As a plant-based athlete, I never lacked protein!

Vegan chef Jatin Tiwari, 23, part of the National throwball team which won the Asia Cup in Malaysia, shares how he never had to worry about protein.

My family and I have been following the whole food plant-based lifestyle since eight years. Currently, I am a vegan chef by profession, but I have been into sports since I was nine years old. In my teens, I represented Mumbai and Maharashtra in boxing and India in throwball.

There was this ‘problem’ I faced at every place I trained or played – my vegan lifestyle.  Everyone would tell me to eat non-vegetarian food to get enough protein. Of course, I was sure that I wasn’t going to eat meat and I started to look for a good protein source in my diet and I found this amazing ingredient – soya bean!

Soya bean has around 12g or more protein in every 100g. It was really easy for me to include it in my diet since so many things have soya like tofu, tempeh, soya chunks, soya milk etc. My mother used to make many litres of soy milk at home every week. I always ensured that I had a balanced diet which included lots of vegetables and fruits too. This diet really helped me keep my energy through all the training sessions and matches. My energy levels were as good, if not better than the other players. I had no side effects of consuming soy and my gut health was good too.

Now I don’t have as much soy as I used to. As a chef though I use it in both savoury and sweet dishes. There is truly nothing that we miss when we are on a plant-based diet.

Shepherd’s Pie with Raw Cashew Cheese  

Try this super easy salad which is not only delicious but a treat to the eyes too. It can also be served when you have guests over.

Ingredients

• ½ cup soy nuggets or soy mince
• 4 medium-sized unpeeled potatoes, diced
• ½ cup soy milk
• 1 tsp unrefined salt
• ½ tsp black pepper (kali mirch) powder
• 1 medium-sized onion, minced
• 1 medium-sized unpeeled carrot, grated
• 1 small celery stalk with leaves, finely chopped
• 7 medium-sized tomatoes, crushed
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp each of thyme and rosemary
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• ½ a red bell pepper (red capsicum), finely chopped

Method

Soak the soy nuggets or mince for 20–30 minutes. Squeeze out all the water from them. Wash and squeeze again. If using nuggets, mince them in a food processor to obtain small flakes. If you are using soya mince, all you need to do is soak, wash and squeeze out the water.

Steam the potatoes until tender. Mash them and add soy milk. Season with salt and pepper to obtain the consistency of mashed potatoes.

In a medium-sized pan, roast the onion until translucent, then add the carrot and celery and cook for 10 minutes, stirring at regular intervals, until they are tender.

Add crushed tomatoes, ground soy nuggets, soy sauce and black pepper powder and cook for about 10 minutes. Taste the mixture to see if the salt is alright, or adjust by adding some more soy sauce or salt. Add thyme and rosemary and cook a bit longer. Transfer this mixture to a 6” square baking tray and press to a height of about 1″. Top with a layer of similar height of potatoes. Top with a layer of sour cream cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15-20 minutes, or until the sour cream turns brown. Sprinkle the red capsicum over it as a garnish, or you can sprinkle the capsicum over it after 10 minutes of baking and allow the capsicum to bake a bit too. Cut into squares and serve.

Serves 4

Food For The Mind

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All About Soy

Soy is just a bean! Like any other bean, soy is rich in protein and is an important part of the Far Eastern diet. The soybean originated in China but made its way to North America – initially to feed animals in our food chain and later went on to become a food crop. Soy is commonly consumed in the form of milk, yoghurt, tofu, sauce, miso, tamari, edamame, tempeh, cream and even soy butter.

So what’s wrong with soy? Nothing really, except that since 1995, about 90% of soy has been genetically modified (not yet in India though). That is the real issue. Besides soy, many other food crops are also GM. These include maize, sugar beets and canola. Genetically modified (GM) foods are not natural and cause a huge strain on the environment. If one is consuming organically grown soy, there is no harm in consuming it.

Remember, most of the soy is fed to animals in our food chain, so eating meat and dairy products may be a way of eating high quantities of GM soy!

1. Does soy have too much protein? Soybeans contain up to 48% protein, which is equivalent to that in milk, beef and eggs. Excess protein leads to health issues like kidney stones, gout etc., so it’s best not to replace everything with soy.

2. What are the health benefits of consuming soy? Soybeans contain a mix of slow-digesting carbs, including fibre and other starches, which are good for the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. Soy also contains phytoestrogens, omega-3 fatty acids and a variety of nutrients.

3. Why is soy milk better than cow’s milk? Cow’s milk contains cholesterol, whereas soy milk is cholesterol-free and contains fibre. In fact, soy helps to reduce cholesterol. Soy milk also contains numerous protective phytochemicals that cow’s milk doesn’t. Also, cow’s milk has nine times more saturated fats! Any plant-based milk is healthier than cow’s milk.

4. What is the best way to consume soy? Make soya milk at home with organically produced soy! Store-bought soy milk, tofu etc. may come with its share of harmful preservatives, chemicals, added fats, sugar and flavourings. Avoid packaged foods containing soy by-products like soy lecithin, soy isolates, soy oil etc.

5. Does soy contain estrogen? No. Cow’s milk has estrogen and soy milk has none! ‘Phytoestrogens’ are not really estrogen.

6. Does soy affect fertility? Soy is grown and is a staple food in China, the world’s most populated country! Non-GM soy does not affect fertility.

7. How does soy affect the environment? Soy production for animal feed has led to large-scale deforestation, which then fuels greenhouse gases.

8. Do you need to eat soy on a plant-based diet? Not at all! There are so many other delicious foods and soy can be completely avoided and is not at all a necessity for proteins or anything else.