Protein decisions

Making protein a part of your everyday diet is challenging. You’ll have to make some inconvenient decisions about food choices and portion sizes. Here’s a simple guide to reaching 70–80 g of protein a day, whatever your constraints.

Two ideas to keep in mind. DIAAS is a measure of protein quality — how much of what you eat your body can actually use, benchmarked against high-quality sources. Cereals and most plant proteins score low; animal proteins and soy score high. Leucine is the amino acid that matters most for building and holding on to muscle, and some foods carry far more of it per serving than others.

If you eat meat, eggs and dairy

Your foods already contain all the amino acids you need. The catch is calories: full-cream dairy, whole eggs and fatty cuts are all calorie-dense. Lean toward toned milk, leaner cuts, and — where it helps — egg whites.

You’ll rarely need a supplement. 80 g of protein comes easily from 1.5 cups of dairy, 3 eggs, 150 g of meat, fish, chicken or seafood, and 1.5 cups of cooked chole, rajma or lentils — around 92 g on paper. But the lentils are only partly absorbed (low DIAAS), so the real number is a bit lower. You can swap the 1.5 cups of dairy for 200 g of cottage cheese or 70–80 g of regular cheese.

If you eat eggs and dairy

Both are complete proteins. Cow’s milk, though, is low on leucine per serving — processing it into cheese, whey, low-fat yoghurt or casein raises both the leucine and the protein sharply.

Three or four eggs, 2 cups of chole/rajma/lentils, 110 g of cottage cheese and 1.5 cups of dairy should get you to 70–75 g. Dropping meat makes it harder to add protein without adding calories; egg whites, cottage cheese and processed soy are your three cleanest levers. Primary carbs — rice, wheat, quinoa, nuts — will chip in another 10–15 g of lower-quality protein to reach 80.

If you eat eggs but not dairy

Eggs are a complete protein, and whole eggs paired with egg whites make a great combination for satiety.

Two cups of chole/rajma/lentils and 4 whole eggs get you to 40–45 g. For the other 30–35 g, the least calorific options are gluten flour, defatted almond flour, tofu, defatted soy flour, or a soy or pea protein isolate. Rice, wheat, quinoa and nuts can add 10–15 g more, but at low quality and high calories.

If you eat dairy but not eggs

Milk is a complete protein but short on leucine per serving.

Two cups of chole/rajma/lentils, 1.5 cups of curd or milk, and 100 g of cheese (preferably low-fat cottage cheese, paneer or cheddar) get you to 50–55 g. For the other 20–25 g, reach for gluten flour, defatted almond flour, tofu or defatted soy flour — all easy to fold into daily meals — or a soy, milk or pea isolate for convenience.

If you eat only plants (dal, chole, soy, rajma, nuts)

Skipping animal products leaves you with mostly low-DIAAS protein, soy being the exception. It takes some care to pick foods with enough leucine — soy, pea isolate, almonds and peanuts.

Two cups of chole/rajma/lentils, 100 g of tofu and 50 g of nuts get you to 50–55 g. Going fully plant-based makes it hardest to add protein without adding calories; the least calorific options are gluten flour, defatted almond flour, tofu and defatted soy flour, with a soy or pea isolate for convenience.

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