Protein is popular and for good reason. It’s one of the essential nutrients that help your body grow. If you workout and lift weights, you need to make sure you’re getting enough protein. And even if you’re not a weightlifter, it’s important that you get the proper ammount of protein in your diet.
If you’re reading this website, then you’re probally wondering does spinach juice have protein? It is a reasonable question for anyone who juices to have.
The Problem With Protein and Spinach
For most people, protein can be a tricky problem to deal with. You have to measure out the meals that you eat and make sure that you’re getting enough protein. And what exactly is a proper ammount of protein?
There are differning opinions on this, but in general the range is anywhere from .4 grams per pound to 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight. This range comes encompasses people who are not active to people who are weight training. If you lift weights, and want to build muscle, then it is important to hit the top of the range.
Now, there are a lot of protein calculators out there. You can use MFP (myfittness pal) or even an online cal formula from a weight training site.
But what do you do with that number once you’ve got it?
Well, you have to find foods that have protein in them, and in decent quantieis. Many people eat chicken and eggs or beef to hit their protein goals.
Of course this won’t work for anyone who is a vegetarian or vegan. For those people your best bet is to find vegan or vegetarian protein powders.
But what about whole foods? While some people might want to get protein from protein shakes, others do want to get some or most of their protein from food.
The problem for vegetarians, and especially vegans, is that there are not that many whole foods that are vegan/vegetarian friendly that are rich in protein.
The media innundates us with the notion that the only good sources of protein are meats of eggs. Well, this isn’t true.
You can get protein from leafy greens, like spinach for instance, as well as nuts and grains .
Vegetable Protein: Does Spinach Have Protein
Leafy greens have a good ammount of protein, and morever, it’s a readily available and non-stomach ache causing kind. Some people can’t tolerate dairy protein from things like Whey Protein or yogurt, so if you’re a vegetarian and not someone who can stomach lactose, then leafy greens are a great source of protein.
Spinach has aproximately 3 grams of protein per serving, which is a cup.(refrence linked at bottom of the page along with other supporting evidence).
There are some downsides to using spinach as a main protein source, which you should be aware of. First, spinach does have oxaliac acid. This is a concern if you decide to eat nothing but spinach day after day. It’s going to be an issue for people who over indulge. I prevsiously wrote an entire article on spinach juice and oxaliac acid.
This is why I don’t reccomend that you over do it with the spinach or make spinach your main source of protien.
In fact, if you tried that, it would be very difficult. If you’re a 150lb person, for instance. You need, roughly 90 to 150 grams of protein per day. That would be unfesible to get though spinach alone.
This is why I suggest either having a good protein powder (I ranked the best vegetarain protein powders including vegan ones here) or making sure you have enough lentils and other protein rich foods (even nuts) in your diet.
A word on nuts though. If you’re going to have nuts in your diet, be aware that they have a lot of caloires. Because they have so much good fat, they have a lot of calories.
Does Spinach Juice Have Protein?
Yes! As we already mentioned, spinach does have protein. As noted, it’s a leafy green which are actually very rich in protein.
Why do you think those animals who eat nothing but green plants get so strong?
The obvious question that you might ask is if spinach juice has as much protien as spinach. Because, they are somewhat different.
The answer is yes. You are removing fiber from the spinach, not the protein, when you juice. So, rest assured that you are not removing protein.
Fiber is good for you, but it’s also filling hence why you are not able to eat as much as you could drink.
Spinach juice does have protein, but I would caution against drinking a big glass of pure spinach juice (like 8 ounces or more) every day.
It’s not something that you’d want to do everyday. Simply because you would be getting to much oxaliac acid (and also, potentialy too much Iron).
But a small ammount of spinach mixed with other things (apples, carrots, celery, for instance) is a super safe juice to have and you do get protein.
The ammount of protein will be less than a protein shake for sure, but it will be more than what you get from a coffee or other Starbucks drink.
Not only that, but this protein is going to help you get though the day in a more healthy manner than drinking coffee.
One of the main points I always tell people to consider is that they want to drink something that is all around healthy. So, a spinach juice will have the healthy protein necessary to keep you energized during the morning. It’s a great post-workout drink, plus it combines so many other health nutrients that will make it a powerful altertantive to caffinated drinks.
I have a whole write up on my persoanl juicer recomendtions here.
What I suggest is mixing in a healthy and varried diet of:
- Protien from Whole Foods: Beans, Grains, Nuts
- Protein from Protein Powders
- Protein from Spinach Juices (with apples/carrots/celery).
Supproting Evidence
Hi there everyone!
My names Jason (Jay for short). You can find out more about me and why I started this website here.
Stay healthy and I hope you enjoy the information!