The Best Vegetarian Protein Source

The Best Vegetarian Protein Source

Hi everyone,

I thought given my fondness for vegetarian sources of protein some others may appreciate the below table that I have put together to help understand the pros and the gaps in the overall nutritional offering in regards to some of the key nutrients people look for when selecting a protein rich food source.

I have tried to include a number of the relatively popular vegetarian sources of protein so that for those of you meat eaters who are trying to bring in some more vegetarian options, you can see how they all stack up, and understand how to balance out your meal with other foods so that you are not left hungry, or over full!

There are obviously far more options that could have been included in the table, such as a variety of dairy, hemp, chia, algae, and sacha inchi based products, as well as many varieties of vegetables. However, for the sake of brevity, I couldn’t include everything today!

I have highlighted a few things to hopefully assist:

1. Some of the lower kilojoule/calorie options that proportionately provide the higher amount of protein.

2. The highest protein option per 100g.

3. The general fact that they are all relatively low in sugar and sodium.

4. Some of the best sources of iron (taking into consideration some of the iron will be heme iron from the animal based sources such as fish, as well as the denser plant based sources coming from non-heme iron which will not actually be as well absorbed by the body).

5. Some of the best sources of zinc, although still taking into consideration it is a plant source of zinc that may be less well absorbed based on anti nutrients present in the foods.

6. The most dense sources of B12.

7. Some of the best sources of omega-3’s, and taking into consideration that the animal based omega-3’s will be coming from more bioavailable forms (DHA and EPA, rather than ALA found in plants).

I did not include some of the more “supplemental” protein sources such as protein powders made from hemp, rice, pea, sacha inchi (and the list goes on), however I may just come back to cover that in another post 🙂

For now, Enjoy!

Vegetarian Protein Sources – Nutrition Facts Table:

data drawn from www.nutritiondata.self.com with assistance from Felicity Curtain.