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How Much Protein You Really Need | Protein Wasting

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Tribe By Noire

How much protein you really need

VEGAN MYTH BUSTED—HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO YOU NEED?

Written by JaQueen McNair, PMP on March 10, 2021

I know you’ve heard the saying, “Vegans don’t get enough protein,” and you’re not alone. Many people have concerns about embarking on a plant-based vegan diet. They believe they will lose muscle, gain unwanted weight, and develop health issues from carbs. But these concerns aren’t backed by science. Plant-based diet myths come from confusion about nutrition.

To dispel those myths, we will break down:

  • the science behind macro nutrients—protein, carbs, and fats
  • how much protein you need
  • the dangers of protein obsession and food propaganda

THE SCIENCE BEHIND MACROS

To understand how plants can help you build muscle and lose fat, you must know the science behind carbs, fats, and where protein comes from.

Protein’s Role in The Body

Protein is a vital nutrient needed to develop new tissue in the body, such as bone, hair, and skin. And its origin? The soil. A Stanford University study details that soil organic matter contains nitrogen primarily as protein which is the sole source of protein for microbes and animals. Plants use this protein as a nitrogen source to grow.

Additionally, the U.S. National Library of Medicine details that animal products are not the only sources of protein. The study affirms that protein is found in all plants—fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and grains. As a result, the animals you eat to get your protein got their protein by eating plants. Eating an animal to get protein—or any of earth’s nutrients—is unnecessary when you live in a society where plants are cheap and accessible. For this reason, vegans choose to get protein directly from plants and do not consume any animal products, including eggs and dairy.

Once consumed, regardless of the source, protein gets broken down into amino acids. In muscle building, there are three key amino acids called Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs).  These BCAAs are:

  • Lysine
  • Isoleucine
  • Valine

Do our bodies store this protein? No. After breaking down into amino acids, the body uses what it needs and gets rid of the rest. Research from University of Nottingham explains some excess protein gets stored as fat, and the remaining amino acids are flushed out of the body as urea—through feces and urine—returning to the ground.

Now that we understand protein, we can discuss how carbs and fats are used in the body.

Carbs vs. Fats 

We are constantly told that carbs are bad. The keto and muscle-building crowds preach, “Animal protein and fat is the healthiest way to build muscle and lose weight.” Back in the 90s, the wave was low fat diets. The new wave is low carb diets. Unfortunately, these misinformation campaigns are inaccurate and dangerous. They don’t teach the dangers of eating animal fat vs plant-based fat, and they ignore the essential role carbohydrates play in the body.

The National Library of Medicine explains that out of the three macronutrients, carbs are the primary source the human body uses for energy. Using fat is more complicated. Carbs break down into two molecules—glucose & fructose—at roughly a 50/50 split.

As for fats, Cleveland Clinic tells us that fats breaks down into a chain of at least three molecules called triglycerides. As a result, like Livestrong Nutrition explains, the body takes the path of least resistance to get its energy up front–through carbs. Carbohydrates are a necessary nutrient.

The popular bodybuilding website Bodybuilding.com has several articles explaining the role of carbs in muscle building. They admit carbs give your body its upfront energy for exercise, strength training, and thinking. And since carbs are the fuel that power the body and brain, half of your food intake should come from carbohydrates.

Carbs give us fuel by supplying our glycogen storages. For this reason, eating low carb long term is bad for muscle building. Without enough available glucose, the body will breakdown muscle proteins to feed its demand for glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. Lack of carbs limit muscle growth and creates mental and physical fatigue. Fatigue ruins our ability to sleep, workout, gain muscle, increases anxiety, and stress. These issues factor into ruining your chances to:

  • build muscle
  • reduce body fat
  • maintain weight loss

Carbs have been given a bad reputation by being associated with junk food. Pastries, donuts, cakes, and chips are not plant based natural carbs. These items are mostly fat and no fiber. Referring to edible junk food as “carbs” is a false equivalency and invalid.

With thousands of studies like those referenced by Everyday Health, carbs are the body’s main source of energy while fat is used primarily at rest and while we sleep. Fat is essential for things like recovery and hormone regulation. But consuming animal-based fat results in raising bad cholesterol and lowering inake of quality carbs and protein according to research by Cleveland Clinic.

Eating animal fat increases risk for heart disease—this includes eating animal butter, cheese, and eggs. This fact even makes a vegetarian diet dangerous. Eating animal products is the least effective or healthy way to build muscle and lose fat. The best way is eating a plant-based vegan diet full of protein and carbohydrate-packed plants that give energy, reduce body fat, and regulate cholesterol.

How Carbs and Fats are stored in the Body

Carbs are stored in the human body as glycogen (stored glucose) in the muscles, brain, spine, and liver. They make our muscles look fuller and give us that curvy fit or defined physique we seek in fitness. The body stores fat in the liver, subcutaneously (underneath your skin), attached to your organs (visceral fat), and inside muscle tissue.

Despite the science, many believe false claims that eating high carb foods like fruit and grains causes Type 2 Diabetes—one of the paths to preventable heart conditions. To resolve this misinformation, we must understand what Type 2 Diabetes is.

If we’re storing too much fat inside and around muscle tissue and organs, it creates insulin resistance, leading to Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart issues. According to The American Journal of Physiology, insulin resistance means there is too much fat covering muscle tissue and blocking glucose from being absorbed into the muscle for energy. As a result, the glucose piles up in the bloodstream creating health conditions.

When the body recognizes that our muscles didn’t absorb glucose and create energy, it sends insulin in response. The result is called Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is a conditional result of fat being stored in the liver and muscle tissue due to overconsumption of fatty processed junk food. Following to conclusion, more fat develops on our organs as a protective layer against glucose still floating in the blood stream. This fat buildup on vital organs (visceral fat) ultimately leads to heart conditions. A plant based vegan diet is the healthiest way to reversal of these food-related conditions.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO YOU NEED?

Now that we understand the science behind macros, we can discover how much protein we require and discuss its over-estimation and over-consumption.

Protein Wasting—The Over-Estimation

Ask your friends and family how much protein they require, and the answers will shock you. Most Americans believe a 200lb male should consume 200g of protein per day—and they’re wrong. Your protein requirement isn’t based on overall body weight. Instead, it’s based on lean body mass.

Lean body mass is the overall weight of bones, organs, and muscle tissue. This weight does not include body fat. You only require 1g of protein per kilogram of lean mass unless you’re an advanced professional athlete. And according to the NCAA, NAIA, and Bleacher Report, less than 1% of the population are professional athletes.

In 2005, a study by the Institute of Medicine outlined that your body only needs 1 to 1.8 grams of protein per Kilogram of lean body mass—not your entire body weight. How close you are to the 1.8x depends on your fitness level and how close you are to your peak genetic potential.  If you are a beginner, 1g of protein per 1 kilogram of lean mass is plenty. But if you are an elite professional athlete who’s been training your muscle professionally for years to peak genetic potential, only then would you consume a target of 1.6 -1.8g of protein per kilogram of lean mass.

The formula is thus:

Your protein daily requirement = Your body weight in kilograms X 1.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Livestrong, the average American male aged 20 and up weighs about 200 lbs. Their average lean body mass percentage is 80%. Accordingly, the average male carries 160lbs of lean body mass and 40lbs of fat.

Let’s do the math.

To calculate daily protein requirement, do the following:

Body weight:              200lbs

Lean mass weight:      160lbs

Lean mass weight in Kilograms: 160 ÷ 2.2 = 72 Kilograms

Protein Requirement: 1 X 72kg = 72kg

The average American male’s daily protein requirement is 72g.

Protein Wasting—The Over-Consumption

Now that we know the math, we can make sense of the myth. If the average 200lb 20-year-old male consumes 200g of protein per day, his body will only use 72g of protein and eliminate 128g thru his feces and urine. Eating 128 extra grams of protein for no reason is called protein wasting, and it is happening every day. The American Society for Nutrition tells us consistent overconsumption of protein can potentially lead to kidney impairment, several clinical conditions, dehydration, diarrhea, and more because your kidneys can only process so much protein at a time. Furthermore, your body will pack on the extra calories from eating the excess food.

Hundreds of millions buy protein shakes, powders, bars, and supplements, wasting time and money. In addition, we’re adding processed fatty foods into our diet from these refined-proteins and increasing our risk for heart conditions. Since the body will turn those substances into glucose anyway, why not get glucose from natural fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, grains, and seeds?

When consuming plants, you’re not just getting glucose. Plants give you:

  • antioxidants
  • enzymes
  • probiotics
  • prebiotics
  • vitamins
  • essential minerals

Those are what your body needs to optimize health, recovery, and muscle building. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that eating fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of several cancers and chronic diseases.  Cleveland Clinic further explains that a plant-based diet leads to disease reversal. Therefore, to be smart about fitness and health, adding plants is a better diet strategy than increasing refined protein-packed items. More doesn’t always equal better.

WHY ARE WE SO OBSESSED WITH EATING MORE PROTEIN?

Blame our protein obsession on the billion-dollar media campaigns used to support the dairy & animal agriculture industry since the mid-1900s as a way to boost the economy. For this reason, the “Percent of U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance” protein listed on packaged items is intentionally misleading.

Food Propaganda

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The National Pork Board, and the National Chicken Council together with powerful meat companies like Tyson Foods and JBS, spend billions of dollars so that we never lose our desire for animal protein, according to data collected by Salon. Data from The Federal Trade Commission shows that we are exposed to almost 4000 ads per day. By watching television, children are exposed to five fast-food ads per day, and food companies spend less than 1% of marketing budgets to promote fruits and veggies to kids.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop with ads. This same data shows that the meat industry specifically aims to hook children on burgers and drumsticks. They even created the “beef education” curriculums for K–12 classes and got animal products added to the food pyramids in classrooms for generations. They target Millennials born between the 1980s and early 2000s by encouraging them to eat more animal burgers, birds, and steaks, and posting recipe videos and picture ads on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest to show off “delicious” animal-based meals.

We all know the slogan, “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” Millions are spent to make you want to eat meat, and a Salon article further admits that campaigns are forbidden to use images that look like animals. This prevents people from associating their food with the being, feeling remorse, and showing compassion. These campaigns continue to exist because (1) they are large and (2), according to Cornell Law, a U.S. Supreme Court case determined they are considered “government speech.” You read that right. These ads are not just marketing campaigns—they’re backed by government.

The propaganda is everywhere, but it’s not based on food science. It’s based on what earns money–food addiction. Due to these myths, the average 200lb American thinks they must consume 200g of protein or more daily to build muscle and have energy. What’s worse is many believe they’re fatigued because of protein deficiency—despite never knowing someone who died from a protein deficiency.

Instead of buying natural protein-packed carb-filled plants, our diets mainly consist of unnatural items containing 30 ingredients we can’t pronounce. We eat based on addiction—not health. We buy high protein labeled packaged products, animal cheese, and milk. Our grocery shopping goals are to get enough protein and find things labeled “low fat.” And now, many young adults are living with illnesses our grandparents didn’t have until they were 80.

We eat this way because of food propaganda. And this is not conducive to our health. It is meant to take our money and give it to the market, the doctor, the pharmacy, and the surgeon.  But we don’t have to keep falling for it. We can change our lives and save our loved ones with the truth. And the truth is:

  • You don’t need as much protein as you’ve been told.
  • Good carbs are necessary.
  • Carbohydrates give your body its energy upfront.
  • Every plant contains protein because protein comes from the soil.
  • Over-consumption of junk food is deadly and creates Type 2 Diabetes.
  • High consumption of plants is necessary for health and reversal of illness.
  • Instead of wasting money and calories on processed supplements, eat more plants.

Last, but not least—you will not lose muscle on a properly executed whole foods plant based vegan diet.

If you found this article helpful and want personalized coaching, click here for a free consultation to join the tribe and achieve the body, health, and life you deserve.

Are there any more plant-based vegan myths you would like for us to bust? Message us at TRIBE BY NOIRE to let us know! And don’t forget to follow us for free vegan fitness, nutrition, and mental wellness tips.

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I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

copyright © 2021 Tribe By Noire. All Rights Reserved  

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The Best Way To Deal With Food Cravings

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Tribe By Noire

The Best Way To Deal With Food Cravings

In my 10+ years of coaching I’ve learned that excess weight gain is almost exclusively driven by food cravings. When you think of your food cravings, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s sweets like cakes, pies, or doughnuts. Maybe other times it’s heavier things like Mac n Cheese, pizza, or something simpler like chips and dip.

Whatever your cravings are, they all can be traced back to 3 main things.

The 3 Ingredients Of Food Cravings

Sugar | Salt | Fat

Every single one of the foods you crave has at least 2 of these 3 ingredients, I guarantee it.

Understand that this goes way deeper than just taste. These cravings are directly linked to your emotions, chemical reactions in the brain, and the messages that certain gut bacteria and parasites may be sending to your brain.

Let’s start with your emotions

Sugar cravings are driven by a low energy, or low vibrational state. This can be caused by lack of sleep or poor sleep quality, under eating and/or overworking, general feelings of sadness, and depression. Sugar acts on us in 2 main ways.

  1. Sugar turns into glucose in the body which is our primary source of energy. when energy is low, sugar serves as a quick boost.
  2. Sugar causes an endorphin release in the brain, which makes us feel good. This ends up turning into a sugar addiction over time.

Salt cravings are driven by anxiety and depression. Studies show that elevated levels of sodium inhibit stress hormones that are normally released in stressful situations. Add crunchy foods to the mix and you have something that is irresistible, like chips.

Fat cravings are a bit different because no one actually craves fat in and of itself. there’s a few different high fat food sources, nuts, avocado, and oil, but there’s one source in particular that ends up being super addictive, dairy.

Ice cream, cheese, and creamer are in almost every single food people typical crave and end up binging on. Dairy has a protein in it called casein which acts on the brain as mild opiate. When processed into cheese, this addictive property becomes heightened. Dr. Neal Bernard refers to it as “dairy crack

Get Your Fix & Drop Body Fat

I’ve got all kinds of good news for you! To start, I just want to let you know that you don’t have to cut sugar, salt, or fat from your diet. You don’t even have to limit your food intake. No this is not an ad for a special supplement, or meal replacement shake.

All you have to do is find smarter replacement for your sugar, salt and fat and combine them in a way where you can enjoy great taste and eat until you’re full. Let’s talk about sources.

Sugar

A big mistake that people make is trying to cut all forms of sugar from their diet. This is a horrible idea for someone who battles with sugar cravings. The demonizing of sugar in my opinion can create a toxic relationship with food.

Our bodies, especially our brains primarily run on sugar, which is why we need plenty of it. The caveat here is that sugar needs to be packaged with other essential nutrients that regulate it.

Sugar needs to be accompanied with fiber, water, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. All of these nutrients are essential for regulating blood sugar and insulin levels. 

It works similar to how car traffic works in terms of speed limits. If there’s nothing regulating the sugar you consume, it’ll all just spill into your blood stream at one time causing a massive spike in insulin levels, follow by a severe drop in blood sugar, ending in an energy crash.

Doing this repeatedly will put you on a chaotic roller coaster that not only shows up on the scale, but also manifests in your mood, and overall health.

Having a stable and gradual release of sugar (glucose) into your bloodstream allows to have more balance and sustained energy levels. In addition this will also inhibit cravings. 

So what should your sugar sources be?

The short answer is fruit, sweet juicy fruit! Fruit is nature’s multivitamin and/or medication. A good template is 1 serving of 5 different types of fruit. This can be a mixture of fruits that have a variety of traits.

  • sweet (berries)
  • mildly sweet (watermelon)
  • citrus (orange)
  • bitter sweet (grapefruit)
  • non sweet (cucumber)

Try to have a variety of colors on your plate like a beautiful painting. The variety insures that you’re getting an abundance of all the nutrients you need while stimulating your taste buds to the fullest extent. Make love to your gut.

Salt

Unfortunately it’s a very common belief that salt is bad for you because it causes hypertension. Some people goes as far as to say you should avoid salt at all costs, but scientific research on this issue shows that this just simply isn’t the case. 

When people refer to salt, they’re often talking about sodium, which is is an essential electrolyte that helps maintain the balance of water in and around your cells. It’s important for proper muscle and nerve function. It’s even important to maintain stable blood pressure.

Salt is good stuff, but the source is what makes the difference. Roasted salted nuts are my personal favorite for satisfying that salty and crunchy craving. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, brazil nuts are all great alternatives to things like potato and corn chips. The main reason for this is the fiber and nutrient content of the nuts. Potato and corn chips are mostly just empty calories that easily lead to over eating.

A second good option is to drizzle a sauce or dressing with a bit of added sea salt, or himalayan salt on to some raw or steamed greens like spinach, spring mix, bok choy, or kale. The sauce can be anything from tahini sauce, to a spicy curry sauce with a bit of lime juice.

Fat

This is probably the biggest struggle because in terms of weight management. You want to lose fat, but you also need to consume fat, so it’s a bit of a love hate relationship. I’m feeling a bit repetitive here, but once again, the source matters.

I almost put fat and salt in the same category because of how well they go together when it comes taste and food combination. For example, the roasted salted nuts I mentioned earlier, which are a great source of fat. Another example guacamole with some added sea salt, or himalayan salt, lime juice, diced onions, and bell pepper. Mixing this in with a few cups of raw or steamed greens is a phenomenal meal that will definitely satisfy the craving for fat and salt.

The Objective

Ultimately everything is about food choice. you want to be able to get all of the nutrients you need to reach your goals, and improve your gut health, while still being able to scratch that itch for whatever cravings you may have. 

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I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

copyright © 2020 Tribe By Noire. All Rights Reserved 

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Successfully Overhaul Your Diet In 3 Simple Steps

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Successfully Overhaul Your Diet In 3 Simple Steps

I’m writing this because in the fitness and wellness industry, we put way too much emphasis on DIETS. Every time you turn around someone’s pitching a keto diet, a paleo diet, a blood type diet, juice cleanse, etc. Let’s back up a second, get real, and ask ourselves one simple question, “What about just adopting simple eating HABITS?”

The only way your diet works for you is if it’s comprised of practical eating habits that you can sustain. This means not being a slave to your food, not going to bed hungry, and not being crushed by cravings. Let’s talk about these 3 simple steps that will allow you to get your diet on track successfully.

Successfully Overhaul Your Diet In 3 Simple Steps

Step 1 - The Observation Phase

Before you start making any changes you first have to identify exactly what you need to change. You may think you’re eating too much when in fact you’re eating too little. You may be eating the right amount of calories, but just making the wrong food choices.

Take a week to track your current eating habits and develop some self awareness. Doing this is a real wake up call. You can start this process by downloading an app on your phone called My Fitness Pal, or chronometer. My fitness pal is a bit easier to use, but chronometer gives you way more information on what you’re eating.

At this point you don’t need to worry about making any changes, just log what you’re eating. By the end of the week you’ll have plenty of data to look at to see where your problems are. Here’s a few things to look out for.

  • Does your calorie intake fluctuate up and down drastically?
  • Is your saturated fat, sugar, and cholesterol intake really high?
  • Is your fiber, vitamin, and mineral intake really low?

Step 2 - The Mapping Phase

Once you can clearly see where the holes are in your diet, you can start mapping out how you would ultimately want your diet to look. Make a simple list of nutrition goals like this.

  • Set a reasonable calorie goal that you can stay within 5% of. 
  • Set a reasonable balance in your macros according to your fitness goals.
  • Have a list of at least 5 categories of food that you target daily.

Choosing a calorie goal – First you’d want to find out what your maintenance caloric intake is. Finding out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will give you that number. You can download a mobile app on your phone for that or google “basal metabolic rate calculator” for the easiest way to do it.

If you want to lose weight, targeting 15% below maintenance calories would be a good idea. However, if you’ve been already under eating habitually and not losing weight, a calorie deficit is not going to be of much use.

If you want to gain weight, targeting 10% above maintenance calories would be ideal. Typically going further above that would cause you to gain unwanted body fat.

Setting macro goals – Typically the best macros are the ones that give you the most variety in your diet, while still getting you to your goals. For example, this is what that may look like.

  • Carbs – 50-55%
  • Protein – 20-25%
  • Fat – 30-20%

Carbohydrate and fat intake will vary from person to person, but in regards to protein calculation, 1 – 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of lean mass would be the range to stay within. Getting above or below will result in a pretty unbalanced diet.

Targeting food categories – This would more than likely be the simplest place to start because its the least technical. All you’d really need to do is pick 5 food categories that are the most beneficial and make sure you eat foods from each of them daily. Here are the categories I suggest.

  • Veggies
  • Fruit
  • Nuts/Seeds
  • Legumes
  • Grains

Ideally each meal should incorporate at least 3 of these.

Step 3 - The Implementation Phase

Finally, implementation is done best when its done gradually. Too much at one time becomes overwhelming and food cravings will likely get the better of you. My advice is that you make 1-2 changes a week and see how you do. If you can stay consistent with those changes for the week, add more improvements. Here’s what some of those changes may look like.

WEEK 1
  • Eat 2-4 cups of fresh greens daily
  • Track each meal daily
Week 2
  • Eat 3.5 servings of legumes daily
  • Reach but do not exceed calorie goal by more than 10%
Week 3
  • Eat at least 3 servings of fruit daily
  • Drink at least 64oz of water daily
Week 4
  • Eat at least 1-2 servings of nuts and seeds daily
  • Reach your macros daily

Its easy to focus on getting rid of all the bad stuff from your diet, but that requires a focus on all the negative stuff in your diet. That focus on the negative is not good if you’re trying to take a more positive approach to life. 

A good alternative is the process of elimination through addition. Focus on adding the good stuff first. You don’t have to deny yourself some of that cake right now, just save it for the end of the day AFTER you’ve eaten all the most beneficial meals first. That way its like a reward for good behavior.

Eventually the food cravings will die out and you’ll have more self discipline.

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Tribe By Noire

tribe by noire

I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

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5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

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5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

Diet is a big struggle for most people, especially those trying to lose weight. We all at least have some what of an idea of what a good food choice is and what a bad food choice is, but there’s one obvious element to diet that no one really talks about. That element is the psychology behind your food choices.

There are 5 major tips to stop bad eating habits and if you do them long enough, you can get rid of these habits permanently.

5 Major Tips To Stop Bad Eating Habits Permanently

Prioritize The Right Foods

Just simply cutting out the bad food from your diet doesn’t work so well for most people, and even if it works, it doesn’t work for very long. The reason this fails is because just removing things creates this empty void which eventually leads to intense food cravings. To avoid this pitfall, try eating in order of priority. 

Eat the most beneficial foods first and the least beneficial foods after. An example of this could be having a meal packed with fruit, veggies, raw nuts, seeds, high fiber grains, and legumes. Afterwards if you’re still having a craving for the not so beneficial food craving, indulge…a little.

Keep Good Choices On Deck

People tend to make bad food choices simply out of convenience. Stopping off at a fast food spot is way more convenient than cooking your ideal meal. Those of us with busy exhausting schedules are at the highest risk for this, but there is a simple solution to this. Keep good food choices handy wherever you go, this is even more important for people following a vegan plant based, or at least trying to.

Ideally you should be packing your food daily, but for the times that you might have dropped the ball on that, bring filling snack foods that you can just grab and go. These snacks can be simple foods like cashews, almond butter, a bag of apples, dried fruit like dates, some pre-packed carrots and celery with hummus on the side. These are just a few things that you can keep on hand to hold you over until you can get to your ideal meal. 

Time Your Meals In Your Favor

One of the worse things you can do is wait until you’re starving to decide what to eat. Get into the habit of planning your meals at least a day in advance. This premeditated approach to diet is going to give you a new level of control over your eating habits that you’ve never had before. I’ve put together an article on meal prep. Check that out here!

Setup A Reward System

Developing all this discipline over your diet and can feel like a real chore at times, and can even be a bit discouraging. You need a way to keep your morale up and stay in the game, so you may want to start thinking about setting some sort of reward system for yourself. The most typical method to this is the “cheat meal”. Basically a cheat meal is that one weekly meal where you allow yourself to eat the things you’ve been cutting out. The problem with the cheat meal is that it can end up becoming a cheat weekend and even the cheat week!

I’ve found a better approach to be a daily reward at the end of the day after you’ve stuck to your meal plan. Have those 4-5 cookies, or that donut at the end of the day, but only after you’ve eaten all the good stuff first. Doing this will make the challenge of impulse control easier because you’ll have something exciting to look forward to.

Study What Is Motivating Your Eating Habits

Its all about self awareness here. What eating habits are you trying to overcome? Now study and identify the mindset that is driving those habits. What is happening in your life when you follow these habits? A lot of us are emotional eaters, but you don’t have to beat yourself up about it. You just need to first practice awareness deliberately and then make the lifestyle changes that are going to help you develop the emotional discipline you need.

If a certain environment is triggering bad eating habits, get out of that environment, or develop a way to protect yourself in it. If a certain person, or people are triggering bad habits, get some distance. At the end of the day you need to develop a solid mindset and protect it. I’ve saved this solution for last because it is the best, but the catch is that it can be the most challenging one.

Tribe By Noire

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I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.

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The 2 Diet Traps Of Skinny Fat

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The 2 Diet Traps Of Skinny Fat

The 2 Diet Traps Of Skinny Fat

Being skinny fat is this frustrating paradox where you’re both skinny and fat at the same time. Its having skinny arms and legs, while having a high concentration of body fat wrapping around your torso. If this describes your situation, you’ll definitely want to take this info in.

  • The skinny fat dilemma
  • The body recomposition solution
  • The quality over quantity diet
  • Intermittent fasting & fat cutting

The Skinny Fat Dilemma

Here’s the dilemma in a nutshell. Do you focus on losing weight, or do you focus on gaining muscle? Here’s the problem with this mode of thinking. When you focus on losing weight, you do things like cut calories and increase how much cardio you do. This leads to you being even MORE skinny fat, because you end up losing muscle and retaining fat from under fueling the body. You can go the other way and focus on gaining muscle. This is not a bad idea outright but most people do this wrong. People typically take the approach of bulking where they focus on increasing calories and training hard. This often results in muscle gain, but even more fat gain. This leads to you being a heavier version of your skinny fat self.

The Body Re-composition Solution

The one and only true solution to the skinny fat trap is not cutting or bulking, but total body re-composition. Following the law of exchange you’d build muscle and drop body fat at the same time. Body fat is just stored energy, so you’d use that energy to fuel the training that leads to the muscle building. Instead of focusing on food quantity, you’d focus on food quality.

As far as training goes, you need a training program that is geared toward increasing muscle size. This program should focus on resistance training where the volume is high and the training load is moderately heavy. This leads to maximizing your muscle’s time under tension.

Think of your body as a pie. A certain ratio of your body is lean mass and the rest is fat mass. When you’re skinny fat, your body fat mass percentage is high, and your lean mass percentage is low, too low. As you gain more muscle, your lean mass ratio will increase, thus decreasing your fat mass ratio. You’re basically gradually inverting the fat mass to lean mass ratio. 

Quality Over Quantity

Retaining all of your body fat around your torso is an indication of poor gut health. Its important to understand that everything you put in your mouth is either improving your gut health or destroying your gut health. With this understanding it becomes pretty clear that your diet should be centered around quality rather than quantity. 

Everywhere you look there’s some fitness expert telling you to make better food choice, but not many of them actually explain what qualifies as a “better” food choice. The most you’ll get is “avoid processed foods”. That’s a good start, but lets take it a step further. Quite simply put, you want to target plant based whole foods. 

Think about this. If you had a chronic illness, or just plain ol obesity, what would a qualified doctor tell you to eat? I guarantee they’d tell you to eat more fruits and vegetables. To be specific, you want to target plant based whole foods. These types of foods all possess 3 key things.

Antioxidants

antioxidants protect cells from damage and or slow down deterioration. A few examples of antioxidants are beta-carotene, lycopene, and vitamin C. The only foods that have antioxidants in them are plant based. A few foods that possess the highest levels of anitoxidants are, goji berries, artichoke, dark chocolate, pecans, kidney beans, and cilantro.

micro-nutrients

micro-nutrients consists of all vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are absolutely essential for overall health including digestive health. Vitamin B is essential to the absorption and utilization of carbs, protein, and fat for energy. Vitamin C is needed for the production of collagen. This is especially important for maintaining the tissue quality of the digestive tract. Vitamin A maintains a healthy gut lining. Copper facilitates protein absorption. Potassium eliminates waste from the body. Selenium is needed for pancreas function. All of this is abundant in plant based foods.

Fiber

There are 2 main types of fiber found in food called soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and regulates blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, helps to create stomach acid for digestion, and protects stomach lining. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, but instead helps to clean the intestinal walls, add bulk to your doodoo for an easy time in the bathroom, and feeds your good gut bacteria.  

Plant Based Whole Foods Are The Key

When choosing foods for your diet remember this check list. Antioxidants | Micro-nutrients | Fiber. This doesn’t have to be 100% of your diet, but it should be at least 70% of it. There are 5 categories of food to target here.

  1. fruits
  2. vegetables
  3. nuts & seeds
  4. grains
  5. Legumes

As long as you target these 5 categories daily, you’ll have a balanced and exciting diet that is easy to stick to. Finally to close on this topic, TRACK YOUR FOOD!! My top two picks are a couple of mobile apps called My Fitness Pal & Cronometer. This is key to knowing exactly how much of all the nutrients your getting and what you’re missing.

Intermittent Fasting

Aside from how you train and what you eat, when you eat can maximize your progress. This leads into one of the best strategies you can possibly use for cutting body fat, FASTING! There’s several different types of fasting for different reasons, but for anyone new to fasting for fat loss, intermittent fasting is the type I recommend. 

Intermittent fasting is where you have a daily eating window 6-8 hours and a fasting window of 18-16 hours. Basically the goal is to get all of your eating done for the day in a shorter time frame and then not eat for the other 16 to 18 hours. You won’t be eating during the fasting window, so you’re body will be mostly using your body fat as energy.

The before and after picture of me at the top of this article is where I went from 15% body fat to 7% bodyfat. I made the largest body fat cut I’ve ever made in my entire life while gaining muscle, using this strategy. Not only has this worked for me, but it is currently working for my clients as well.

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Carbs Weight Loss And Insulin Resistance Explained

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Carbs Weight Loss & Insulin Resistance Explained

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Its a popular belief that carbs and sugar cause weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes, but according to peer reviewed scientific studies, it turns out that’s not really the case. I’ve put together this article to clear things up on this topic and explain what actually causes insulin resistance, and the steps you can take to fix this issue. Here’s the breakdown.

  • What is insulin resistance
  • What causes insulin resistance
  • Possible signs of insulin resistance
  • How to fix insulin resistance
Carbs Weight Loss & Insulin Resistance Explained

What Is Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is directly associated with type 2 diabetes, but being insulin resistant doesn’t always mean you’re diabetic. There are varying degrees of insulin resistance and as this condition worsens, diabetes occurs. So here how it works.

There are certain types of cells that operate primarily on glucose from carbs and sugar. These types of cells are muscle, liver, and brain cells. When glucose enters the blood stream, insulin is released from the pancreas. That insulin then carries the glucose to these cells. The cells have insulin receptors that are responsible for opening up the cell and allowing the glucose to enter. The problem with insulin resistance is that the cell’s insulin receptors stop working, which in turn doesn’t allow the glucose to enter. 

What Causes Insulin Resistance

If these cells primarily rely on carbs and sugar for energy, then how can carbs and sugar be the thing causing insulin resistance? Doesn’t make much sense does it? Now if we take a look at the dysfunction in the insulin receptors of these cells, things start to make more sense. It turns out that when the cell is full, the insulin receptors will not respond. Upon further study, scientists have discovered lipotoxicity to be the issue with these cells. Lipotoxicity is a metabolic syndrome that results from the accumulation of fat in tissue cells that are not meant to store fat.

The next question of course would be, how does fat get stored in muscle cells. The short answer is that a diet high in saturated fat causes  lipotoxicity. Take a look at the standard American diet. Typically its high in fatty foods like meat dairy and eggs, which are loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. Even the foods that people consider to be high carb like pizza, and donuts are high fat foods. Its because of this misunderstanding that people find it easy to demonize carbs.

Fat takes much longer for us to use as energy which makes it so much easier for our body’s to store as fat. As a response people go to extremes like high fat low carb diets like the keto diet. The problem with this is that the worlds most nutrient dense foods are fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, and seeds, which are high in carbs. The subject of diet has become so warped that people believe that taking the bun off of a cheeseburger is a great weight loss strategy. 

Possible Signs Of Insulin Resistance

In my 11 years of experience as a coach and from the research I’ve done, I’ve noticed commonalities with insulin resistant people. See if you experience any of these issues when you eat carb heavy foods.

  • Sluggishness
  • Bloating
  • headaches

Also frequent light headedness and urination can also be an indication of insulin resistance.

How To Fix Insulin Resistance

Intermittent Fasting

Fasting is known to be one of the best methods of healing the body. Of course raw fasting can be really tough for most people and unsustainable overall. However there is a way to make fasting much more practical and sustainable. That method is intermittent fasting. This is where you have a 6-8 hour eating window and a 16-18 hour fasting window. This change to your eating schedule can be maintained on a daily basis. The reason why the fasting works so well for improving insulin sensitivity is that the fasting window allows you to use fat for energy at a much higher rate. This is how you can start draining that lipotoxicity out of your cells.

Whole Food Plant Based Diet

Cutting the saturated fat and cholesterol out of your diet and replacing them with nutrient dense plant based whole foods will allow your digestive tract to heal and drain the lipotoxicity out of your cells. I specified whole foods because these are the most ideal foods for the human species. These foods contain the essentials to the human diet in the ideal ratios. Plant based foods also contain fiber which regulate blood glucose and cholesterol levels. This goes a long way towards protecting against insulin resistance, obesity, and diabetes.

10-15% Fat

Most people don’t have a clear understanding of what a low fat diet actually is. An ideal low fat diet is where your fat intake makes up for 10-15% of your total macros. This method combined with a whole food plant based diet high in starchy foods has actually reversed type 2 diabetes. 

Citations

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Lose Fat And Fix Your Gut With Prebiotics

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Lose Fat And Fix Your Gut With Prebiotics

Anyone who has taken an interest in gut health more than likely has heard about probiotics and the benefits of them. If you don’t know, the live bacteria of probiotic foods help tremendously in fighting off any issues in the gastrointestinal tract and maintaining a positive environment in the digestive system which ultimately lead to fat loss. They also play an important role in strengthening your immune system. Probiotics are found within the cultures of dairy foods, and yogurt also. However there is the vital resource that is not nearly as popular, but just as important, prebiotics. This guide will teach you what you need to know about prebiotics, how they are related to probiotics, how they help you, and the abundance of foods that contain them.

How Are Probiotics & Prebiotics Related?

Probiotics and prebiotics are essential to healthy gut function. Probiotics are live microorganisms that live in your gastrointestinal tract. They help the digestive process by cleaning out the gut so things can continue to flow smoothly. Like any living organism they need to be fed in order to survive and grow. This is where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics act as a food source for probiotics.

How Do I Get Prebiotics?

Prebiotics are un-digestible plant fibers that live inside the large intestine. When you consume foods high in prebiotics, those prebiotics will then fuel the growth of probiotics, resulting in healthy gut function.

You’ve more than likely already ingested prebiotics and not even realized it. Prebiotics are found in a variety of foods, mainly in high fiber vegetables. Vegetables that are high in fiber are typically also high in probiotics.

Here's A List Of My Top 7 Prebiotic Foods

Raw Chicory

You can find chicory root in healthy food stores as a supplement or in grounded form. People often use it as a replacement for coffee because it tastes like coffee, but without the side effects that some people experience like jitters, headaches, and trouble sleeping.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Chicory Root are, 65% weight in fiber. Amount of daily serving needed would be 9.3 grams

Raw Jerusalem Artichoke

It looks more like ginger, but its name comes from it tasting like an artichoke. You can put it in salads and you can also boil it, satee it, or roast it to get a creamy potato. The Jerusalem Artichoke has a low glycemic index so it can be a good alternative to potatoes for diabetics.

*The prebiotic statics of Jerusalem Artichoke are, 31.5% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is 19 grams.

Raw Dandelion

To get the prebiotics of Raw Dandelion Root into your diet try putting it in with your salads, sandwiches, stews, casseroles, soups or herbal teas. The  taste of it can be a bit acrid so to deal with that, you can blanch them in boiling water for 10 – 20 secs, but not too much, or you’ll neutralize the prebiotics.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Dandelion Root are, 24.3% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is, 24.7 grams.

Raw Garlic

Add Garlic to your diet in many different ways.

  • Guacamole
  • Hummus
  • Vegetable Stir Fry
  • Add it to pasta for some extra flavor.

*The prebiotic statistics of Raw Garlic are, 17.5% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is, 34.3 grams.

Raw Leeks

Aside from the fact that raw leeks are a great source of prebiotics, they actually taste pretty good and go well with just about anything. Try’em in garden pastas, salads, and also as anedible garnish if you feel like getting fancy.

*The prebiotic statics of Raw Leeks are, 11.7% weight in fiber. The daily serving amount needed is 51.3 grams.

Raw Onion

Most of the flavonoids are in the outermost layers of the onion, so try to peel off as little as possible before chopping, dicing. Onions are a tremendously potent food and are a great source of prebiotics, but cooking them will lower the nutritional quality and kill off a large quantity of the prebiotics.

*The prebiotic statistics of raw onion are, 8.6% weight in fiber. The daily amount needed is 69.8 grams.

Raw Asparagus

Raw asparagus is another great source of prebiotics. For many of us, raw asparagus is tough to eat, but it can be pretty tasty and less tough when its fermented. You can also try blending it into a smoothie.

*The prebiotic statistics of raw asparagus are, 5% weight in fiber. The daily amount needed is 120 grams.

How Much Prebiotics Should I have?

In order to get the full effects of prebiotics, you should try to consume at least 5 grams of prebiotic-dense foods per day.

*Note that cooking these food source can also lower the quantity of prebiotics in them, so I’d suggest eating raw if you can.

Over all, prebiotics is the key to having a healthy gut and speedy metabolism. Eat your greens and get lean!

For more info on gut bacteria and the micro biome, click here.

Hope this helps you guys out!

-Remson

spirulina

Fix Your Gut With Spirulina

Spirulina is a blue-green algae supplement that is one of the most beneficial supplements to human health in the world. It has a whole host of benefits including, heavy metal detoxing, eliminates dangerous gut bacteria, prevents cancer growth, boosts fat loss, and strengths the immune sytem.

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5 Important Things To Know About Fiber

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5 Important Things To Know About Fiber

Generally when people talk about diet, they talk about protein, carbs, fat, and calorie counting. You may even hear a general mention of fruits and vegetables, but when was the last time you heard an in-depth discussion about fiber and gut health? Well if its not something you’ve heard about often, I want to talk to you about 5 important things to know about fiber. 

5 Important Things To Know About Fiber

1. What is Fiber & Where Is It Found?

Fiber is basically the threads that make up the tissue of plants. In regards to your diet this fiber is known as dietary fiber, or roughage. Its a type of carbohydrate that can not be digested by the human body. Due to the fact that it can’t be broken down by our bodies, it passes through our digestive tract pretty much intact, but what it does along the way is what’s important.

Here are some of the functions of dietary fiber.

  • Regulating digestion
  • Regulating blood sugar
  • Maintaining cholesterol levels

Dietary fiber is exclusive to a plant based diet and is not found in meat, dairy, or eggs.

2. Soluble Fiber & Insoluble Fiber

There are two different types of fiber that both important to have in your diet called soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Most plant based foods have a mixture of both even though its not specified on the label. 

Soluble Fiber

  • Soluble fiber dissolves or swells in water almost becoming a gel like substance. This is also soluble fiber interacts with the fluids in your gut. To give you a quick visual, think about the consistency of oatmeal when it sits in water. That’s a sign of a particular food being high in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber reduces cholesterol levels and stabilizes blood sugar levels. Foods that are high in soluble fiber are beans, fruits, and oats.

Insoluble FIber

  • Unlike soluble fiber, Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. The purpose of insoluble fiber is to add fecal bulk which is great for preventing constipation. All plant based foods, especially vegetables, wheat, wheat bran, rye, and brown rice, are full of insoluble fiber. 

3. Fiber Fermentation & Gut Bacteria

Fiber fermentation is a process that both soluble and insoluble fiber goes through in the large intestine that result in the production of certain gases and acids that have many significant health benefits. Here are some of those health benefits.

  • Stimulation of good bacteria production in the colon
  • Stabilization of blood glucose which helps people avoid diabetes
  • Suppression of LDL (bad cholesterol) which helps avoid the hardening of arteries and heart disease
  • Increase of lower gut acid levels, which protects against cancerous polyp formations and helps the body absorb essential minerals such as iron, calcium and magnesium
  • Inhibition of inflammation by improving the protective layer in the lower gut
  • Stimulation of the immune system by boosting production of helper cells and other antibodies
  • Reduction in the number of dangerous conditions associated with an unhealthy diet, including obesity and a diverse array of gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

There are 7 foods that are highest my list in regards to fiber.

  1. Chicory Root
  2. Jerusalem Artichoke
  3. Dandelion Root
  4. Garlic
  5. Leeks
  6. Onion
  7. Asparagus

For more information about how to fix your gut health and increase good gut bacteria, read this article here.

4. How Much Fiber Should You Consume Daily?

Statistically the average adult only consumes about 15 grams of fiber per day which is nowhere near enough. I won’t give you an exact cookie cutter amount, but a good baseline minimum is around 20-25 grams per 1000 calories. This is only a minimum and in reality your fiber intake should end up much higher than this on a balanced plant based diet. 

5. can you consume too much fiber?

Having too much fiber in your diet is a very unlikely circumstance, but it is possible. This can be caused by overeating foods that are very high in fiber. Here are some signs that you’ve consumed too much fiber.

  • Gas and bloating – caused by the expansion of soluble fiber.
  • Loose stool – caused by excess water retention in your fecal matter
  • Constipation – soluble fiber absorbs water and too much water absorption can harden fecal matter 
  • Dehydration – fiber uses up a lot of water in your system so increasing fiber intake without increasing water intake can deprive your organs of water.

In order to avoid these issue, increasing fiber intake should be gradual process, not anything drastic because your body needs to acclimated to these dietary changes.

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Improve Gut Health With These 5 Plant Based Fermented Foods

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Improve Gut Health With These 5 Plant Based Fermented Foods

More and more now, scientific studies are showing the importance of bacteria in regards to gut health. This information is changing the way we view food and the approach to diet. Fermented foods have been in human history for generations, but now the science has brought them into the spotlight. Let’s talk about fermented foods and how to improve gut health with these 5 plant based fermented foods.

Improve Gut Health With These 5 Plant Based Fermented Foods

Why Are Fermented Foods Good For You?

Fermented foods are foods that have been through the process of lactofermentation where natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates all kinds of beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics

The natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a form that’s easier to digest. This, along with the cultures of probiotics created during the fermentation process, is why the consumption of fermented foods leads to the improvement of gut health and digestion. 

Simply put, fermented foods are nutrient dense foods that end up being alot easier to digest and absorb because of the fermentation process. For more information on gut bacteria and digestive health, read my article on gut flora and the key to gut health

5 Great Feremented Foods To Put Into Your Diet

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage that comes very thinly sliced. Its loaded with vitamin C, B, and K. It also contains a ton of probiotics, including leuconostoc, pediococcus, and lactobacillus. If you decide to go to the store and get some of this stuff, make sure you get it unpasteurized because pasteurization kills the good bacteria. Look for it in the refrigerated aisle.

Kimchi

Kimchi is an extremely popular South Korean food that they typically eat as a side dish. This type of fermented food is made with cabbage, radish, or cucumber. It’s packed with flavor, filled with vitamin C and carotene, and can either be eaten on its own or incorporated into a whole wide array of different dishes. 

Miso

Miso is made from fermented soy beans and is often used in soups and can also add a nice flavor to other dishes like miso hummus. Its packed with micro nutrients like manganese, zinc, and antioxidants. 

Coconut Yogurt

Coconut yogurt is packed with probiotics, and since it’s non-dairy, it’s a  great vegan alternative and a lot easier to digest than conventional yogurt. Coconut is antiviral, anti-fungal and antibacterial, plus it’s high in calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Pickles

Pickles are filled with active bacterial cultures and enzymes. Like sauerkraut,  buy lacto-fermented pickles unpasteurized from the refrigerator section, not the kind made with vinegar. They may taste similar, but they don’t have the same health benefits. Its also a good idea to drink the pickle juice.

spirulina

Fix Your Gut With Spirulina

Spirulina is a blue-green algae supplement that is one of the most beneficial supplements to human health in the world. It has a whole host of benefits including, heavy metal detoxing, eliminates dangerous gut bacteria, prevents cancer growth, boosts fat loss, and strengths the immune sytem.

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7 Great Vegan Protein Sources

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7 Great Vegan Protein Sources

There is a lot of false information out there about plant based protein sources, and a vegan diet in regards to protein deficiency. I want to clear that up here and also give you 7 great vegan protein sources.

Do Plant Protein Sources Have a Complete Amino Profile?

There are plant based foods that have a complete amino profile like quinoa, hemp, and soy and there are some that don’t, like beans and legumes. However this is not really an issue because you end up consuming complete proteins by mixing foods. A good example of this would be mixing beans with rice, and nut butter spread on bread. As long as you have a balanced nutrient dense diet, you’ll be fine.

Is It Hard To Get Enough Protein On A Vegan Diet?

Vegan Protein deficiency is pretty much a myth entirely. There is protein in all plant foods, so the only way you can be protein deficient is by under eating and practically starving yourself. Meat eating actually leads to excess protein consumption which can lead to a host of other problems over time like kidney damage, fat gain, etc. The average person only needs around a half a gram of protein per pound of lean mass.

7 Great Vegan Protein Sources

1. Tofu

Tofu is extremely versatile and high in protein with around 10 grams of protein per half cup. Tofu may not taste very good by itself, without any seasoning or sauce, but the unique thing about it is that it adopts the flavor of whatever you cook it with.

2. Quinoa
quinoa

Quinoa is one of those most nutrient dense foods you can eat. Its packed with fiber, iron, magnesium, manganese, etc. Its versatility makes it good to eat with a wide variety of foods and you can also use it to make muffins, cookies, and things of that nature. 1 cup of cooked quinoa yields 8 grams of protein.

3. Buckwheat

buckwheat

The name can be a bit misleading because it actually isn’t a type of wheat at all. Its in the rhubarb family. The Japanese have turned the plant into a type of noodle called soba, most cultures eat the seeds by either grinding them into flour or cooking the kernels similarly to oatmeal. This food yields 6 grams of protein per cooked cup.

4. Chia Seeds
chia seeds

Chia Seeds are the highest source of plant based omega 3 fatty acids. They also contain more fiber than both nuts and flax seeds. This super food is rich in iron, zinc, calcium, and is loaded with antioxidants. When combined with water, these seeds can be used as a thickening agent for vegan pudding, vegan milkshakes, and can be used to replaced egg when baking. These seeds yield 4 grams of protein per 2 tablespoons

5. Hemp Seeds
hemp seeds

Hempseed contains pretty significant amounts of all 9 essential amino acids, and is also a great source of magnesium, zinc, iron, and calcium. It is also a great source of omega 3 fatty acids. 2 tablespoons yields 10 grams of protein.

6. Spirulina
spiralina

Spirulina is a micro algae that is packed with nutrients like thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. Basically its a real super food that you can supplement in your diet and just one tablespoon contains 4 grams of protein.  

Here’s the spirulina I recommend

7. Ezekiel Bread
ezekiel bread

Ezekiel bread is made from wheat, barley, lentils, beans, spelt, and millet and is highly nutrient dense, containing all essential amino acids. Just 2 slices contains around 8 grams of protein.

There are many other protein sources, but these are my top 7.

100% Vegan Naked Pea Protein Powder

My Top Vegan Protein

If you need a vegan protein supplement that tastes good, has a good texture, and doesn't have all the additives and colors, give this one a go. each serving is 27 grams of protein and 120 calories.

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I’ve created this platform to help you become the most powerful version of yourself through fitness, plant based nutrition, and mindset coaching.