There is protein in everything

First let’s get clear on something, assuming you are eating a nutrient rich diet ( according to Dr. Fuhrman and personal and professional experience); you can only be deficient in protein, if you are deficient in calories. All protein comes from plants in the form of amino acids that animals eat to build muscle. You could not, not get enough protein as hard as you tried, unless you were eating a third class, nutrient barren diet that is really devoid of food, macro and micro nutrients.

By it’s definition nutrient rich food is ‘nutrient rich” and that includes protein.

Here’s was a recent comment on the Dr Fuhrman Member Forum from Outdoorgrrl that further illustrates this point in response to a question on the forum by a gentleman who was asking about whether or not he needed to supplement a nutrient rich diet with protein.

She quoted some great facts: “Depending on the source you consult, only a small percentage of the calories we consume need to be protein. Professional estimates are as low as 2 ½ percent. The World Health Organization recommends about 5 to 10 percent, depending on various factors. And the U.S. government’s recommendation is about 9 percent, depending on calorie intake.

Looking at the chart to the left (based on the USDA nutrient database), you’ll see that every single whole plant food has more than 2 ½ percent protein, and they all have more than 10 percent except for fruit. Protein is one of the easiest macronutrients to consume.

I guess I’m still confused as to why you feel you need to supplement your diet with protein powder. As long as you are eating a variety of vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains AND getting sufficient calories, it is nearly impossible not to get enough protein.”

Note: The China Study, the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, also weighs in on the subject of protein in The Top 12 Findings of the China Study.

But I’m not really addressing the question  of whether or not you need animal protein in this blog post, I am answering the question: Do You Need to Supplement a Nutrient Rich Plant Based Diet With Proteins like soy, rice, pea, and hemp protein.

Vega Health Optimizer – Large – NaturalNow I have say up front that I am a consumer of certain supplements, and a whole food meal replacement called Vega, Whole Food Health Optimizer. I don’t consume Vega any more for added protein than I would consume small amounts of animal products from time to time supposedly for nutrients that aren’t in a nutrient dense, whole foods diet. I get everything I need in a nutrient dense whole foods diet, even though I do take some natural supplements to ensure I get enough healthy DHA, and vitamin D, and I do take a multi vitamin.

If you want to find out why you might need supplements eating a nutrient rich diet, see that blog post I did on this very subject.

But protein, is generally not something you need to supplement. Animal protein of course, has become a national pastime. It has become a source of worry and fear and great debate in the nutritional community as to whether or not we need to be eating meat for protein and whether or not you can get enough protein eating a plant based diet especially when you hear stories of lost muscle and lethargy from many people who’ve tried it. Brendan Brazier creator of a whole food meal replacement called  Vega, speaks eloquently on this subject.

Let’s face it, we are used to eating this stimulating, protein-rich food source, which is a taste-appealing food for most, albeit a nutrient poor whole food.

When you make the switch from consuming predominantly animal sources of protein to predominantly plant based sources of nutrients including protein, you are going to go through some changes as the attributes and properties of these foods are very different in terms of rate of growth they promote, stimulation factor, energy needed to digest, assimilation rates etc and all these points have big impacts on how you recover and grow, age and feel.

But when it comes to combining plant based proteins to mimic animal proteins for faster recovery as is the case in Vega (created by Iron Man Athlete Brendan Brazier) the benefits far outweigh the negatives because the protein in a product like Vega is part of a whole food meal replacement; it’s not just isolated protein powder.

Do You Need to Supplement a Nutrient Rich Plant Based Diet With Protein?

According to Dr. Fuhrman the answer is ultimately no, yet if you are really being hard nosed about it, according to Dr. Fuhrman there are some cases where there is a medical case for consuming a product like Vega as a solution. Dr Fuhrman is also practical and knows that while you don’t want to base your diet on whole food meal replacements (not quite supplements, not quite whole foods), a unique product like Vega is far better than the many fast food choices a person could be eating and provides more nutrients than if you were to say eat an apple.

But Dr. Fuhrman is primarily about the ideals of eating for health and a performance athlete second. So is Brendan Brazier, but he is primarily a performance athlete and I tend to take a view that merges the two as a leading advocate and authority in PerformanceLifestyle.

In my view, the reason people consume a product like Vega is to get real food fast and to speed up recovery in a fast paced performance lifestyle. The nutrient rich benefits far outweigh the possible increases in IGF-1 (Insulin like growth factor) and the product is so nutrient rich, and was put together with such care, with the best possible whole food ingredients; if you are eating a nutrient rich, whole foods, plant based diet and consumed some Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer (the gold standard in meal replacements) during periods of high performance, the argument about whether or not you can get enough protein from plants is not as relevant. Even Brendan Brazier will tell you that.

A whole food health optimizer like Vega offers lots of benefits:

It’s essentially a dehydrated whole food, so there are far more nutrients than what is on the label. It includes far more than supplemental protein, and maps more closely to eating a whole foods meal, and can contain even more nutrients than a natural nutrient rich whole foods meal because it has nutrients from a wide variety of plant sources designed for health and performance.

It has a protein complex that mimics animal protein (to speed up recovery times as the body does not need to spend as much time digesting and assimilating amino acids from various sources of plants) which is natural, but in today’s high performance culture, this sped up recovery time from a plant based product can be a useful lifestyle tool. Considering the nutrient poor fuel sources that many athletes and active people consume, Vega is in another stratosphere anyway.

One of the most promising aspects of the formula was its potential to benefit a wide variety of people. Experienced first hand, stress rises when life gets busy. The busier a person becomes the less time remains to prepare healthy food, most usually leading to the creation of a vicious circle. Sometimes referred to as the “high achiever’s paradox”, the situation can lead to premature burnout. When good nutrition is most necessary is the very time when it’s usually gone without. Being too busy to prepare wholesome food, coupled with the integration of denatured convenience food options is a recipe for elevated stress.  As an alternative, Vega can help busy people reduce nutritional stress through providing nutrient rich whole foods in a convenient and enjoyable form. – Brendan Brazier

It tastes good and adds a nice consistency to a smoothies and provides flavors like chocolate (from cacao) that people enjoy.

The key thing to remember here is that you don’t want to live on whole food meal replacements that include protein, which are to be eaten when you need to aid recovery and for when you can’t get a nutrient rich whole foods meal for one reason or another.

Eating a product like Vega is very different from eating an isolated soy protein product which don’t provide a benefit worth the money. You are already getting enough protein in the nutrient rich whole foods you are eating, but they surely ensure that you will get a nutrient rich whole foods meal when you need it most.