News
Plant Protein - The New Meat?
According to the United Nations we should eat more pulses. Besides being a healthy food for humans, their lighter carbon and water footprint means they're good for the planet - and to drive this point home the UN has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses.
It takes roughly 7000 litres of water to produce about half a kilo of beef compared to around 162 litres to produce the same amount of lentils.
Unlike most forms of protein, pulses - or legumes - don't need refrigeration in transport and they're a crop that doesn't need a lot of chemicals. They draw their own nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil so they don't need fertiliser.
But the push to make plant protein a bigger part of our diet isn't just coming from the UN, it's also coming from us. While the appetite for animal protein is growing in developing countries, many Western consumers want more of their protein to come from plants like soy, pea and other pulses.
Middle Eastern, Indian or Mediterranean recipes feature legumes, seeds and nuts as well as using foods such as cracked wheat that contribute worthwhile amounts of protein and other nutrients.
As for the idea that we can't get enough protein from plants, that's a myth.
It's true that most plant sources of protein don't deliver what's called a 'complete' protein - meaning they don't contain the same full range of essential amino acids as does a piece of meat, chicken or fish. But we can still accumulate the full range by eating a variety of different plant protein foods like pulses, grains, nuts and seeds, through the day - we don't need to get them all at once in the same meal.
It takes roughly 7000 litres of water to produce about half a kilo of beef compared to around 162 litres to produce the same amount of lentils.
Unlike most forms of protein, pulses - or legumes - don't need refrigeration in transport and they're a crop that doesn't need a lot of chemicals. They draw their own nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil so they don't need fertiliser.
But the push to make plant protein a bigger part of our diet isn't just coming from the UN, it's also coming from us. While the appetite for animal protein is growing in developing countries, many Western consumers want more of their protein to come from plants like soy, pea and other pulses.
Middle Eastern, Indian or Mediterranean recipes feature legumes, seeds and nuts as well as using foods such as cracked wheat that contribute worthwhile amounts of protein and other nutrients.
As for the idea that we can't get enough protein from plants, that's a myth.
It's true that most plant sources of protein don't deliver what's called a 'complete' protein - meaning they don't contain the same full range of essential amino acids as does a piece of meat, chicken or fish. But we can still accumulate the full range by eating a variety of different plant protein foods like pulses, grains, nuts and seeds, through the day - we don't need to get them all at once in the same meal.