I stopped eating meat when I was 12 years old. I’m not sure why. I think it started in summer camp when I hear one of the other campers was a vegetarian and I thought it was really cool. But then, when my parents picked me up at the end of the summer, they told me that diet was not going to work for me since I didn’t eat fruits or vegetables. So we compromised and I brought fish and chicken back into my diet. Which meant I started eating Chicken McNuggets and a Fish-File. But then later on life I decided to follow my heart again and said bye-bye to sushi forever. And now I’ve been vegan for awhile. In fact, I’m fully raw. Making a move like that for some of you might sound like the end of life as you know it. And you may be asking “how in the world do you get enough protein?” I hear you. When I first converted, I was worried about that myself.
And I know there are tons of so-called vegetarians out there living on a diet of meatless junk food. You know what I’m talking about, right? Rice crackers. Veggie pizzas. They are the ones giving all of us a bad rap. By the look of their hair, nails and skin, you can tell they are completely undernourished (which they are) and they have no energy. Protein is essential to any diet. It’s a big player in the growth and repair of our muscles, bone, tissue, ligament, and hair. Protein is also a necessity to building a healthy immune system.
So going vegan was tricky. I had to become educated. I needed to learn how to keep myself healthy and nourished and how to balance my diet with enough of the vitamins and minerals from my food and from supplementation (super important by the way!). After detoxing from animal products for years, I’m like to share with you a several vegetables that are high enough in protein that you won’t feel like you’ve got to slaughter to survive.
1). Cauliflower Contains 3 grams of protein per serving and takes great when tossed with a little curry and dried fruit.
2). Asparagus Contains 3 grams of protein per serving and takes amazing when shaved thinly and then doused with a little olive oil and lemon or wild orange essential oil. Yum! By the way, asparagus is also high is folate which could be low if you’re a vegan too.
3). Brussel sprouts Contains 3 grams of protein per serving. Brussel sprouts can be super hard to eat raw by themselves but I’ve got a trick. Pick them leaves apart, toss a little olive oil, lemon essential oil, Himalayan sea salt and cracked pepper on top and let the salad soak in the dressing for a few hours or even the next day. Then through sprinkle with soaked almonds.
4) Broccoli Contains 3 grams of protein per serving. Broccoli can also be hard to eat or digest raw so if you’re not used to it, take a digestive enzyme. Then, try putting some macadamia nuts or cashews in your food processor, add a
tiny bit of water and Himalayan seat salt and toss over the broccoli. Then let sit for a few hours in the creamy “cheeze” and toss with raisins before you serve. Other ideas are to add broccoli to your smoothie or finely chop it and add to a salad.
5). Watercress