If you’re concerned, though, protein combining is easy. Three good combinations are: beans with whole grains, nuts and beans, grains and nuts. If you have oatmeal with walnuts at breakfast, beans and brown rice at lunch, and veggies with beans and pesto at dinner, you’re getting a complete protein at each meal.

We actually have an Eating Vegan article on B12, since this is one of the trickier nutrients. There are so many B12 fortified foods out there that with a bit of planning, it’s not as hard to get what you need. Can you share a source about plant based B12 and absorbency? I haven’t seen anything about that and am definitely interested!

Soooo many misconceptions about protein. He talks about the misleading notion of ‘complete proteins’ as well. As a vegan and former competitive athlete, I never had any issues with protein or my energy level. As a former animal-eater, I used to make statements such as ‘I need protein from fish to feel better’. I totally understand those sentiments. And yet, eating enough calories (just as someone mentioned) is the trick. Oh and eating calories that are whole-food based and unprocessed – equally as important.

Cheers.

You don’t need to eat meat as long as you eat a really varied diet. Proteins come in different types, just like fats. Proteins, whether soy, chicken, beef, nuts, whatever all have differing amounts of different amino acids. Since we need all the amino acids, we need to consume them all since our bodies don’t make them.

That said, the Duke studies showing animal protein is bad… go back and actually read the studies. They’re not about animal protein, per se. They’re about animal fat. Fat in high concentrations is bad for you, no matter where it comes from. Generalizing from “excess animal fat” to all animal proteins is erroneous.

In fact, one reason animal protein has likely been a major source of nutrition for so long is that it is what’s considered a “complete protein,” meaning that all meats contain all amino acids. No non-meats contain all animo acids. Again, this is not to say that you should eat animal protein, since you can get all those amino acids from other foods. I just want to set the record straight because I think erroneous claims actually hurt the cause. There are plenty of other reasons to avoid meat (poor treatment of animals, environmental degradation, world hunger, etc.).

Although since I’ve begun eating vegan and mostly raw, I just can’t eat. Even when I’m hungry just seeing food makes me full. I only feel like eating high calorie fruits, because like Denise said, my body doesn’t feel ‘energized’ by the protein.