Experiments in protein

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 17. I’m 50 now, going on 51. I’ve always known I didn’t have enough protein in my diet, but until quite recently it was just something I joked about. I didn’t think it mattered.

But in recent years I’ve learned that protein is essential for repair and recovery. That is important for everyone, but especially for someone who is as active as me (I run on average 30 miles a week). It’s also important for women in perimenopause/ menopause. But I had days when I literally just ate vegetables and rice or noodles for my tea. No protein.

Milk has always disgusted me. It’s hard for me to explain, but I just can’t imagine drinking it. Even the thought of it makes me feel funny. In 2007, I discovered a dairy intolerance contributed to my IBS, so maybe there was a reason why milk disgusted me? That means I don’t have any dairy products apart from cheese. Not yogurts, not ice cream, not even milk chocolate. As it happens, eggs make me feel pretty bad too, so I don’t eat them either.

So what is left for an almost vegan to eat to get protein? I have ‘vegan meat’ nearly every day. I have cheese four or five days a week and peanut butter probably once a week. Then there’s the other small sources of protein, like my vegan yogurts and the flaxseed I have in my breakfast. But it’s not enough.

For a runner, the advice is to have some protein within 30 minutes of finishing a run. Me? I eat chocolate when I finish a run.

My son, who is an athlete, has A LOT of protein. He literally won’t eat unless it contains protein. He calculates all his meals and snacks to ensure they contain sufficient protein.

When it was my husband’s birthday, my son bought him a bag of protein powder. My husband made it up into a protein shake and told me it was ‘delicious’. I was sceptical. It looked like milk. Anything that looks like milk can’t be delicious to me. But it was 20 extra grams of protein. Almost effortless.

I know getting protein from real food, like my son does, is the ideal. But if you can’t manage that, a protein shake is a good boost. I spent a long time considering the vegan protein shakes in the supermarket, but I chickened out of buying them. Then my son persuaded me to order one online. He uses a brand called Bulk, which is cheaper. He actually has unflavoured, which seems pretty hardcore to me.

I ordered a small pack of chocolate peanut flavoured vegan protein powder. I like chocolate and I like peanuts. It seemed like a good choice.

I made it up following the instructions.

And it was RANK.

Trying to get it down me was like doing a bushtucker trial. I managed it, but I felt nauseous afterwards.

I wasn’t giving up though. The next time, I made sure I used properly cold water to make it. And I didn’t drink so much water beforehand, so I would be more thirsty.

It was slightly better, but still fundamentally rank.

I didn’t give up immediately. I tried it five times. But I was dreading it before I drank it. And it had got to the point where the smell of peanut butter was making me nauseous because it smelled a bit like the protein shake.

My son persuaded me that the whey in normal protein shakes (which comes from milk) would probably be OK for me, as it has been altered so much from milk. So I tried my husband’s protein shake instead. It wasn’t ‘delicious’, but it was considerably better than mine.

People on social media had told me about protein shakes which are more like juice than milk. These would be much better for me. Not only do I not drink milk, I also don’t drink tea, coffee or hot chocolate. I mainly drink water, but any other drinks I have will be watery and fruity.

I read an article on clear protein shakes on The Independent website because I thought it would be more unbiased than some sources. They had reviewed several clear protein shakes and gave the pros and cons of each. The best one for me sounded like Protein Works clear whey protein, which comes in a big range of fruit flavours.

So I ordered a pack of the orange and mango flavour. Needless to say, it wasn’t cheap.

It isn’t delicious, but it is certainly drinkable. I now drink it after every run and I don’t dread it. I’m happy that I’ve found a way of boosting my protein, which I should be able to keep up in the long term.

Do you eat enough protein? Do you boost your intake with protein shakes?