Are You Eating Enough Protein? (Part Two)
Food for Thought: The Joys and Benefits of Living Vegan
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 22 August 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, I encourage you to start there—we covered the basics of protein: what it is, how it functions in the body, why plant and animal amino acids are identical, and why the RDA is just the minimum.
In Part 2, I talk about what’s shifted for me now that I’m at Level 55 (a language reframe I now love for “aging”), and why I had to “level up” when it came to both strength training and protein intake. Here’s what I share:
* Why my perspective on protein has deepened—not because I’m vegan, but because I’m 55, post-menopausal, and also highly active
* The game-changing role of resistance training (and why lifting heavier is essential as we age)
* Why peri- and post-menopausal women—and older men—need more protein to counter muscle loss and support bone health
* Practical ways to hit daily targets
* The results I’ve experienced since increasing my protein and lifting heavier
🎧 Listen to the full episode for practical tips, high-protein plant food ideas, and why I’ve become such a cheerleader for protein.
👉 You can also watch the podcast episodes on YouTube now!
DISCLAIMER: This episode is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health, medical condition, or before making changes to your diet, exercise, or medication.
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Additional Resources
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Food for Thought. My name is Colleen Patrick Godrow. I am your host. You can find me at joyfulvegan.com. Welcome also back to Are You Eating Enough Protein? Part 2. Hi, everybody. I hope you're doing well. If you haven't listened to Part 1, I encourage you to go back and start there. We covered some foundational topics, |
| 0:21.7 | including how U.S. dietary guidelines shaped our view of protein and why many people still think |
| 0:27.6 | protein means meat, animal meat. We talked about the shift from meat as a food group to protein |
| 0:34.8 | as a nutrient category. We talked about how protein functions in the body, |
| 0:39.2 | what amino acids are, and why amino acids in plants are identical to amino acids in animals, |
| 0:47.3 | and why the RDA for protein is a minimum, not necessarily optimal, especially as we age or increase activity. And finally, |
| 0:56.1 | we talked about what top plant-based nutrition experts recommend for daily protein intake and how |
| 1:03.0 | that compares to the RDA, the recommended daily allowance. So that's part one. If you missed it, |
| 1:08.8 | I highly encourage you to go back and listen before diving into today's episode. And before we do dive in, please, just a reminder, this episode is for informational purposes only. It's not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any |
| 1:28.6 | questions you may have regarding your health, medical condition, or before making changes to your |
| 1:34.1 | diet, exercise, or medication. I ended the last episode talking about how I've made some really |
| 1:40.1 | serious changes in terms of really kind of what I'm eating, when I'm eating, and how much |
| 1:46.2 | protein I'm eating. |
| 1:48.3 | I've grown in my thoughts about protein. |
| 1:54.7 | Why? |
| 1:55.7 | Because I've grown literally. |
| 1:59.7 | I am 26 years older than when I first became vegan. |
| 2:04.0 | I'm 26 years older than when I first started this work. |
| 2:07.1 | I'm 18 years older than when I recorded that very first podcast episode about protein |
| 2:12.3 | in 2006. |
| 2:13.4 | I'm five years older since I have gone through menopause. I, actually, I guess it's four years since I have gone through menopause. |
| 2:18.3 | I, actually, I guess it's four years since I've gone through menopause, but years before that |
... |
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