More protein please

pkt67z

If you can stand yogurt, oikos has some decent ones that have up to 20 grams of protein.

HappyWalker16

You could also try seitan. It's high protein and low calorie, and pretty versatile in different recipes. I like to saute it with some vegetables and put it in a pita.

I also second greek yogurt!

ymg11868

Premier protein has 30 grams of proteins and is 150 calories depending on what you mix it with.

Lietchi

HappyWalker16 wrote: »

You could also try seitan. It's high protein and low calorie, and pretty versatile in different recipes. I like to saute it with some vegetables and put it in a pita.

I also second greek yogurt!

Low calorie? I'm getting 370 kcal/100gr, way more calories than low fat yogurt for example or eggs.
(But protein content is impressive though!)

AnnPT77

HappyWalker16 wrote: »

You could also try seitan. It's high protein and low calorie, and pretty versatile in different recipes. I like to saute it with some vegetables and put it in a pita.

I also second greek yogurt!

I do like seitan, but I'd just point out that plain seitan is not a balanced complete protein (in essential amino acids, EAAs). Some brands of seitan have foods in their ingredient list that would tend to fill out the amino acid profile (with more lysine), however.

There's some variability in the research I've seen about its PDCAAS (Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score) of seitan, but it doesn't seem to be a world-beater in bioavailability to say the least. (Yes, PDCAAS has flaws, but it's one thing to consider when evaluating protein sources, especially plant protein sources. No, I'm not a carnivore. I'm a vegetarian.)

I hope people know that seitan is gluten, pretty much. (That's OK by me , but I know some people are gluten sensitive or celiac.)

Lietchi wrote: »

HappyWalker16 wrote: »

You could also try seitan. It's high protein and low calorie, and pretty versatile in different recipes. I like to saute it with some vegetables and put it in a pita.

I also second greek yogurt!

Low calorie? I'm getting 370 kcal/100gr, way more calories than low fat yogurt for example or eggs.
(But protein content is impressive though!)

Seitan protein efficiency (calorie "cost") varies a lot by recipe/brand, seems like. Yogurt can vary, too.

For myself, I find it helpful to look at the ratio of calories to protein grams, or the percent of calories from protein, to evaluate vegetarian sources (alongside EAA completeness and less well-pinned down bioavailability factors).

The plain nonfat Greek yogurt I usually eat (Kirkland from Costco) has 59 calories per 100 grams with 10.6 grams of protein. That's 5.57 calories (from all sources) per gram of protein, 72% of calories from protein.

I don't eat a lot of seitan, but the most common brand/type I've bought is Upton's Naturals traditional chunks, which USDA Food Central says is 158 calories per 100 grams with 31.6 grams of protein, 5 calories (from all sources) per gram of protein, 74% of calories from protein.

The yogurt's EAA complete, with a PDCAAS at or around 1 (highest). The seitan (in that brand) is not EAA complete, with a lower PDCAAS.

I don't know whether anyone else cares, but I use simple rules of thumb to evaluate vegetarian protein sources at the store, if I'm considering something new. For myself, I figure that if some individual food/ingredient has around 10 (or fewer) calories per gram of protein, it's an OK-ish vegetarian protein source as a standalone or ingredient. Evaluating a full dish/meal or the like, I figure 30 or fewer calories per gram of protein is reasonable at my calorie level. Bioavailability and EAA completeness matter, but I don't have quick rules of thumb for those for myself.

Yes, I'm a protein geek. I'm not ashamed. If your head is spinning, feel free to ignore me.