Protein gives your body the building blocks for your muscles and immune system. Protein food sources include animal flesh, but plants such as nuts, seeds, soybeans, chickpeas and other beans provide your body with needed protein. Include a protein rich food with your main meals to ensure you are reaching your protein requirement each day.
Beef and Pork
Each portion of beef and pork has a reference size of one ounce. This is the standard set by the American Diabetes Association, according to Fances Sizer and Ellie Whitney in "Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies." This doesn't limit you to eating 1 ounce of meat, but helps you estimate how much protein you receive from the number of ounces you eat per meal. Meats, such as tenderloin, flank steak, butterfly chops, veal, ground round, T-bone, rib or loin chop contain 7 g of protein per ounce.
Chicken and Turkey
Chicken breast, turkey cutlets, Cornish hens, drumsticks, thigh, duck and goose contain 7g of protein per ounce. Wild game, such as pheasant and wild duck, contain 7g of protein per ounce, as well. Sizer and Whitney recommend removing all skin and visible fat to make these protein sources as lean as possible.
Milk and Dairy
The portion for milk from any animal or plant source, such as goat, cow, soy or rice, is 8 fl oz. The protein content of a portion of milk is approximately 12g. Cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese provide protein. Each ounce provides 7g of protein. Whole eggs or 2 egg whites contain 7g of protein per egg.
Vegetarian Foods
Vegetarian foods or analogs, such as seitan, tempeh, chickwheat, tofu, vegetarian sausage links and patties, burgers and chicken breasts are protein sources. The main protein source is soy, but seitan or chickwheat is made from gluten, the protein from wheat. Tempeh is made from fermented soy. a 4 oz. portion of tofu provides 7g of protein. One sausage patty provides 10g of protein. Protein content varies from analog to analog, based on the serving size listed on the package. Most analogs provide approximately 14g of protein.
Beans, Lentils and Legumes
Portion size for beans, lentils and legumes provide 7g protein per ½ cup serving. Hummus, which is ground chickpeas, provides 7g of protein per 1/3 cup. Falafel, or fried chickpea patties, provides 7g of protein per three patties.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and nut butters provide protein. Each ounce of nuts provides 7g protein. Nut butters contain 7g protein per tablespoon serving. One tablespoon serving of pumpkin or sunflower seeds has 7g of protein.
Seafood
Canned salmon and tuna have 7g of protein per ¼ cup. Each ounce of fresh or frozen fish, such as salmon, tilapia, cod, halibut, trout and orange roughy is 7g of protein. Six medium oysters provide 7g of protein.
References
- "Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies"; Frances Sizer and Ellie Whitney; 2008
- "Food Values of Portions Commonly Used"; Jean Pennington and Judith Spungen Douglass; 2005
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