By replacing animal protein with vegetable protein, you can improve your health while enjoying a wide variety of delicious foods. While just about every vegetarian food contains some protein, the soybean deserves special mention, for it contains all eight essential amino acids and surpasses all other food plants in the amount of protein it can deliver to the human system. In this regard it is nearly equal to meat. The human body uses about 70 percent of the protein found in meat and 60 to 65 percent of that found in soybeans. Other rich sources of non-animal protein include legumes, nuts, seeds, food yeasts and freshwater algae.
Freshwater algae contains a phenomenal percentage of protein.
One type is the deep green spirulina, a food that is 70 percent protein. It is available in tablets, powders, and even candy bars. If we ate nothing but wheat, oatmeal, or potatoes, we would easily have more than enough protein. Of course, an actual vegan would never want to be limited to just one food. Write to PETA for some recipes and cooking tips to get you and your family started.