Jack Up Your Protein Intake — Here’s The Big List Of Top Protein Sources, Including The Best Options For Vegetarians

For anyone tirelessly in pursuit of a legendarily lean physique, an ample dose of HQ protein is your #1 nutritional secret weapon. Nix that — it’s not even a weapon, it’s a mandatory requirement.

If you’re one of the 37394621923 billion people who’s ever questioned: “how can I build muscle AND lose body fat simultaneously,” ingesting enough protein is the closest thing you’ll get to an honest answer. Once inside, protein works relentlessly for your body two-fold:

1. Muscle Mass — a steady stream of protein is required for fresh lean muscle growth, recovery, and to prevent the breakdown of existing muscle tissue from exercise, long-term dieting, and poor nutrition. A consistent lack of protein WILL cause your muscles to deflate over time (aka catabolism).

2. Weight & Fat Loss — if protein’s propensity to provoke muscle gain wasn’t impressive enough, it’s also a potent mechanism to accelerate weight and fat loss.

Protein quenches hunger and controls appetite, which prevents YOU from smashing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s 30 minutes after a meal; keeps blood sugar and insulin in check and reduces the impact of carbs (especially sugar) on fat storage; AND burns major calories — no effort required — thermogenically (the calories burned during chewing, digestion, absorption, metabolism, etc.).

From a pure net calories PoV, protein torches an estimated 20-35% of calories from food, whereas carbs & fat lie in the paltry 5-15% range. Translated, a 100 calorie meal from protein would burn up to 35 calories, GRATIS; that same meal from carbs or fat would only knock off 5-15.¹²³⁴⁵⁶

You do the math.

The Big List Of Top Protein Sources (Incl. The Best Vegetarian Options)

Because protein is such a powerful transformation agent, it’s critical to get enough of it on a consistent basis. Shoot for .75 – 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. If you weigh 150 lbs, that’s number should fall in the 115 – 150g range.

Here’s your full, go-to compendium of the top protein sources — based on grams of protein per 100 calories — including the best plant-based protein options for vegetarians, vegans, or anyone who’s animal-product-free.⁷

One note — veggies like watercress, broccoli raab, spinach, and mushrooms shoot up the list because they have a high protein-per-calorie ratio. When you extrapolate out to 100 calories their protein content spikes, but given how LOW in calories they are, they’re not practical as a primary protein source. You’d literally need to eat 25 cups of watercress to get 20g of protein (4 cals/.8g protein per cup).

About that.

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References, Notes, Links

1. Halton T. The Effects of High Protein Diets on Thermogenesis, Satiety and Weight Loss: A Critical Review. J Am Coll Nutr October 2004 vol. 23 no. 5 373-385 [↩]
2. Skov AR, Toubro S, Rønn B, Holm L, Astrup A. Randomized trial on protein vs carbohydrate in ad libitum fat reduced diet for the treatment of obesity. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity [1999, 23(5):528-536. [↩]
3. Layman D, Boileau R. A Reduced Ratio of Dietary Carbohydrate to Protein Improves Body Composition and Blood Lipid Profiles during Weight Loss in Adult Women. J. Nutr. February 1, 2003vol. 133 no. 2 411-417 [↩]
4. Belko A, Barbieri T. Effect of energy and protein intake and exercise intensity on the thermic effect of food. Am J Clin Nutr June 1986vol. 43 no. 6 863-869 [↩]
5. Martens E, Lemmens S. Protein leverage affects energy intake of high-protein diets in humans. Am J Clin Nutr January 2013 vol. 97 no. 1 86-93 [↩]
6. Welle S, Lilavivit U. Thermic effect of feeding in man: Increased plasma norepinephrine levels following glucose but not protein or fat consumption. Metabolism. 1981 Oct;30(10):953-8. [↩]
7. NutritionData - Protein [↩]

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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP

Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, a culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu – Paris, an ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

He also contributes to Men's Health Magazine.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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