This is $87 worth of shopping. Please feel free to use the space below to critique my purchases

_number8_@lemmy.world to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 327 points –

how is the value proposition here? was this an adequate use of money?

(keeping in mind as well fwiw i don't eat meat)

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My mistake, though I am curious how do you accomplish a high protein plant based diet that offers complete proteins?

Pretty much every whole food contains every essential amino acid, you just have to be careful with overeating certain grains like wheat and rice which are low in one or two specific aminos and overeating fruit which is low in protein in general. If you specifically want high protein you eat lots of legumes, nuts, and non starchy vegetables (especially dark leafy greens like spinach and kale). If you want really crazy protein go for stuff like tofu and other refined products.

See now that sounds expensive again to me… my wife is a fake vegan of sorts, aka no meat, no dairy except lactose free cheese, but WILL eat eggs, and when I try shopping for her I struggle to find food that would allow her to consistently eat 78-80 grams of protein a day without paying quite a lot for gluten based protein products or tofu. Nuts can only be bought in smaller quantities as well, due to how expensive they end up being. It also seems that all those other complete amino acid foods have high levels of carbs, how do you offset that without simply being overly active every day? I keep reading more about it and cant find anything helpful online that incorporates a steady diet that will supplement a physical gym routine including a lot of lifting with the desire for muscle growth. Maybe im just a weird minority here, IDK :(

Tofu should be cheaper than meat (like $2-3/lb, and maybe cheaper at Asian grocers), dehydrated soy products like TVP are even cheaper.

Beans and lentils are some of the cheapest foods available both by calorie and by gram of protein, this is doubly true if you get them dry.

Nuts can be expensive by weight, though they are very calorie dense. Peanuts and peanut butter are usually quite cheap, some stores might have cheap mixed nuts as well.

Leafy greens don't pack many calories but are fairly close to being just protein and fiber and also very nutritionally complete. They also aren't expensive, I regularly get bunches of kale for under $2 for example.