Tips on Incorporating Plant-Based Protein in Your Diet

Whether you’re a dedicated vegan on a strict gluten-free, plant-based diet or a bacon-loving carnivore trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle, incorporating plant-based proteins into your meals is key to a healthy, well-balanced diet. Not only are foods high in protein essential to building muscle and losing fat, but proteins that come from plants are naturally low in fat and cholesterol, high-fiber foods that are inherently higher in nutrients and better for the environment than animal-based proteins.

Vegetables Rich in Plant-Based Proteins:

• Plant-based proteins are found in vegetables like broccoli, spinach, peas, and sweet potatoes, legumes such as soybeans, lentils, garbanzo beans, pinto, kidney and black beans, plus nuts such as cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds, and seeds like sesame, hemp, flax, pumpkin, and chia.
• You can also get protein from nut milks like almond and soy, grains such as quinoa, amaranth, bulgur, brown rice, wheat germ, and oat bran, and meat substitutes such as tempeh and seitan.

Vitamix Recipes with Key Plant-Based Protein Ingredients:

There are countless Vitamix recipes that are rich in plant-based proteins. You’ll be amazed by how much better tasting homemade nut butters and nut milks are than store-bought varieties.

• Try quick-and-easy recipes for Almond Butter and Almond Milk or Cashew Milk.
• Make hearty, warming soups like Black Bean Soup or Garden Pea Soup.
• Or make a protein-packed snack by dipping veggie spears in a batch of Hummus.