Vegan Sources of Protein

People follow vegetarian and vegan diets for a variety of reasons. They might have an allergy or intolerance to dairy or choose to avoid animal products to lessen their environmental impact or for ethical reasons. Well-planned vegan diets can be nutritious and healthy, despite the rumours!

Before we go into the different types of proteins out there, it would help if we first understood what makes up protein. As we know, protein plays an important part in all our diets and there are these things called amino acids which are the building blocks of it. A large proportion of our cells, muscles and tissue is made up of amino acids, meaning they’ve got very important jobs to do, such as giving cells their structure.

The most commonly used and well-rounded protein source is whey protein. Why’s that I hear you ask…well this is because it contains all the essential amino acids. It’s this protein that Bounce uses in their main Energy Balls range.

However, because whey comes from milk it means that it’s a vegan no-no. For those of you looking for an alternative protein source, here are the most commonly used sources in food products:

– Pea Protein – made from yellow peas. Is naturally fat & cholesterol free plus it’s vegan! However, it lacks one of the 9 essential amino acids.
– Rice Protein – usually made from brown rice. Is a great option but again, lacks one of the amino acids so needs to be paired with another source to complete it’s potential!
– Soya Protein – might not be suitable for everyone for a number of reasons but it is one of the only vegan protein sources to contain all essential amino acids – go soya!
– Hemp Protein – highly digestible protein source with omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. However, therefore it has higher fat levels than other protein sources.

As you can see, most vegan proteins don’t typically contain all the essential amino acids.

Therefore, if you choose a vegan protein source, for whatever reason, it is beneficial to vary your source to ensure you are obtaining all the essential amino acids in your diet.

Bounce have just released their new range, VLife, which are all high protein vegan energy Balls! All the 5 flavours have a blend of vegan proteins (pea & rice) so they are ideal for anyone and everyone looking for that veggie protein boost! If you haven’t already, take a look at the range here.