Protein is an essential nutrient to maintain a healthy life.We have a lot of problems with getting protein into the body. Most Sri Lankans do not favor eating meat because we grew up in a Buddhist culture. Chicken and fish are often eaten as animal flesh. It is also a small piece with a dish of curry and rice. We believe that eating too much meat is unhealthy. 

A new trend has emerged that in order to lose weight, it is necessary to eat more foods that are high in proteins and low in carbohydrates. There have also been some problems with the use of dairy products. Along with all of this, you can see the problems of meat eating at the environmental level as well. About 7.1 billion people live on the earth, and the animal population to meet their food needs is about 5 times the world's population. It also causes global warming. Taking all this into consideration, the best way to get protein into our body  is to add more plant based protein into our daily diet. 

The problem with plant proteins is the quality. You are probably aware of this, that plants do not contain all the essential proteins we need and even when they do, they do not have the necessary amounts of those essential proteins. Animal protein contains all the protein we need and among them, egg and milk contain high quality protein. This is why there is a problem with the nutritional requirements of vegetarians. The solution is to get  various plant based food items that are rich in protein for a single meal. 

People who have been eating meat for a long time cannot change their diet at once. We often get addicted to that taste, especially when eating meat consistently. That is the nature of the meat (including poultry). You can reduce the number of days you eat meat or the number of meals including meat. That is, if you eat meat seven days a week, avoid eating meat for one day. If you eat meat for all three meals, try to have one vegetarian meal. If you are a meat lover training the tongue to taste the vegetables can be a little difficult at first. 

But if you can cook vegetables tastily, you can consume less meat. I used to eat chicken or fish curry with other vegetable curries when I ate rice everyday before getting married. I could not believe that I would be able to eat only vegetable curries with rice someday. My husband does not favor meat or chicken very much although he is not a vegetarian. Therefore we reduced buying meat products and I started to cook only vegetable curries to eat rice. Now I can eat without chicken or fish. My mother is asking me how I was able to train my tongue to taste vegetables. If you try, you can do it. Me & my husband are not vegetarians. We eat chicken,fish  and other seafood time to time, but not regularly.  

I am going to tell you about the benefits of Green peas because it is a protein rich food item that you can incorporate into your diet, this will be important to you especially if you are a vegetarian.  Sri Lankans eat less Green peas. We add boiled green peas when we make fried rice. Some add them when making cashew nut curry. There are less green peas dishes in Sri Lanka. So I hope to upload Green peas recipes soon.  Let’s see the health benefits of green peas first. 

Like other legumes, green peas are rich in protein and fiber.

Both these factors help in regulating blood sugar levels and It's also important for a healthy and strong body. Green peas contain alpha linoleic acid and alpha linoleic acid is one of the forms of Omega 3 fatty acids. It is good for the heart. The bright green of Green Peas shows that it contains a large amount of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll have anti-inflammatory properties. Green peas also contain vitamin C. They also contain a phytochemical called Coumestrol which can prevent liver cancer but Coumestrol is a phytoestrogen  which can mimic the biological activity of estrogens. So if you are trying to conceive or if you are pregnant it is better to  ask your doctor or dietician about eating green peas regularly. 

Green peas also contain Zinc. Zinc is an important mineral for immunity.It also contains vitamin K, which is beneficial for the bones. This means that it is good to consistently add foods like green peas to our diet.

Many grains, including Green peas, are beneficial to us in the same way, but if they are mixed with pesticides and preservatives, they can have adverse effects. Before consuming you should wash them well. Therefore, be sure to buy them from a trusted place and read the label as well before buying.

You can incorporate green peas by adding them when you make noodles, pasta, rice, salads, soups and curries like masala. You can also make a tasty dish if you can add green peas with chicken, meat, fish and seafood like prawns and cuttlefish.