Vegetable Protein

The Austrian Nutrition Report 2008 that was recently released by the Institute of Food Science gives a good insight into food and nutrition trends of the last 5 years.

Nutritional needs and situation

At least 50% of daily calories should be consumed as carbohydrates and a maximum of 30% as fat. Protein intake can be in the range of 10-15% of energy intake, but depending on body weight 0,8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight are recommended (about 8-10% of energy intake).

Indeed, over 35% of energy is consumed in the form of fat and an average of about 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight - instead of the ideal 0.8 grams. High intakes of fat and protein are at the expense of carbohydrates.

Many People don`t want to miss daily meat in their diets. However, too much of it easily leads to increased rates of obesity and nutritional disorders.

Soy - a high-quality protein source

A moderate consumption of meat (two to three servings a week - tall like a palm) would be ideal for a healthy body. But even vegan people may cover their protein needs by a wise combination of different sources of plant proteins, without consuming animal fats that could incriminate the heart and circulation, if too much of them are consumed.

Nature provides us an excellent plant food, that contains all amino acids (protein building blocks) that are essential for life:

Soy can cover the protein body needs as effectively as animal protein sources(1). The reason is that soy contains balanced proteins comparable to egg or milk proteins. Perhaps this is the reason why this plant became also the nickname meat of the field.

Conclusion

A higher proportion of plant foods in your diet is due to the lower intake of animal fat and cholesterol beneficial for health by preventing diet-related diseases and obesity. You can optimally cover your protein needs by high-quality protein sources such as soy products.

Just replace as a start one meat meal by a delicious soy dish: You can enjoy soy milk with cereals or in the coffee, tofu with vegetable burgers or even tasty “Kaiserschmarren” prepared with soy milk - everything is possible.

(1) Elmadfa and Leitzmann, 2004; ADA, 2003