Protein serves as the major structural component of all cells in the body, and functions as enzymes, in membranes, as transport carriers, and as some hormones. During digestion and absorption dietary proteins are broken down to amino acids, which become the building blocks of these structural and functional compounds.
Of those twenty amino acids, nine must be absorbed from the diet (for humans and most animals). These are called essential amino acids. The human body can create the remaining eleven on its own, or from other amino acids, should they be lacking. Plants and most microorganisms can produce all twenty on their own.
This article will cover the recommended intake levels for protein, why we want to reach those levels, the dangers of overconsumption, and which foods are richest in it.
Note that all recommended intake figures below are based on the needs of a 31 year old non-pregnant, non-lactating woman on a 2000 kilocalorie diet. Your personal requirements may differ (wildly). One way to figure out your individual needs, including calories per day, is the FooDosage Nutrition Calculator. It’s free, by the way.
Recommended Protein Intake
The recommended intake range for protein, as set by the National Academy of Sciences, is between 10% and 35% of a person’s daily calorie consumption.
Our example woman requires between 49 and 171 grams of protein per day, with a target value of 98 grams per day based on a balanced diet.
For comparison, a 31 year old, moderately active man weighing 75 kg would require between 67 and 234 grams of protein per day, with a target value of 134 grams per day on a balanced diet (and 2749 kilocalories per day).
The value we will use for percentages in the Top Foods section is the recommended minimum intake for our example woman: 49 g .
Why we Need Enough of it
As protein is needed to build and maintain all tissue in the human body, a long term deficiency will result in the body breaking down its own cells in order to gain the necessary amino acids to maintain the most vital systems. First to go will be muscle mass.
Slightly off topic: If you are working out with the goal of building muscle, you need to make sure you get both enough protein and a calorie surplus, as a deficiency in either will lead to the opposite of the desired result: Atrophy. If you don’t get enough calories, your body my actually “burn” muscle tissue (not only fat) to gain enough energy to keep going.
Dangers of Overconsumption
Some inconclusive studies have found various risks associated with an excessive protein intake (Osteoporosis for example).
Yet the upper limit of 35% has been set simply to allow for an adequate intake of fats and carbohydrates.
If nothing else, the dangers of an overconsumption of protein are those of a carbohydrate and/or fat deficiency.
Foods Richest in Protein
Complete proteins are mostly found in animal sources such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese, and yogurt. These proteins contain a sufficient amount of each of the nine essential amino acids. Usually a sizable surplus.
Proteins from plant sources (legumes, grains, nuts, seeds for example) are often deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids and are called “incomplete proteins”.
For omnivores, pescitarians, and even most vegetarians, this does not pose a problem, as the amino acid surplus from animal protein sources usually covers the plant source deficits.
Vegans however need to be very mindful of this issue and make sure they combine different protein sources with varying deficits and surpluses, so the amino acid levels balance out. The FooDosage Nutrition Calculator can help you figure this out.
Some choice examples of protein rich foods:
FooDosage Nutrition Calculator – Protein Leaderboard
Roasted Soybeans
Example: Sincerely Nuts Soybeans (Soy Nuts) Roasted & Salted (Amazon)
Protein per 100g: 38.6 g (79% of recommended minimum intake)
A healthier snack, roasted soybeans sport the highest concentration of protein on our list (among palatable and commonly available foods). While they also provide a good amount of fat (25.4 g, 45%), the amount of saturated fat is relatively low at 3.7 g / 100g.
Protein completeness score: 100%
Roasted Soybeans are also a good source of:
- Manganese – at 2.15 mg / 100g (120% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 0.83 mg / 100g (92% of recommended minimum intake)
- Vitamin K – at 50.4 µg / 100g (56% of recommended minimum intake)
- Folate (B9) – at 211 µg / 100g (53% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 363 mg / 100g (52% of recommended minimum intake)
Deer, Shoulder
Protein per 100g (cooked): 36.3 g (74% of recommended minimum intake)
Mmmh, venison. Even though the results of recent studies into the dangers associated with red meat may have been blown out of proportion, and it is perfectly fine and healthy to consume, the key is moderation. Two to three portions of around 200 grams of lean red meat per week are not only delicious, but can be a healthy source of protein. At 4 grams of fat per 100g, this certainly qualifies as lean.
Protein completeness score: 100%
Deer (shoulder meat) is are also an excellent source of:
- Cyanocobalamin (B12) – at 3.06 µg / 100g (128% of recommended minimum intake)
- Zinc – at 8.64 mg / 100g (108% of recommended minimum intake)
- Riboflavin (B2) – at 0.66 mg / 100g (60% of recommended minimum intake)
- Niacin (B3) – at 7.43 mg / 100g (53% of recommended minimum intake)
- Vitamin B6 – at 0.48 mg / 100g (37% of recommended minimum intake)
Beef, Top Round
Protein per 100g (cooked): 36.1 g (74% of recommended minimum intake)
Another, yet more commonly available, example of a lean (6 grams of fat per 100g) red meat. Also delicious.
Protein completeness score: 100%
Beef (top round) is also an excellent source of:
- Cyanocobalamin (B12) – at 2.7 µg / 100g (113% of recommended minimum intake)
- Selenium – at 33 µg / 100g (60% of recommended minimum intake)
- Zinc – at 4.56 mg / 100g (57% of recommended minimum intake)
- Choline – at 138 mg / 100g (32% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 226 mg / 100g (32% of recommended minimum intake)
Chicken Breast
Protein per 100g (cooked): 33.4 g (69% of recommended minimum intake)
Classically and undisputedly (currently) healthy, and tasty. Chicken breast is one of the most famously low fat (4.7 g / 100g), protein rich foods out there. There is not much to worry about here, except for the antibiotics, growth hormones and excruciatingly miserable conditions under which chickens are raised in conventional farms. Please buy organic, or at least free range. (The same goes for all farmed meat products.)
Protein completeness score: 100%
Chicken breast is also an excellent source of:
- Niacin (B3) – at 14.78 mg / 100g (106% of recommended minimum intake)
- Vitamin B6 – at 0.64 mg / 100g (49% of recommended minimum intake)
- Selenium – at 26.2 µg / 100g (48% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 246 mg / 100g (35% of recommended minimum intake)
- Choline – at 95.9 mg / 100g (23% of recommended minimum intake)
Pumpkin Seeds
Example: Eden Organic Pumpkin Seeds (Amazon)
Protein per 100g: 29.8 g (61% of recommended minimum intake)
An acquired taste (for me), pumpkin seeds certainly are a good source of protein. They also contain a significant amount of fat (49 g per 100g, 86%) of which luckily only 8 g are saturated.
Protein completeness score: 80% (Deficient in Lysine)
Pumpkin seeds are also an excellent source of:
- N-6, Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) – at 19.6 g / 100g (431% of recommended minimum intake. Keeping in mind that we want this number to be low)
- Manganese – at 4.49 mg / 100g (249% of recommended minimum intake)
- Magnesium – at 550 mg / 100g (172% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 1174 mg / 100g (168% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 1.28 mg / 100g (142% of recommended minimum intake)
- Zinc – at 180 mg / 100g (96% of recommended minimum intake)
Gruyère Cheese
Example: igourmet Gruyere AOC – Pound Cut (Amazon)
Protein per 100g: 29.8 g (61% of recommended minimum intake)
My favorite cheese! The taste and very slightly grainy texture are an indescribable marvel! Oh, and it has a lot of protein, as do most cheeses.. But this one is special! Because it’s my favorite.. Also, as it’s a real (full fat) cheese, it has, well, a fair amount of fat (32.3 g per 100g). But not all fat is bad fat, as we know.. Okay, it has plenty of the bad kind (saturated fat: 18.9 g per 100g). But it’s sooo good, I promise.
Protein completeness score: 100%
Gruyère is also a good source of:
- Calcium – at 1011 mg / 100g (101% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 605 mg / 100g (86% of recommended minimum intake)
- Cyanocobalamin (B12) – at 1.6 µg / 100g (67% of recommended minimum intake)
- Zinc – at 3.9 mg / 100g (49% of recommended minimum intake)
- Sodium – at 714 mg / 100g (48% of recommended minimum intake)
White Tuna
Example: American Tuna with Sea Salt – 6 Pack (MSC, Amazon)
Protein per 100g (cooked, canned): 26.5 g (54% of recommended minimum intake)
My favorite kind of tuna, and one of the most protein rich kinds of fish there are. As with all fish, make sure to buy MSC (or organically farmed).
Protein completeness score: 100%
Tuna is also a excellent source of:
- Selenium – at 60.1 µg / 100g (109% of recommended minimum intake)
- N-3, (EPA & DHA, Omega 3) – at 0.24 g / 100g (98% of recommended minimum intake)
- Cyanocobalamin (B12) – at 2.2 µg / 100g (92% of recommended minimum intake)
- Niacin (B3) – at 11.7 mg / 100g (84% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 267 mg / 100g (38% of recommended minimum intake)
Almonds
Example: Terrasoul Superfoods Raw Unpasteurized Organic Almonds (Amazon)
Protein per 100g: 21.2 g (43% of recommended minimum intake)
Nuts are protein rich in general, and almonds are amongst the richest. They also come with a large amount of fat (49.9 g per 100g, 88%), but only 3.8 g of which are saturated.
Protein completeness score: 53% (Deficient in Lysine, Methionine & Cysteine)
Almonds are also an excellent source of:
- N-6, Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) – at 12.3 g / 100g (271% of recommended minimum intake. Keeping in mind that we want this number to be low)
- Vitamin E – at 25.6 mg / 100g (171% of recommended minimum intake)
- Manganese – at 2.18 mg / 100g (121% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 1.03 mg / 100g (115% of recommended minimum intake)
- Riboflavin (B2) – at 1.14 mg / 100g 103% of recommended minimum intake)
Beans (Cranberry / Borlotti)
Example: Hunza Organic Cranberry Beans (Amazon)
Protein per 100g (cooked): 9.3 g (19% of recommended minimum intake)
As the first truly palatable (en masse) vegan option on our menu, beans provide a good amount of complete protein while containing almost no fat (0.5 g per 100g, 1%). They also taste delicious when fried with bacon (not vegan) before adding tomato sauce and little chunks of mozzarella.
Protein completeness score: 100%
Cranberry beans are also a good source of:
- Folate (B9) – at 207 µg / 100g (52% of recommended minimum intake)
- Dietary Fiber – at 8.6 g / 100g (35% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 0.23 mg / 100g (26% of recommended minimum intake)
- Manganese – at 0.37 mg / 100g (21% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 135 mg / 100g (19% of recommended minimum intake)
Lentils
Example: Palouse Brand Non-GMO Project Verified Pardina Lentils (Amazon)
Protein per 100g (cooked): 9 g (18% of recommended minimum intake)
Mmmh, Lentils. Another favorite here, especially if fried with bacon and crème fraîche. Rich in fiber and taste, while filling and hardy. Lentils also come with a very good amount of dietary fiber.
Protein completeness score: 86% (Deficient in Methionine & Cysteine)
Lentils are also a good source of:
- Folate (B9) – at 181 µg / 100g (45% of recommended minimum intake)
- Dietary Fiber – at 7.9 g / 100g (32% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 0.25 mg / 100g (28% of recommended minimum intake)
- Manganese – at 0.5 mg / 100g (27% of recommended minimum intake)
- Phosphorus – at 180 mg / 100g (26% of recommended minimum intake)
Split Peas
Example: Bob’s Redmill Green Split Peas (Amazon)
Protein per 100g (cooked): 8.3 g (17% of recommended minimum intake)
Split peas. Not everyone’s cup of soup, but certainly not the worst source of protein. Like lentils and beans, they come with almost no fat (0.4 g per 100g, 1%)
Protein completeness score: 100%
Split Peas are also a source of:
- Dietary Fiber – at 8.3 g / 100g (34% of recommended minimum intake)
- Manganese – at 0.4 mg / 100g (22% of recommended minimum intake)
- Copper – at 0.18 mg / 100g (20% of recommended minimum intake)
- Thiamin (B1) – at 0.19 mg / 100g (17% of recommended minimum intake)
- Folate (B9) – at 65 µg / 100g (16% of recommended minimum intake)
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Bon Appetit 🙂
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