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Protein is found in meat, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, soy and wholegrains. There are low and high-quality proteins that are determined by their amino acid profile and the body’s ability to break the protein down to release the amino acids. This is determined by the food source and the other foods consumed with it...
Generally, protein derived from animal products are high quality and plant-based proteins vary, as plant-based proteins have different amino acid profiles that are rarely complete. However, most healthy Australians eat far more protein than bodies need, providing no additional benefits. It is very possible to meet your protein requirements entirely from plant-based sources.
A healthy woman aged 19-70 years needs 0.75 grams of protein per 1kg of body weight, and men the same age need 0.84g protein per kg of body weight. So, a 70kg woman would need about 52g of protein per day.
Here is a list of plant-based foods and their protein content per 100g.
- Peanuts = 25g
- Sunflower seeds = 22.7g
- Almonds = 20g
- Cashews = 17g
- Walnuts = 14.4g
- Chia seeds = 14g
- Wholegrain bread = 12g
- Tofu = 13g
- Lentils = 10g
- Red kidney beans = 6.6g
- Edamame = 6.6g
- Chickpeas = 6.3g
- Soy milk = 3.2g (compared to almond milk with only 0.6g per 100mL)