Vegetarian Meat Substitutes

Although most vegetarians consume a considerable amount of protein, they often do not absorb as much as they would on a non-vegetarian food. This is because plant proteins are considerably less digestible than animal proteins, which contain amino acid chains that are closer or identical to human amino acid chains.

The consumption of animal protein could lead to a near absorption ratio of 1:1, while consumption of vegetable protein, such as wheat, may not yield of 50% of amino acids necessary for the construction of a protein "complete" or a protein that can be easily integrated into the human body.

For vegetarians to absorb a good amount of protein they should consume a wide variety of plant proteins to form complete amino chains. By eating vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, fruits and whole grains, vegetarians can increase the amount of complete proteins they create by combining a number of varieties of amino acid chains.

Vegetarians must also consume more foods that contain proteins because plant proteins are generally more difficult to digest. If a nutritional label may suggest that pasta has 5 grams of protein per serving, you can be able to digest 2-3 grams of this protein, which means that you must complete the pasta with other sources of protein .

In addition to natural sources of protein, vegetarians should also seek foods that are "protein-enriched" - or artificially-infused with protein.

For example, many supermarkets offer a variety "protein fortified" pasta and bread. I have seen pasta that contains no less than 12 grams of protein per serving.

Soy milk is also a good source of protein for vegetarians. Studies on isolated soy protein show that it can be absorbed nearly as well as animal proteins, which gives close to a ratio of 1:1 protein absorption.

For non-vegan vegetarians, yogurt, milk and eggs (which contain complete proteins) are excellent sources of protein.

As a vegetarian you have a number of options to increase your protein intake - and you should consider taking advantage of all. You should diversify your food choices, drink more soy, and eat "protein-fortified" breads and pasta.