Episode #320: Pairing Plant-Based Foods for Complete Proteins

Intro:

Welcome to The Healthy Catholic Moms Podcast where we make moving and nourishing our bodies the priority, so that we not only fulfill our vocations, but excel in our callings. I’m Brittany Pearson, a Catholic wife, mom, personal trainer, and I’m here to help you build healthy habits that actually fit your life. I am here to teach you how to get the results that you want and maintain the results that you want without spending hours at the gym, or meal prepping all weekend long. I understand I am right here with you getting my workouts done in the nooks and crannies of time, looking up recipes, while nursing babies and trying to prioritize my own health amidst everything else going on. But I have really good news for you, you can get the results you want. In less time without doing hours of cardio and restrictive dieting. I’m going to teach you how to use strength training and eating in a macro balanced way to get you feeling so good and your skin full of energy, and strong to carry out your life. Okay, on this podcast, we’ll delve into how to lose fat in a simple, sustainable way. What your workouts and nutrition should look like during different seasons of life, like during pregnancy and postpartum times. We’ll also discuss healthy quick meals, and how to get them on the table make foods that kids will actually want to eat, mom hacks for making your day run more smoothly and so much more. All the while with continuous encouragement to stay the course and live with discipline. This is a place where we’re striving to steward our bodies well, in order to joyfully serve. I am so happy you’re here. Let’s dive in.

Main Episode:
Hey there beautiful ladies, I hope you’re having a great day. I’m so happy you’re here. Thank you for joining me today. And always if you’re here all the time, welcome if it’s your first time, and this is just a topic that interested you and you are excited to dive into. So I will be honest, this one’s a little outside of my comfort zone. So I’m gonna go a little more research base today and just share information which I’m the first to tell you if something is a little bit outside my wheelhouse that we need to rely on some outside support. So in that vein, I will say upfront that I am an avid carnivore. Okay, I like to use animal products to get complete proteins. And I guess I should step back from it a little bit even before that. So complete protein, something that’s considered a complete protein is something that has all nine of the amino acids that our body needs and cannot make it needs to get from food. So some things considered complete if it has all of them already. So most animal products, that’s probably overgeneralizing, but things like B for eggs, they have all of them so you’re good to go when you get your protein from those sources. I will also say when people ask me about protein supplements, if you do need a little help in reaching your protein targets, I always recommend whey protein as long as their body can handle dairy because way is the only complete protein powder. Other than I need to caveat this because now there’s a lot of like different beef options and things like that. And a protein powder. That’s literally beef. So I have not tried these yet. To me that I that tastes seems very overwhelming. But I’ve heard this is like literally just from ads. A couple of different brands, Kelly Lovak has a brand I think faster way to fat loss has a brand of them. And it’s intriguing to me so it’s obviously super clean. Like you’re basically just having sounds like not dehydrated, but whatever. You know, kind of like taking capsules, but you’re taking the powder pan, it’s literally meat, but to me I’m like Yeah, Okay, nevermind, I’ll just get it from meat isn’t where I’ve been to this point. So that’s why I recommend way that’s why it is I will just say this, it is easier to get complete proteins, in my opinion from just having animal products if you can tolerate it if you can’t afford it. Now, here’s I think where there’s a big caveat. And so this came from a listener question who asked, you know, if I think it’s important to complete the amino acid profile if you are trying to get your protein from sources that are not animal products, and she just mentioned, I think I don’t want to put words in her mouth, but not referring back to the question. I’m pretty sure they were just trying to incorporate more of these Meatless meals and for cost and health benefits, but I don’t think they were vegan or vegetarian. So I am totally down with that. And I know everybody has their own preferred eating styles. We have you know some ladies in the challenge right now who eat mostly vegan and vegetarian and I’ve worked with clients like that in the past, but I’ve always been open and honest with them that it is just difficult typically To hit the protein targets that I consider healthy or best for fat loss and maintenance. There’s a lot of people that feel this way. Dr. Gabriel Lyon is another one who basically just says eat meat. But here’s the thing. I am also a believer in trying to buy better, not more. And that’s something I’ve tried to focus on for our family more recently, before I was like, well, we just need the protein. So I’ll just buy whatever kind of chicken or whatever kind of beef. And in recent years, I have realized how much hormones affect everything. It’s hard to just, we could go down this rabbit hole. And I don’t want to because it’s a little bit sad that like how many hormone disruptors are in everything in our world, and in our products. And this is something I feel like that’s not at all, you know, this is not personal to me, this is a lot of us. When we have kids, we start delving more into the things that we use in our homes and put in our bodies. And what I read and heard studies about how low testosterone is in boys and men these days compared to years ago like that, as a mother of three boys terrifies me and makes me realize, like I need to do what I can, in my part to make sure I’m not using these hormone disruptors in the house or feeding them poor quality foods that are going to affect their growth and development. So all that to say I am prioritizing higher quality meats, as best I can organic grass fed beef, they have an oldie, for those of you with have all these around. I will be I do that a lot of times instead of just whatever beef and same thing with chickens and things. But because of that, yes, we do have to buy a little bit less. So we already are meatless one day a week for Fridays. And before we were my husband was doing Exodus 90. So he also had to be meatless on Wednesdays. So we were doing that kind of as a family. So we had to meatless days. I do think, you know, cost wise for sure. I think that we can all agree on that. That it’s usually if you’re buying high quality meats, it’s a little more cost effective to mix in these plant based foods more so.

So I did an interview a while back with Hannah van Ark, who is a registered dietitian, and she talked about some she and I differ in opinion a little bit to her she doesn’t push as high protein, meat as I do, but she offered really good suggestions and she’s a good person to follow for like real whole food. She doesn’t use like beyond burger and those kind of, you know, manufactured really high processed substitutes. And I don’t recommend that either. That is something I’ve seen before when working with vegans vegetarians. People who choose to eat that lifestyle are like a lot of junk food and a lot of processed food in their food blogs. So we still want to prioritize 80% whole clean foods 20% treats. Just because it is vegan returned doesn’t mean it’s healthy. It’s just like how something’s gluten free. It doesn’t mean it’s healthy, it’s still a cookie, even if it’s a gluten free cookie, look at the label, there’s a bunch of sugar and research in there, it’s still not good for you.

Alright, so this article I’m sharing today is from healthline.com. And it is 13 nearly complete protein sources for vegetarians and vegans. So it is saying you can get nearly complete dietary nearly already is the caveat, nearly complete dietary protein from plant sources like green seeds and meat substitutes. However, not all plant based proteins are complete proteins to do that, and it goes down the list, I’m not gonna read these nine amino acids, but trust me, there’s an iron they all sound
a little difficult to pronounce. But then it goes on to say what I just shared animal products like beef, fish, dairy and eggs contain enough of every one of these essential amino acids and thus they’re considered complete proteins. However, many plants are supporting or too low or missing one or more of the essential amino acids. So they’re considered incomplete. Still, given that plant foods contain varying amounts of amino acids, you can manage to get enough of each essential amino acid through the day, by eating a variety of very diet and combining complementary plant proteins. I do think this is probably the only way that you can achieve the I again out of my comfort zone this is in my opinion, I think probably the way that’s gonna make you not beat your head against the wall I have to eat a million foods at each meal is by looking at your day more overall. So not trying to complete that protein at every meal, but rather looking at your day of okay, have I had these varied sources of protein? I think that’s really important.

So they go on to say here, grains like rice are too low and lysine to be considered a complete source of protein yet, by also eating lentils or beans which are higher in lysine throughout the day, you can be sure to obtain all nine essential amino acids. So that’s good news. And that one does pair really well. You know, rice and beans can go very well together and a lot of dishes and then you have a complete protein there. But you know if it’s not as easy of hearing or you want to you beans is your protein in one meal like you’re gonna make black bean burgers, then maybe you use rice in your stir fry at lunch and it will all shake out in the end. So it does say though, some people like knowing they’re getting complete proteins in a particular meal which is fine. So they give this list that I figured would be applicable and appropriate to share today have 13 nearly complete protein sources.

Nearly Okay, so not saying all these definitely are number one is quinoa, yet it has one cup of cooked quinoa has approximately eight grams of protein. This one’s also good because it is naturally gluten free. So I feel like it’s the one that slides under the radar, which I always feel like is a green. My sister’s gluten free so when I’m making something for them or for a meal, they’re coming over for him like he’s like googling Wait, is rice gluten free? I think it’s gluten free. Yes. Wait Is quinoa gluten free. ESP is Pharaoh no pharaohs, not so it just events. So in addition to being a complete protein, quinoa provides more magnesium, iron fiber and zinc than many Hama grains which is very cool. So that’s a great option. Something I used to make with quinoa all the time was this talk go not taco enchilada bake there. I have a recipe for that somewhere. I’m sure I’ve shared it before. I can dig through the archives but there was some kind of like, baked enchilada thing that had quinoa and black beans. So there you go. It’s already completed but then adding beans from our protein as well. All right, number two tofu tempeh a I think I’m saying that right? I don’t need it. And edamame a they’re all made from soy beans and make for excellent plant based protein sources. I’m just gonna say here I know soy is a little sketchy. And you know it’s a lot of things have divisions over it soy is one that I have heard conflicting reports on and most holistic nutritionist I’ve spoken with have encouraged women in the like fertile ages to stay away from soy. Now, I like there is literally one beverage at Starbucks that I like that has a soy that soy milk, I get this maybe once a year. I’m not worried about that. But for me, I don’t purposely include soy products in our home because I have just heard, you know, again, research is mixed and advice is mixed. I’ve gone with staying away from that. But here you have, it isn’t essential. It has all the nine essential if you are looking for something like that. Alright, number three, probably going to pronounce this one wrong amaranth. I have seen this one actually in a lot of granolas that I’ve purchased for it. It says actually amaranth is a versatile grain that can be boiled for side dishes, or porridge or popped in a skillet to add texture to granola bars or salads. Similar to keynote has a delicate naughty taste and retains its crunch even when cooked. And then I’ve seen this too in like gluten free flowers. It might be its own gluten free flour option. There’s so many now. But yeah, that one cook one cup of it has also approximately nine grams of protein. So you’ll see this is not just a pro meat episode, I promise. But typically you have to eat a lot more of these foods than you do with meat. Like if you ate a cup of cooked chicken. That’s probably like 35 to 40 grams of protein like it depends obviously what that works out to and ounces. But one cup of a lot of these foods is nine grams of protein, which is why your carbs are going to be higher. And it’s harder to hit protein, just eating in this way. But again, a day or two a week, maybe with some protein supplements in there too is not going to kill you so and it might really help out your grocery budget so that you can prioritize higher quality foods. So I love the idea. And you know, again, this list is for those who want to make sure it’s complete. Number four is buckwheat while it’s as high in protein as quinoa or amaranth, buckwheat and other pseudo cereal that is plant based and as a complete source of protein that’s a plant based source of complete protein. So buckwheat I’ve seen in a bunch of flowers and things like that too for one Copic gives you about six grams of protein. All right, we got a lot more to get through so I’m gonna go a little quicker here number five is Ezekiel bread. I do love Zico, bread, two slices of bread contains eight grams of protein unlike most breads, this bread itself has a combination of whole grains and legumes which provides all nine essential amino acids This is very exciting and I’m glad I read the article just for this alone. I do love Ezekiel bread and it’s something that I’ve backed off buying because it’s just so much more expensive than other like whole wheat breads and things like that. And I have been I actually put it on my list last couple of weeks and the stores that I was at didn’t have it all the doesn’t have it they sometimes have like a knockoff of this called I think it’s literally called like knock your spell stuff. But now I’m a little worried that I’ve given it too long and that my kids are going to freak out about how much is in it. Like, what I even buy different whole wheat bread. If I buy something with a little more nuts and seeds, I’ll get like 30 seeds in this so I’m a little worried that I missed the window on just starting them with this. I know I did start my oldest son on it, but it’s something that got a little toss the wayside for price. And that’s really cool to see in here that that is a complete protein because if especially on like, you know, if you do meatless Fridays, you can make an egg salad on zekiel bread and you’re gonna get a ton of protein there. Or, you know, you could do eggs and Ezekiel bread and get a bunch of protein for not using any animal products. So I love that. Okay, next up. Number six is spirulina. Spirulina is a type of blue green algae that’s a popular supplement among those on vegan and vegetarian diets probably I’ve never seen it or set it before. It can be purchased as tablets or as a powder. It can be added to smoothies, granola bars, soups and salads. Just a tablespoon provides four grams of protein. I think that’s really interesting because you don’t usually get a green that’s providing you protein. So that’s really cool. It is a source of complete protein as well. Cool.

Number seven is hemp seeds.
Coming from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa hemp seeds are the members of the same species as marijuana but they only contain trace amounts of THC. All right, well, there you go. But it does say I haven’t seen they’re unlikely to contain enough THC to cause a high feeling or any other psychoactive effects. But then it said that there’s a concern that hemp seeds could become contaminated with THC, blah, blah, blah. So if you they are a complete source of protein. So I guess if you’re down with the hemp seeds they go they’re available widely in stores and online. Number eight chia seeds we’re gonna do a lot of seeds here. Chia seeds are tiny round seeds that are often black or white. They’re unique in that they can absorb liquid and form Jelic substances. I’ve seen a lot of SPs for I was looking through a vegan or vegetarian cookbook the other day, not in preparation for this but just looking for more veggie based recipes. And lots of recipes for chia seed puddings. I’ve never tried that. But that’s good to know that they are a complete protein on their own. Two tablespoons of chia seeds provide four grams of protein. So that’s another good like, you don’t have to eat a whole, you know, four gram, I’m four tablespoons, excuse me, is going to give you eight grams. So that’s even four tablespoons is not quite as much as having a cup of something. So that’s good to know. Number nine new nutritional yeast. I used to use this all the time as a cheese substitute just when I wanted like a cheese taste, not the actual cheese texture. So that is on here. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t doing it for the protein but that’s a great option as well. A quarter cup serving of nutritional yeast provides eight grams of complete protein. So very cool. You can get that at a lot of different stores usually more in like the health food section. Number 10. We talked about already rice and beans. Rice and beans are a classic pairing that’s a complete source of protein. One cup of rice and beans some mix together provides 12 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. Fiber is also super good for us. So that is awesome.

Number 11. This is cool. I did not know this one at all. pita and hummus pita and hummus are another combination provides all nine essential amino acids. That is awesome. Similarly to Rice, the wheat used to make compete is too low and lysine to be considered a complete protein source. But chickpeas are rich and lysine. So that combo, that’s great because I actually like this snack a lot. I’ll do pita chips and hummus sometimes, but probably you need I would look into it. But probably the actual pita bread is going to be higher in that grain. But maybe not. Maybe I’m wrong on that. I just feel like there’s a difference here between the pizzas, the soft pizzas and the pita chips. Maybe not look into it. But I love that as a snack. And I would have had that as a snack and thought I was just having a lot of carbs but good to know that there is complete protein there. That’s awesome. Okay, last one peanut butter sandwich. That is funny because as we’re talking about Ezekiel bread, I thought about that too. I was like good if I made them pb&j on there, that would be a complete protein. And it says it right here as a lunchbox staple natural peanut butter sandwich between whole grain bread. And you could even use zekiel bread which is already a complete protein. But even just peanut butter with whole grain bread is another combination that results in a complete protein source wheats low in lysine but peanuts bring it up to being high in lysine. So awesome. This is actually you know, thank you so much always for any of you who submit questions and I am really appreciative of this question. I just was a little you know, it was when I actually had to look up and not just spit ball off the top of my head. So it was out of my comfort zone but I appreciate it and I’m actually a little inspired by this because it is Usually, you know, great for our wallets, it can be good for our health to give ourselves a little break from constant animal products. Again, I obviously have made it very clear in this episode, I have nothing against animal products. But if nothing else for being able to not sacrifice food quality that is very exciting. So that made it seem a lot more doable than I think. I thought it was going to be going into it, I definitely had this preconceived notion of like, I’m going to have to have quinoa and black beans and hummus and whatever, all at one meal. So spreading it out over the day, I think is a good little takeaway. And some of those combos are really easy to do a PB and J sandwich or a peanut butter sandwich doesn’t get, you know, not too complex. Maybe we can all do that if we want to do. All right. Well, I hope that was helpful, then thank you so much again, to that listener, you guys can send me questions anytime. Bernie and healthy Catholic moms.com. I would love to either feature, you know, go off a whole episode on your question like we did today or wrap it up in a q&a. I appreciate you know, having this as your podcast. I’m not the one listening to it. So I want it to be things that you care about and answer questions for you. And then you know, sometimes I can just kind of do the research for you to like I had during this one. Next episode we’re going to talk about what being balanced and healthy looks like. So not being on one way end of the spectrum. But a lot of times then we think healthy is this other. Maybe what you know, you could argue what I talked about in this episode when I back when I had nothing like in the house that had any refined sugar or anything like that. You could argue that that is not a very balanced or healthy way to live either. So we’re gonna delve into that talk about that next episode. Alright ladies, thank you so much for being here. I will talk to you next time!

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