#calicum

Your mum is just worried, which is understandable coming from your past. My mum was to; I just had to prove to her I could gain adequate nutrition from a vegan diet, and not restrict my intake, in which I did. My friends, who are vegan, are some of the healthiest people I know. Tell your mum why you want to be vegan and lay out some facts about what you can eat as an alternative to get both calcium and protein. People generally think you need to eat heaps of protein and vegans are scrawny as they don’t get “enough” contrary to this belief, you only need 10% of your daily intake to come from protein, so for a daily intake of 2500 calorie for an average women, that’s 250 calories from protein, which is really not that much. Good protein sources include: 1. Veggies:  One cup of cooked spinach has about 7 grams of protein. The same serving of French beans has about 13 grams. Two cups of cooked kale? 5 grams. One cup of boiled peas? Nine grams.

2. Hemp. Toss 30 grams of hemp powder in your smoothie and get about 11 grams of protein – just like that.

3. Non-Dairy Milk.  1 cup of almond milk can pack about 7-9 grams of protein. Eat with some iron rich raw cereal you’ve got a totally vegan-friendly breakfast.

 4. Nut Butter. Eat yo butter, Peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter. (The pure, 100% nut stuff, not the added sugar and salt) A couple of tablespoons of any one of these will get you 8 grams of protein.

 5. Quinoa.  Quinoa is God’s gift to vegans (and gluten-free peeps!),  it’s versatile, delicious and delivers about 9 grams of protein per cup.

 6. Tofu. Four ounces of tofu will get you about 9 grams of protein. And its real cheap to.

 7. Lentils. With lentils, you can make rice dishes, veggie burgers, casseroles and more. One cup cooked delivers 18 grams of protein!

 8. Beans. They really are the magical fruit. With one cup of pinto, kidney or black beans, you’ll get about 13-15 grams of protein, a full belly and heart-healthy fiber.

 9. Tempeh. One cup of tempeh packs about 30 grams of protein! That’s more than 5 eggs or a regular hamburger patty (MY FAV, FERMENTED SOY BEANS GET ON IT)

 10. Sprouted-grain bread. Pack a sandwich with vegan sprouted-grain bread and you’ll get about 10 grams of protein in the bread alone (pair it with tempeh and you’ve got a protein packed lunch, who needs meat anyway?)

In regards to Calcium, unlike milk, plant-based calcium sources contain vitamins C and K and the minerals potassium and magnesium, which are all important for bone health, which is why plant-based sources of calcium are better then animal product based ones (explain this to your mum) 25 Vegan Sources for Calcium

1. Kale (1 cup contains 180 mg)

2. Collard Greens (1 cup contains over 350 mg)

3. Blackstrap Molasses (2 tablespoons contains 400 mg)

4. Tempeh (1 cup contains 215 mg)

5. Turnip Greens (1 cup contains 250 mg)

6. Non-dairy milk (1 cup contains 200-300 mg)

7. Hemp milk (1 cup contains 460 mg)

8. Orange juice (1 cup contains 300 mg)

9. Tahini (2 tablespoons contains 130 mg)

10. Almond Butter (2 tablespoons contains 85 mg)

11. Great northern beans (1 cup contains 120 mg)

12. Soybeans (1 cup contains 175 mg)

13. Broccoli (1 cup contains 95 mg)

14. Raw fennel (1 medium bulb contains 115 mg)

15. Blackberries (1 cup contains 40 mg)

16. Black Currants (1 cup contains 62 mg)

17. Oranges (1 orange contains between 50 and 60 mg)

18. Dried apricots (1/2 cup contains 35 mg)

19. Figs (1/2 cup contains 120 mg)

20. Dates (1/2 cup contains 35 mg)

21. Artichoke (1 medium artichoke contains 55 mg)

22. Roasted sesame seeds (1 oz. contains 35 mg)

23. Adzuki Beans (1 cup contains 65 mg)

24. Navy beans (1 cup contains 125 mg)

25. Amaranth (1 cup contains 275 mg)