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Where Do Vegans Get Their Protein From?

These Photos Prove How Easy It Is to Get Enough Protein as a Vegan

If you're vegan, or you've ever contemplated going sans-meat products or plant-based, you know one of the hottest questions is "How do you get enough protein?" The fact is, it's possible (and even easy) to be vegan and get enough of those necessary nutrients.

Instead of consuming the kind of protein that comes from animal and dairy sources, Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Shayla Quinn suggests vegans can get ample amounts of protein from plant-based foods like nuts and seeds and plants. In her Instagram post, she shares that, in addition to practising yoga, she likes to work out frequently. "Therefore I try to be mindful about getting enough protein so I can build muscle...and not just with vegan protein powder, but also with #FOOD," she wrote in the caption. She reiterates that you can indeed get protein from plants, sharing some of her favourite sources of protein to add to your meals.

As a certified precision nutrition coach, I recommend clients get a minimum of 0.8 daily grams of protein per kilogram (this is about 0.36 grams per pound) of body mass. If you're doing high-intensity activities, I advise increasing your protein intake to 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of your body mass. For example, someone who weighs 135 pounds (or 61 kg) and lift weights three times a week would multiply 61 by 1.4 to get their suggested protein intake. Based on those calculations, that person should be aiming to consume around 85.4 grams of protein a day.

Consider this: according to Shayla's Instagram graphics, if you had a quinoa bowl for lunch and almonds as a snack, you will have already consumed close to 23 grams of of protein in a day.

Image Source: Unsplash / Anna Pelzer
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