Which do you prefer for your protein? Meat? or plant base foods?

I’m meat all the way. Big carnivore. Big dairy eater. (Not eggs over the last year as my tummy decided it now doesn’t like eggs for some reason). Though at times I supplement meat with plant based proteins like lentils or beans. Like I’m making chicken soup tomorrow & I’ll add lentils to boost the protein content.

One issue I have with plant protein (specifically the faux meat) is it’s a processed food. So I’d rather eat real beef, chicken, lamb, etc. than a plant based version. I have tried a couple of vegan dairy options but there’s something about the taste & texture though it could just be me ?.

We all find what works best for us in regards to food choices & nutrient sources & that’s the most important thing. It may be all plant or all animal or a mix of both. Any way is good.

Meat here too. If we're not vegetarian or vegan (i'm not) then we have the luxury of mixing it up a bit. I do do lots of veggie soups with pulses or cheese as protein though - vegetable soup with barley and lentils, hot and sour lentil soup, broccoli and stilton soup, etc. Basically everything we eat post op has to pack a protein punch. If you build your meals around that then you won't go too far wrong OP.

I also avoid ultra processed foods as much as I can. Basically anything with an ingredient that you don't have in your pantry you shouldn't put in your mouth - that's what made us obese in the first place. I do realise that I have the luxury of being able to cook pretty much everything I put into my mouth from scratch. Not easy if you don't.

Thank you for all the good information.

Team Meat!

Both. As long as I do the processing and cooking then its all fair game. I love to eat in vegan restaurants because they have such a depth of plant based knowledge.

I really don't understand why you would buy high chemical processed food. If you eat no meat then why do people eat chemical based flavours that mimic bacon, chicken etc ?

5 hours ago, summerseeker said:

I really don't understand why you would buy high chemical processed food. If you eat no meat then why do people eat chemical based flavours that mimic bacon, chicken etc ?

im gonna venture a guess: because its delicious! lol

...and more often than not, cheaper and more convenient than fresh.

Team meat! I do like to have my pea protein shake with coffee in the morning though. It doesn’t interfere with morning exercise.

7 hours ago, summerseeker said:

Both.

I like to eat both too.

20 hours ago, ms.sss said:

im gonna venture a guess: because its delicious! lol

...and more often than not, cheaper and more convenient than fresh.

just read my response over and feel like i should clarify:

some may buy processed because of time and accessibility constraints. not everyone has the means, time nor access to sustain a totally (or even MOSTLY totally) "healthy" diet.

(there is also just plain laziness...which i fully admit to doing. some days it just suits me to eat something processed out of a bag. i can't make an all natural scratch made meal every day. well, actually maybe i could, but i choose not to.)

Meat is the ticket…

I'm team both?

My diet mantra is 80/20. What I mean is:

• I try to focus on getting ~80% of my calories from minimally processed foods. (AKA, I try to eat clean.) I don't really track this, I just focus on making good food choices when I can.
• I try to eat a wide variety of foods, so nothing's off limits. To me, there are no bad foods, there are just some that provide more nutritional value than others. Plus, the more variety i have in my diet, the better overall nutritional profile I'll have. I try to shoot for 80% of what I eat being things that have a bit more nutritional value. For example, most of the time, I might pick spinach or kale over lettuce.
• I eat carb centered. It's not quite 80%, so my mantra may be a bit off? I suppose between carbs and protein, it probably is 80%, so I'll settle for that. I know this one will be controversial here since the bariatric dietitians push protein so heavily (and don't misunderstand me, protein is critically important), but as endurance athlete at maintenance and 2.5 years out from surgery, I need more carbs than I did during the weight loss phase.

Critical to the above is that I don't obsess over any of it.

I guess my point in the above is that if you're trying to determine the "best" protein source, maybe the real right answer is there is no best. Once your body starts breaking down the protein you consume into the component amino acids, your body doesn't know where those amino acids came from.

The advantage of not focusing on just one source of protein is that there are vastly different micronutrient profiles across foods. The more variety you eat, the better off you are nutritionally.