How do you get enough protein if you're not eating meat or dairy?

One of the main questions I get from people is, "How do you get enough protein if you're not eating meat or dairy?" Maybe some of you have been thinking the same thing and didn't dare ask. Well, first of all, the typical American diet actually provides us with an overabundance of protein. So the amount of protein I was used to eating was actually more than I needed.

So how do you know how much protein your body needs? I found a health calculator created by the University of Maryland Medical System that asks your age, height, gender, and frame size, and how active you are. It looks like this:

My results show that I need 67 grams of protein a day. If you're body isn't as healthy as it should be, it's good to get a little bit more protein than average, so I aim for about 75 grams of protein a day. Click here to calculate your protein.

So are you wondering what I could possibly eat to get that much protein without eating one bit of animal protein? Well here are some of the protein-rich foods I incorporate into my diet and how many grams of protein they contain per serving:

almonds (raw), 30g

black beans, 15g

brown rice, 5g

garbonzo beans (aka: chickpeas), 16g

kidney beans, 13g

lentils, 18g

lima beans (raw), 11g

millet (raw), 22g

peanut butter, 8g

peas (raw), 8g

quinoa (raw), 24g

soy beans (aka: edamame), 29g

spinach, 5g

sunflower seeds, 6g

sweet potatoes, 4g

tempeh, 41g
tofu, 9g

The numbers I gave you above greatly depend on the amount of food and how you prepare your food. For example, one ounce raw ground almonds is 6g protein, but one cup raw whole almonds is 30g protein. It all depends what you set the amount to be. Because of this I say, click here and do your own calculating. This site allows you to plug in foods from Arby's to Coldstone to dear old Mother Earth, and asks for details about the way you prepare your food. The nutrients (including protein) depend greatly on the food's preparation—is it raw or cooked? It's amazing how much nutrients food lose when they're cooked. Check out the comparisons and decide how you should be eating your food for optimum nutrients.

And these other fruits and veggies also contain protein but in smaller amounts. Feel free to look up the exact amounts yourself (because I gotta get back to work!), but now you know how easy it is to get enough protein just from eating stuff that grows out of the ground.

avocado
bananas

Brussels sprouts

cabbage
cantaloupe
grapes
grapefruit
honeydew

kale

mushrooms
onions
parsley

pineapple

raisins

strawberries

tangerines

zucchini

More Answers

In all honesty, I haven't posted any health updates lately because I've plateaued and am slightly frustrated about my arthritis pain not improving, so there's nothing much to share that's progress. And just yesterday fear started to creep in. I don't like that word and for the most part I feel completely at peace about my health, but yesterday I saw my Uncle Mike, whose wife has RA. I'd taken my car in to see Mike, the Saab master, because the "check engine" light came on Wednesday afternoon. Nothing's wrong with the car—the light came on because my gas cap wasn't screwed on tight enough. It hurts my hands to click the cap tight, so after I fill up with gas I just twist it on without clicking it in place. Something about the lack of pressure in the gas tank makes the engine light go on. So I practiced turning the cap and can click it three times if I do it with both hands, mainly using my thumbs, and go at it at a different angle than normal. Mike figured that me not being able to screw the gas cap on tight was the problem because his wife, Lavon, can't do that either because of her RA. It hurts my fingers to even hit the blinker or the windshield wipers now, but what can you do? Lavon's in the same boat but worse. So are a lot of other people.

So the fear part crept in after Mike mentioned joint damage and how when you use your joints when they're inflamed, you can cause permanent damage. I didn't know that. The rheumatologist said to keep using my joints even when they hurt. She also told me to come back in 4 months or until the pain got unbearable because she said my hand pain appeared to be osteoarthritis not rheumatoid. Well, what is unbearable pain? I think I can bear any pain. I feel like my rheumatologist has just left me hanging without figuring out the root of the problem and looking deeper. At first I felt fine about that because I had Barbara and knew about the infection in my body even if the rheumatologist didn't want to go down that road, but now that my symptoms aren't improving as quickly as I hoped, I feel very vulnerable and don't want to cause permanent joint damage. I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. If I were seeing faster results with the medicine I've been taking from Barbara, I would feel safer.

But just now I decided to research more about Strep G to better understand what it's doing in my body and what to expect with it, and I came across this information, which helps me see the whole picture a lot better! Amazing! Read below.

"Group G strep (GGS) is normally present on the skin, in the mouth and throat,and in the intestines and genital tract, and is most likely to lead to infection in alcoholics and in people who have cancer, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions that suppress immune-system activity. GGScan cause a variety of infections, including:

     -Bacteria in the bloodstream

     -Bursitis (Inflammation of the connective tissue structure surrounding a joint)

     -Endocarditis (a condition that affects the lining of the heart chambers and the heart valves)

     -Meningitis

     -Osteomyelitis (inflammation of bone and bone marrow)

     -Peritonitis (inflammationof the lining of the abdomen)."

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/5/Streptococcal-infections.html#ixzz0lO6Nar00

If I didn't have RA and if my immune system weren't low from other health issues (epstein barr virus and hyperthyroidism and stress), I bet the Strep G wouldn't have attacked my joints. Interesting! So my primary concern is to kill the infection and then see if the joint pain goes away completely. If not, then I know the infection really did trigger the RA and then I'll deal with the RA. My most persistent and worse pain is in my right pointer finger knuckle, which is an RA joint (OA joints are the two top joints of the fingers and the thumb joints), so I am concerned about joint damage there. Here's what I'm doing now to eliminate the bacteria:

-taking herbal drops to kill the parasites and Strep G infection (same drops I've taken over the years to kill all my travel bugs)

-taking Lactozyme pills to put good bacteria in my body

-eating 4 Tbs. coconut oil daily, which has major antiviral properties (go to http://www.advance-health.com/coconut.html to read more)

-getting massages with essential oils that fight infection and help with pain (Okay, so I've had only one massage so far, but was the best thing I've done so far for my pain. I felt amazing the entire day and swore I would start doing them every other week. But they cost money, so I have yet to go back for my second one.)

-trying to stress less

-trying to sleep more

-eating 4 cups of green smoothie a day (see Please Pass the Green for more info)

-lessening the foods I eat that contain preservatives

-eating mostly fresh, raw veggies, especially asparagus, edamame, chickpeas, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, spinach, and green beans to get the most protein