PROTEIN AS A VEGAN,
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW by Jeannie Hudkins
DOES ANY OF TH E F O LL OW I N G S O U N D FA M I LI A R? My sister’s granddaughter, Zella, is a pintsized softball superstar. Her Gold AllStar morning games are prefaced by a request for a show of hands from her coach: “Girls, who had your protein at breakfast today? Who had eggs? Who had sausage? Milk? Bacon, anyone?” With most hands up, she pronounces, “Okay, then, we are ready to score!” Then there’s my tennis friend Helen, who was on a low-carb, high-protein diet. She ate lots of meat, fish, eggs, and cheese, and drank a large protein shake before bed to maximize her protein load. She lost seven pounds the first week, and, satisfied with her weight loss, she ended the diet. Three weeks later, she had regained all seven pounds. Finally, stopping at Poppo’s Taqueria for a lunch of custom-designed grain bowls, my husband and I first selected the type of bean we preferred. The server piled on a large scoop of pinto and black beans and then asked, “And what type of protein would you like?,” ignoring the fact that we had already selected a protein-rich food. Noting that we were both plant-based eaters, she said, “I was vegan for a while, but I had to stop because I wasn’t getting enough protein.” Photo by prostooleh - www.freepik.com
