Micah Stanley
Of course, a wholesome diet also includes proteins. Fortunately, almost every food contains protein. Only pure oils or pure sugar are free of proteins. However, if you want to optimize your protein supply in a targeted manner, those foods that have an extremely high protein content are of particular interest.
High protein foods for a healthy diet
Along with carbohydrates and fats, proteins belong to the macronutrients. Proteins are quite large molecules made up of many individual amino acids.
When we eat proteins, they are broken down into individual amino acids during the digestive process. From this, the body now builds its own proteins – namely those that it needs at the moment. These can be muscle proteins, hormones, antibodies, enzymes, proteins for connective tissue, blood clotting factors, keratin for hair and nails, and much more.
So it would be very unfavorable if you didn’t eat enough protein-rich foods. However, too much is not good either. With 0.8 to 1 g of protein per kilogram of body weight, however, you are well supplied without having to worry about a protein surplus at the same time.
High Protein Foods – The List
The following protein-rich foods are particularly suitable for a healthy supply of high-quality protein in a healthy diet, and we will suggest a delicious recipe for each of them:
Legumes
- lenses
Lentils are among the most protein-rich legumes.
- Chickpeas
Chickpeas or common core beans are also extremely high-protein foods. They contain – also cooked – 9 g
- Peas
Green peas are particularly popular.
- Lupine
A lesser-known legume is a lupine. At best, the lupine protein is used in some kitchens. You can use it to prepare protein shakes, but you can also mix it (up to 30 percent of the amount of flour) in bread and rolls.
Of course, soybean is also a legume and therefore a protein-rich food.
Soy products
Soy products not only provide a lot but also high-quality protein. Anti-soy rumors are mostly based solely on studies in which, for example, infants were fed nothing but soy food. These would most likely have fallen ill even with a pure meat or egg or bread diet. Other studies consisted of isolating substances from the soybean and feeding them to rats in high concentrations. So these studies don’t even remotely resemble a diet of eating tofu or drinking a glass of soy drink every now and then.
- Tofu
For example, tofu sausages contain 14 g and tofu 16 g
- Tempeh
Tempeh provides slightly more protein than tofu.
- Soy milk
The protein content of soy drink is comparable to that of cow’s milk, it contains 4 g of protein.
This means that even small amounts of soy are enough to increase the protein balance. So you don’t have to ingest soy protein shakes or eat mountains of tofu every day.
Oilseeds
Oil seeds include high-fat seeds, from which edible oils are also often made, e.g. B. sunflower seeds, hemp seeds,s or pumpkin seeds. The oilseeds are not only full of high-quality fats but also rich in proteins. Hulled hemp seed provides 30g of protein and sunflower seeds provide 20g of protein.
If you want to do without the high-fat content, you can use the pure flours of the seeds, which contain significantly less fat, or you can also use the respective protein, e.g. B. the hemp protein (see 8.) or the pumpkin seed protein.
Nuts
The nuts are similar to the oilseeds. They are also high in fat and there are now nut flours with a lower fat content. Not only are they high in fat, but they are also excellent sources of protein. Of course, they not only consist of proteins but also of particularly high proportions of minerals and trace elements, e.g. As calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron.
- Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts contain 12 g of protein.
- Almonds
Almonds contain 22g of protein. Delicious creations can be prepared with other components.
- Cashew nuts
Cashew nuts contain 17 g of protein.
- Peanuts
Peanuts (25g protein) are legumes but are eaten more as a snack than a vegetable, which is why we’re including them here.
- Brazil nuts
Brazil nuts are also a wonderful source of selenium.
Whole grains
In addition to spelled (10 g per slice), cereals include rye (10 g), barley (10 g) and oats (13 g), and others. also brown rice (5-6 g per 200 g) and millet (7 g per 200 g). They are all very high in protein.
Pseudo grain
The pseudocereals are also very protein-rich foods. At the same time, their proteins are considered to be of very high quality, as they also contain a large amount of the amino acid lysine compared to grain protein.
- Quinoa
When cooked, quinoa has a protein content of 4.4 g per 100 g.
- Amaranth
Amaranth (also cooked) provides 4.8 g.
- Buckwheat
And boiled buckwheat still 3.5 g.
High Protein Vegetables
Vegetables take up a lot of space in a healthy diet. So there is nothing special about eating 500g of vegetables or more per day on a plant-based diet, e.g. B. 200 g of lettuce and 300 g of mixed vegetables.
Most vegetables provide 1 to 3g of protein per 100g. If you were to eat 500 g of vegetables, that would already be 5 – 15 g of protein. But there are also vegetables that contain much more protein
- Cabbage
With a particularly high amount of protein, Brussels sprouts and kale each provide 4.5 g of protein.
- Spinach and broccoli
Spinach and broccoli contain 3g of protein, so a 200g serving is already 6g of protein.
- Potatoes
Potatoes also provide protein, namely 2 g per 100 g raw potato.
- Wild plants
Wild plants such as nettles (7 g) and dandelion (3 g) are among the leafy vegetables with the highest protein content.
Vegetable protein powder
Of course, you can also integrate one or the other protein shake into your diet. The purely plant-based protein powders, such as B. the rice protein or the pea protein, each with an 80% protein content.
The hemp protein has a 50% protein content, but more vital substances and high-quality omega-3 fatty acids.
You can mix protein powder with juices, also with rice or oat milk, and a banana or simply sprinkle it in muesli or stir up to 20 percent into the bread dough.
A rice protein shake or even a pea protein shake (with 20g of protein powder) will provide you with at least 16g of protein, a hemp protein shake with 10g of protein, depending of course on what else you mix in.
High protein dietary supplement
You may already be taking a natural dietary supplement, such as B. Moringa, chlorella, or a grass powder. These foods are also very high in protein. You just don’t benefit as much from their protein content, since you only eat small amounts of it.
The daily dose of chlorella (4 g) provides around 2.4 g of protein. Barley grass juice powder with nearly 3g per 10g of powder and Moringa with 2.5g of protein per 10g of powder.
It is particularly easy to take the dietary supplements mentioned by mixing them in smoothies. But they also fit into some pastry doughs (savory) and in dressings.
