The Casual Vegan

Pop Quiz:

What has more protein?

A. 100 Calories of spinach

B. 100 Calories of ground beef

C. 100 Calories of whole wheat bread

If you answered B, you’ve probably been raised on a meat-centric diet and never thought much about whether meat eating is really a healthy option. The truth is that 100 calories of spinach has more protein than 100 calories of ground beef.  But you thought meat has more protein, right? Sure, 1 cup of beef has more protein than 1 cup of spinach because spinach has lots of water and doesn’t pack down tight like ground beef does. Don’t believe me, eh?

the data

Go to nutrientfacts.com and pull up 2000 calories of ground beef. You’ll get 213 G of protein for lean and 189g for regular. You will also get 110% of your iron and 260% of your zinc. Thats pretty good right?

Now bring on the spinach:

Wow! There are 258 G of protein in 2000 calories of spinach! 1720% of your iron,  440% of your zinc, 1180% of your calcium! And to think people worry about where vegans get their protein.

Obviously no one could nor should eat 3 gallons of spinach, nor 2 pounds of ground beef in a single day. However, the facts illustrate that Spinach clearly has more protein, iron, and zinc per calorie than ground beef (even extra lean). If you’re an athlete trying to maximize the amount of protein in your diet, then you should be eating as much spinach, and as many beans, nuts, and whole grains as you possibly can. Eating beef fills you up with thousands of unwanted and unhealthful fat calories.

Related posts:

1. Oatmeal Revisited
2. Ground Beef with Yummy Ammonia
3. Casein The Milk Protein
4. Calcium Deficiency and the Diseases of Milk
5. Michael Pollan

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