Can You Get Your Protein From Vegetables?
When you think about protein-filled foods, vegetables probably aren’t the first thing that pop to mind. But there are actually quite a few veggies that provide at least a little amount of protein, so making these picks part of your regular rotation can help you in your mission to get enough of it. “Even though they don’t add a super dose of protein, I love highlighting the fact that nutrient-dense vegetables do have some — and that’s one great reason for people to eat more veggies,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, media dietitian, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read it Before You Eat It — Taking Your from Label to Table.
This macronutrient is crucial for much more than just building and maintaining muscle. “Protein is an important building block that your body needs to grow and repair cells, and even just to function properly; it plays a crucial role in hormone regulation, blood sugar stability, and your hair and nails are composed primarily of protein,” explains Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N., NASM-CPT, director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Nutrition Lab.
Combine those protein benefits with all of the other goodness that vegetables provide — a robust variety of antioxidants and other plant compounds, vitamins, minerals and of course, all-important fiber — and it’s a no-brainer to find ways to add the following super-picks to your day-to-day eating. “These foods are nutritional grand slams,” Sassos says.
Excerpted from Good Housekeeping
