Vegetarian FAQ's

There is a vast list of reasons that I could give you for becoming a vegetarian or for seeking to reduce your consumption of animal protein. I'm not going to do this here, because each one is so potentially emotionally laden for SOMEONE, I just don't want to get into it! So let us start from the assumption that you have made the decision based on your own reasons, and now you are Zoning and you think "DARN! This is easier to do if I am a meat eater!"

I am here to tell you this is not true!

But first, let's lay to rest a few misconceptions about vegetarian protein sources.

• #1 Misconception - "I combine beans and rice and they become a protein."
  
• #2 Misconception - "I have to use protein powder in order to get enough protein as a Vegetarian"
• "So What's a Vegetarian to DO for protein???
• Vegetarian Protein Sources or "Where do I find this stuff?"
  
  

#1 Misconception - "I combine beans and rice and they become a protein."

No-no-no-no-no... Proteins are made of up amino acids. There are many amino acids, but not all of them are essential to human growth, and not all the essential amino acids are found in plant-based food sources as they are in animal based food sources. You eat a chunk of chicken, you have the 8 essential amino acids and usually a bit of fat. No carbs in chicken (unless you are talking breaded chicken chunks, of course).

Legumes however, have SOME but not all of the essential amino acids in them. When a nutritional analysis is done of a legume and printed on the outside of the can, box or package they come in, it will list the amount of protein in that legume. On many of them, especially beans like kidney beans, it will seem like the bean is half protein! The problem is, it is an INCOMPLETE protein, only containing SOME of the essential amino acids. You need all 8 of the essential amino acids in order to support life and growth in human beings.

What was found years ago is that certain grains ALSO have protein in them, but again, it is an INCOMPLETE collection of amino acids so that their protein is alsoan incomplete protein. However, the array of amino acids in grains is DIFFERENT than the array of amino acids in legumes, so that the two being combined on your plate gives you a COMPLETE ARRAY OF AMINO ACIDS, hence a complete protein.

This is where the misconception comes in. The combining of the two only means that the amino acids combine to give you a complete protein from the available amino acids. It does NOT mean that it turns the whole thing into PROTEIN! You still have carbohydrates in the beans, you still have carbohydrates in the grain, and you still have fiber in both. You will find when you look at the nutritional breakdown of either food items, that carbohydrates are the PRIMARY content of legumes and grains, and protein accounts for a very small amount of the food constitution. Nuts also have protein in them, and tends to be a more "complete" protein, but you will notice that we classify nuts as a "fat" because about 50% of the nut is fat, 25% is carbohydrates and 25% is protein.

With grains and legumes and nuts, you have another problem. The protein that you are trying to get from those food items is rather tightly bound up in fiber. Don't get me wrong, fiber is a good thing! But the fiber binding the protein molecules prevents us from accessing the protein in the food, limiting its "bioavailability." The fiber can be broken down and released, but when you break down fiber, you do it through processing--either through long cooking times or grinding. When you process the legumes or grains like this to release the protein, you also release the carbohydrates and cause them to have a quicker absorbtion rate and consequently a higher rating on the Glycemic Index. This means they will make your insulin levels rise more quickly, something the Zone Diet is attempting to control. That is why we are advised to avoid certain high glycemic indexed foods.

So it all grinds down to this: protein in grains and legumes occur in limited amounts and unless combined with one another, they are incomplete sources of protein. What protein there is in them is tightly bound in fiber, so consequently not all available to us nutritionally. When the fiber is broken down sufficiently to get at the protein, we have made the carbohydrate unfavorable. Furthermore, there is so much carbohydrate that even if it WASN'T UNFAVORABLE, you would still have too many grams of carbohydrates in proportion to protein, and you would have to supplement with some other protein source to reach that optimum 40-30-30 balance in nutrition of carbohydrates to proteins to fat.

#2 Misconception - "I have to use protein powder in order to get enough protein as a Vegetarian"

YUCK. No you don't. This is probably one of the main reasons many folks do not stick with the Zone Diet, because someone has convinced them that they have to use Protein Powder. Protein Powder is not a food. It is a SUPPLEMENT. Yes, it is nutritionally "sound" but darn, it TASTES NASTY!!! And it is expensive. By the time you get it to taste half-way decent, it is so chocked with carbohydrates, it is no longer a protein source. And I don't care WHAT you do to it, when you use it in place of other protein sources, you will taste it, and it tastes medicinal. Furthermore, it is expensive. I have no objections to it because it is processed. My objection is strictly on it's taste and cost.

"So What's a Vegetarian to DO???

Gluten

The extraction process for protein from primary carbohydrate sources has been going on for centuries. The Chinese have been making Mock Duck and Mock Abalone for Centuries! This is done by grinding wheat into flour, adding water and making it into a dough about the consistency of bread dough, then kneading it and rinsing it. The grinding releases the gluten from the fiber (gluten is the protein part of the grain), wetting it causes the gluten to bind to itself, kneading causes further binding or "developing" of the gluten connections, and rinsing removes the fiber and carbohydrates from the dough. What you are left with is protein.

To experiment with this on a small scale, take a small handful of red wheat kernals (highest gluten content wheat) and put them in your mouth. Chew them, but do not swallow them. You will find that quickly your teeth do the grinding and kneading action to the grain, and the mass of flour will bind together, into a dough. As you continue to chew it like a piece of bubble gum, just like the gum as you are chewing off the sugar and the gum gets firmer, you will chew off the carbs and the gluten will get harder. What you will be left with is a mass of gluten. Careful if you have a big glob. It will be hard to swallow just like gum is!

This can be done in your kitchen as well. For complete instructions, check out "How to Make Gluten Steaks."

Gluten steaks and ground gluten products are commercially prepared and available, but because of the sensitivity that many have to gluten ("Celiacs" are highly allergic to the gluten in grains, which is why they rely on non-gluten grains to make their bread-like foods).

Texturized Vegetable Protein

More popular and more widely available is soy protein. Soybeans grow like crazy!!! Back in the 60's, Archer Daniels Midland developed a process of extracting the protein from soybeans and after drying it, extruded it into a form called Textured (or texturized) Vegetable Protein, commonly refered to as TVP. It is sold mostly in a dry form which looks a lot like GrapeNuts Brand Cereal. It was, and still is, used as a ground meat extender. Vegetarians picked up on it years ago, finding that it can be used, rehydrated, very much LIKE ground meat, and nicely takes on the flavors of the seasonings and spices that are added to it. It has a nice chewy texture, just like ground meat.

Tofu

Another use for soybeans that vegetarians are very familiar with is Tofu. In recent years, thanks to innovative package design, tofu has become as easy to use and as easy to obtain fresh as any canned food. Tofu is marinated soybean curd which ends up taking on the same consistency as a very soft cheese. Once it reachese it's curd stage, however, it must have the water it sits in changed DAILY, and it is only good, refrigerated, for about 5 days. Many of us have had bad experiences with tofu, and I will guarantee it is because you had soured tofu.

Morinaga foods has developed a packaging method that allow them to put the prepared soy whey into a cardboard box, hermetically seal that box, then the tofu turns to the curd INSIDE the sealed box. The box does not require any refrigeration (although you will often find it in the refrigerator section of many stores, including major chains), and is good in the unopened box for over one year. The added bonus of this method of preparing tofu is that they are also able to extract carbohydrates and fat from the tofu, unlike the regular tofu that you find in your refrigerator section, floating in water.

Besides the fresh, bland flavor of fresh tofu, which will take on the flavors of any sauces or seasonings added to it, tofu gives you the most generous servings of protein: 3 ounces of tofu gives you 7 grams of protein, or one protein block, as opposed to 1 ounce of meat or 1.5 ounces of many fresh fish. If you are new to working with tofu, I have a number of really nice recipes in my %=JUMP|recipebox|Recipe Box=% which you will find useful, like the Tofu Chocolate Decadence Pudding, which lends itself to adaptions with various flavorings that are not chocolate! It may also be scrambled like eggs, seasoned like egg salad, creamed for a rich cream soup base, or creamed with water and lemon juice for substitution for milk or buttermilk in recipes. 3 ounces of it creamed into a recipe will replace one egg in baking.

"Where do I find this stuff?"

When it comes to the ones that I like and that I think make good tasting food choices, that ship and store easily and are available at a good price, I will always try to have them on hand in Karen's Kitchen Shop and make them easy for you purchase at good prices.

Some items that I reccomend you will NOT find in Karen's Kitchen. Some items just weigh too much for me to carry and send them at a good price to you! If you cannot find it anywhere, I will be happy to pick it up for you locally and ship it for a 20% markup and shipping and handling costs when I go out and do my regular weekly shopping. Most canned food items fall into that category, but if I have access to them, I will quote you special shipment prices. I highly reccomend on those items that you purchase in bulk, as the UPS cost of shipping on heavy weight items goes down substantially the heavier the package.

I do not wish to have this a static page. As you find items you like, send me a note and tell me the name, manufacturer, Nutritional Breakdown, where you found it, price and your evaluation of the product for taste, convenience and usefulness. Send me any recipes you have which you like as well! As always, contact me at: karen@karenskitchen.com

Now for the start of that list! Come on over and check out the Meat Analogues or "The Phoney Balony Page" Send me YOUR favorites--or even your dissapointments! We don't want folks to buy anything that tastes NASTY!!! And yes, I will even entertain entries for protein powder...

Best Regards, Karen