Today I am talking about seitan , a high protein and very satiating product that is obtained from the processing of wheat gluten: being very concentrated, it has a high gluten content which makes it a heavy and indigestible food for people who show that they have a sensitivity to gluten, while it usually does not cause any digestive problems in the others. In short: you may like it or not, but its digestion is subjective. If you change your diet often and have no problems with gluten, it is a great food. But there are some things to consider:

– First of all, seitan is not a complete food from an amino acid point of view : it is often read that it lysine, an essential amino acid, but also lacks threonine. What does it mean? That if in the course of a whole day we eat only seitan as a protein resource, we will not be able to assimilate the proteins if not very partially.

This problem can be solved with the right combinations: seitan should be paired with legumes (the best soy, beans or lupins), with eggs or parmesan cheese. Warning: the important thing is to eat these foods during the same day and not necessarily during the same meal. People who are vegetarian or omnivorous and eat whey protein isolate on the same day do not need to combine seitan with legumes, eggs or cheese. Whey Isolates are rich in lysine and also have a good amount of threonine.

For example, we can eat seitan for lunch and a two-egg omelette for dinner or cheese. If we are vegan, we can for example, if we do not like the combo seitan + legumes , eat seitan for lunch seasoned with soy sauce, mushrooms or seaweed and legumes for dinner. Hemp seed-based snacks can also help us better assimilate the proteins of seitan.

– The second problem is its high gluten content: we avoid combining it with bread or pasta or cereals with gluten. Always during the day, we prefer carbohydrate-based foods such as rice and potatoes or false cereals such as buckwheat or corn.