It made headlines when some of our athletes changed-over to a non veg diet because a non veg diet is better to build muscles and improve stamina and meat is an important part of the diet set by many coaches. But reportedly, Virat Kohli, one of the fittest sportsperson of our times, has turned vegan!
India has the maximum number of vegetarians in the world , and almost 4 out of 10 people in India are vegetarians. So can they or can they not get adequate protein from their vegetarian diets?
If properly planned veg diet can be nutritionally adequate and healthy.
Proper planning : Why and how?
Plant based proteins are incomplete proteins, It means, each of the plant based proteins lacks one or more of the essential amino acids. But wisely combining proteins from different plant sources can make up for the deficiencies and your meal becomes nutritionally complete.
Read on and you will understand the wisdom of the Indian thali.
The main source of proteins for the vegetarians in India comes from cereals for example wheat, rice , bajra, jowar. it is represented by the roti, bhakri, rice.The proteins present in the cereals are not of good quality as they are deficient in the amino acid lysine.
Add some dal or pulses to the meal . They lack the sulphur containing amino acids which are present in cereals. But they contain lysine. Therefore the two complement each other well. By increasing the ratio of dal to cereal one can improve the quality of protein in our meal.
Add dairy products like yogurt or dahi, paneer and you are set on the right proteins path.