Vegans Dying From Protein Deficiency
By: The Salty Vegan
Tags: Health, Plant Based, Protein, Vegan, Veganism

December 17, 2020 by The Salty Vegan

Proteins from greens

Legumes are a key source

More Than Tofu

The First Step

Being Vegan takes dedication, with this you will have to include a very strong will to deny foods you once loved; you have to maintain a focus that won’t sway you off the track-you have to constantly remind yourself why you became a Vegan in the first place. When I first became Vegan it was hard to go to restaurants with friends and see the juicy delicious burgers they would order and think to myself how it wouldn’t be so bad if I partook in a little burger, no harm done really, it’ll be just that one time, right? Wrong! Even one slip up supports an industry that I want nothing to do with, and it’s not like I didn’t like the taste of meat and dairy, I grew up in an Italian restaurant and ate meat and cheese every day as far as my memory serves me. The problem I have now realized is that I was led so far from where my food was sourced that I had no clue that all of those delicious pepperoni pizzas that came flying out of my Dad’s pizza oven, including his southern Italian style meatballs came from a place of suffering.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

I had grown up believing what the adults and commercials told me, that meat and dairy were an essential part of everyone’s diet. I knew no other way of eating and was never taught any other way either. I never knew that I was drinking other animal secretions that were supposed to be for their babies. I never knew Veal was a baby cow that stayed in a crate all day and were sold to veal farms because they weren’t beneficial to the dairy industry due to the fact that they were males, and that they were slaughtered as babies. I never knew the abuse that went on at pig farms, and that the sweet and sour pork I ate at the chinese restaurant came from a traumatized animal. I was kept blind from these things as most people are. I remained oblivious for many years until I was in a music band and one of my band members was a Vegan, not a Vegetarian but a full on Vegan, who began to educate me and all the benefits of being a Vegan. My band member was highly intelligent and I listened to what he wanted to teach me about Veganism, I listened but wasn’t ready to make the change yet.

Let’s See How It Goes

It took some time but after about five years from my initial lessons on Veganism I was ready to give it all up (meat and dairy) for the sake of animals, not necessarily for my health or the environment, but I knew it would help those issues as well. So when I made the frightening leap to Veganism I gave up on both meat and dairy at the same time, no weening off. I was determined to live by my morals and ethics, educate those around me to see that my vegan lifestyle was the way to go, so they too could help end animal suffering. This was the goal. However, I was incredibly busy with my life at the time as I was in school full time, bartender part time, and also was in a band. I was so tired by the end of the day because I wasn’t eating the proper foods to keep myself nourished with such a hectic schedule that I was wondering if I had made the right choice.

Caffeine Not A Substitute For Protein

As I stated when I started my lifestyle of Veganism I was tired all of the time; I never felt like I had enough energy to make it through my day without copious amounts of caffeine flowing through my veins. This also happened at a time when the internet wasn’t as popular and available as it is today, so I didn’t have access to the type of information that would have helped me get the proper nutrition for a Vegan diet. I was getting a lot of my information mainly from health magazines, who were more in favor of an animal-based diet than a plant-based one. I wasn’t informed of all the nutrition (macro and micro nutrients) I needed to maintain a plant-based lifestyle, and what types of vegetables I could eat for protein.

Anything With A Face Feels Pain

Unfortunately for me I quit trying to be a Vegan and I went back to eating meat and dairy. I compartmentalized animal suffering and stuffed it far away in the attic of my brain, far out of my everyday thoughts, I went for years indulging on all types of food that had a face, from lobster, crab, salmon, veal, steak, burger, chicken, turkey, including steak tartare while I was in France (which grosses me out to think that I ever ate raw animal products). I don’t ever recall justifying my actions, I just pushed what I knew was wrong into the back of my mind and let it hide there, until I accidentally watched a video from Peta.

Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day Either

When I tried my shot at being a Vegan again I started out not a full blown Vegan and instead became a pescatarian/vegetarian. A pescetarian eats a Vegetarian diet including seafood, a vegetarian diet ditches all things with a face, but will still eat dairy. I have to admit dairy was harder for me to give up than meat by far, I just loved cheese. At that point and time in my life I had eaten cheese almost everyday for many years. I read articles and watched how they treated dairy cows, and knew it was wrong to indulge in the Havarti and Gorgonzola cheese plates I ate often. I couldn’t live with myself any longer knowing that the cheese I was eating came from a suffering female cow, and in my opinion (including many other Vegans) there is no such thing as humane dairy. The thing that pushed me to the point where I knew I needed to stop with the cheese as well was yet another Peta video. This video showed the inexcusable treatment of dairy cows and it made me sick to my stomach.I will spare the gory details, but right then and there I knew I didn’t want any animal to suffer because of my wants, and the video confirmed that.

Bamboozled

Several people I know are so disconnected on how their food is sourced that they could care less about how their food is produced or where it comes from. I look back on life and see how misinformed I was as well because no one taught me otherwise. I believed meat came in a shiny plastic package, neatly placed in the supermarket, with recipes set next to the meat, so people would know how to prepare it. Ads on TV showed how delicious steaks and burgers were, and talked about the benefits of protein. The dairy I drank had pictures of smiling cows on the cartons, as if the female cows were happy to stay forcefully impregnated to give us their milk instead of their babies. I feel I was misled by the ads I saw on TV, and the USDA Food Pyramid put meat and dairy at the top of the pyramid (because the government was getting paid to do so) emphasizing that meat and dairy were the most important things to eat, more so than the fruits and vegetables. Even at home my parents would tell me if I were to finish anything on my plate it had to be the meat, that was the most important food item on my plate in my household.

Who The Kale Cares Anyway?

It infuriates me to think I was a part of suffering that I had no clue about, and the fact that my food source came from a place that animals were abused and scared before they died hurts my soul. I was never taught that there were alternative sources of protein out there like legumes, kale or spinach. That there were sources of protein that were cruelty free, this information was kept hidden from me.

Tempeh, Seitan or Lentils, You Choose

What I have discovered now is that there are several plant-based protein choices out there for Vegans, all of which do not contain animal products. Lentils and legumes can be a great way for Vegans to absorb protein and they are delicious! Tempeh is yet another source of protein, it is a chewier, nuttier version of tofu and is made from fermented soybeans, I have had many versions of tempeh bacon and it hits the spot! Seitan is a versatile Vegan protein that is made by rinsing the starch from wheat dough. It has the look and texture of meat when it’s cooked, which makes it a popular meat substitute for Vegans, but it is not gluten-free.

High Protein Vegetables

There are several high protein vegetables that can suit Vegans as well, Edamame being one of them. Edamame is chock full of minerals, vitamins, and plant protein, anytime you go to a Sushi restaurant be sure to grab a bowl, there are 18.46 grams per cup, and oh how Edamame can be so tasty! Green peas are another great example of a high protein vegetable and gives you 8.58 grams per cup. Pea protein makes for great protein powder and is the main source of protein for the mouthwatering Beyond Burgers.

Plant-Based Meats

When I became a Vegan once again I was so excited to try all the alternative meats that the marketplace had to offer. The Vegan fake meats had come a long way from when I first tried to go Vegan, it was mostly tofu and soy based. The fake meats were bland and tasted so bad they were unfathomable to digest. Fast forward to today and in my opinion Beyond Burgers is the best option available as it is made with pea protein and contains 20 grams per burger! This is my favorite go to and I eat these burgers a few times a week. Beyond Sausage is a great alternative meat product as well and has 16 grams of protein per sausage. There are several more plant-based meats but these are at the top of the list.

Give It A Try

As a Vegan who firmly believes in the lifestyle, I urge everyone to go Vegan and am not quiet about it. It is good for your health, for the environment, ends animal suffering and can make you feel better than you’ve ever felt in your life! It is a dedicated, conscious lifestyle, but is so worth it you will feel like a new human whose choice affects all sentient beings including the Planet. I made that choice and am happier than ever, and am almost certain that I’ll never die from protein deficiency.