Five Vegetarian Protein Sources

Being a major bodybuilding ingredient, proteins are a very important portion in any diet, be it for a vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is perhaps for this reason that most proteins tend to be more costly as compared to other foods like vitamins and carbohydrates. With this factor in mind, it is therefore a sometimes difficult to provide the proteins for the entire family. Vegetarian protein sources are not very obvious and this reason makes nutritionists go the extra mile at trying to emphasize the importance of proteins in any meal; this is because the protein foods in our meals primarily influence body growth. 

Vegetarian protein sources may vary depending on whether the vegetarian in question is vegan, lacto-ovo, lacto, or ovo vegetarian. Since these individuals, each may accommodate some amounts of either dairy or egg products that might help in increasing the vegetarian’s protein sources. For vegans, the protein sources may be mainly limited to beans, nuts and seeds. This is primarily because this group of vegetarians is very strict and will not accept any thing that relates to meat or meat products. This category may require very close attention when choosing their vegetarian protein sources since some of them even disapprove of garments or any outfits that may have any animal products in them. 

For lacto-ovo vegetarians, the task of identifying their vegetarian protein sources may be more simplified as this group’s diet includes dairy and egg products that are a reliable and readily available vegetarian protein sources. This groups vegetarian protein sources will include milk and milk products like cheese, butter and yogurt. Away from the milk products, this group also accommodates egg products in their diet. In simple summary, this is the most flexible vegetarian group and therefore their vegetarian protein sources are the most diverse. This will range from beans, nuts and seeds to dairy products and even eggs and egg related products. Therefore the five main vegetarian protein sources are beans, nuts, seeds, and dairy and egg products.  

After the vegan and lacto-ovo vegetarians, we may now have to look at the cost implications on most vegetarian protein sources. Some people practice vegetarianism as a religion. It is therefore important to keep this factor in mind as it affects most of their decisions regarding protein sources. Most animal proteins are generally more expensive as compared to vegetarian protein sources like nuts and seeds and beans. Depending on one’s location or surrounding, vegetarian protein sources will be more affordable as opposed to animal protein such as meat.  

The availability of most of these vegetarian protein sources may sometimes be seasonal especially in third world countries where most farmers practice rain fed agriculture. This automatically means that the vegetarian protein source is heavily dependent on the rainfall pattern and the prices will always fluctuate according to the harvest. This situation may make it difficult for strict vegans to get their vegetarian protein sources at consistent and reasonable prices. However, in regions that do not depend on rain for their agricultural activities, it can always be easy to get the vegetarian protein sources all round the year and at even cheaper rates as compared to meat proteins. 

Some groups practice vegetarianism for religious reasons and may not eat meats only during particular seasons. A good example is the Catholics who do not eat meat during lent. This may affect the vegetarian protein sources at times of these events since the demand in non-animal protein is likely to increase hence affecting the prices basing on the market principles of demand against supply. Vegetarians sometimes face difficulties especially when attending events or function since event organizers are likely to overlook or simply forget that there may be vegetarians in the attendance list. 

Apart from the seasonal fluctuations, vegetarian protein sources are a very reliable source of food reserves incase of need. It is for this reason that most relief agencies such as Red Cross or the world food program (WFP) stock most of their protein reserves from the vegetarian protein sources. This is because the vegetable protein sources are easy to preserve and do not decay easily, they are also not very expensive to transport as they can be ferried in non-refrigerated containers over long distances. It is not a wonder that we will continue to have vegetarians in our midst. It is therefore our collective responsibility to ensure that we always take into account the vegetarian protein sources when we plan our event so as to avoid the embarrassment of leaving out some people because of their vegetarian status.

Great Vegetarian Products at the Vegetarian and Vegan Store