As a vegetarian, I’m always looking out for how to eat more protein. We’ve just recently found a really simple way to up our protein intake. I’m not sure how we hadn’t realised sooner to be honest, and I thought I’d share in case anyone else has been in the dark about this cheap and easy healthy food swap.
How to eat more protein:
Are you a pasta fiend? I am. I eat pasta at least twice a week, and I’d probably eat it every day of the week if I could get away with it! In a nod towards healthy eating I’ve been eating wholewheat pasta for nearly two decades because it’s slightly better for you than white pasta.
It turns out there is a healthier option to wholewheat pasta that (in my opinion) tastes and looks no different; provides you with a quarter of your recommended daily intake of protein; and is only 15p a bag more.
Behold: wholewheat spelt pasta!
To compare:
200g of wholegrain fusilli pasta from Sainsbury’s contains 8.4g of protein (17% of an adult’s recommended intake) and costs 85p for a 500g bag.
200g of wholewheat spelt fusilli pasta, also from Sainsbury’s, contains 12.3g of protein (25% of an adult’s recommended intake of protein), and costs £1 for a 500g bag.
That’s 8% more protein for one simple food swap that has little discernible difference to wholewheat pasta.
Of course, I’m not suggesting for a second that you eat pasta for every meal. For vegetarians and vegans good sources of protein include quinoa, lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts, spinach, artichoke, peas, tofu and more. Aim for a good balance of foods and you’ll easily hit your protein quota. Which, for your information, is on average 55g a day for men, and 45g a day for women.
Do you have any tips on how to eat more protein?
I LOVE spelt pasta, I actually prefer it to wheat. And the Spelt pasta from Tesco is Organic.
Hi Wendy, enjoyed your post. I wanted to share some information on the amount of daily protein needed… I had the chance to attend a lecture of Dr. Tel Orel in California and it was quite enlightening, Surprisingly we need much less proteins then the current standards. If you want to check out his free online podcasts here’s the link where he speaks about proteins http://www.ecopolitan.com/The-Truth-About-Your-Food?unauthorized=6296 Thank you!
Well… I tried spelt pasta and for me, it has a completely different taste from wheat pasta. And I don’t like so much. I know it’s healthier, but… Oh, well :)
Oh well, at least you tried! :)