Question: I am a vegetarian and I want to eat more protein. How can I do this without eating meat, eggs and dairy foods? Are there any plant foods that are good sources of protein?

Answer: While there are no official recommendations by health authorities in Australia or New Zealand, to include more protein in our diets, some dieticians find that including a little more lean protein and less refined carbohydrate in the diets of some people may be useful for supervised weight loss.

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Unfortunately most popular diet books promote mainly animal sources of protein such as red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy foods, which often come with extra unwanted saturated fat.

Rest assured, most plant foods contain protein and there are some particularly good sources of plant protein available. People can obtain protein from:

• Legumes such as kidney beans, peas, lentils, chick peas, baked beans, soybeans or foods made from these, for example burgers, falafel balls, soups, curries, dhal, dips and spreads, soymilk, soy yoghurt and tofu.
• Nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, cashews, pistachios, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, almond paste and tahini (sesame seed paste).
• Grains (particularly wholegrains), such as wheat, oats, rice, barley, millet, corn, buckwheat and foods made from these including wholegrain breads, high fibre breakfast cereals and porridge.

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This information is provided by the Sanitarium Nutrition Service.

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