sun in a vegan version.
Even monolithic masterpieces like this.
So I’d love to hear from you on this- where do you get your protein? Seriously. Where
do you? If you’re a vegan, how do you answer that question? If you’re not vegan but thinking
about making your way there, is protein a concern for you? Let me know in the comments! If you
found this video helpful, give it a big thumbs up and share it around to bust the protein
myth. To help support Bite Size Vegan and keep the education coming, check out either of
the support links in the video description below or, to get perks and rewards for helping
out, join us in the Nugget Army on Patreon by clicking that logo right there or the link in the video description below.
If you’re new here, be sure to hit that big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan
content every Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays. I would love to have you as a member
of the Bite Size family. And hey, while you’re here, check out some of my related videos.
And stay tuned for the rest of the series with Dr. Greger. And all the links to all
of these and anything I’ve mentioned in this video are in the video description below for
those of you who are on a phone or tablet and can’t click ‘em. Now go live vegan,
get your protein, and I’ll see you soon.
Protein
Subtitles by the Amara.org community