Protein Levels in Meat

You might eat meat simply because you enjoy it, but you can actually reap some health benefits from regularly consuming it, as well. Eating red meat in moderation may improve your quality of life through middle age, according to a study in the August 2009 issue of "Gerontology." Animal flesh also supplies nutrients hard to get elsewhere, including vitamin B-12, iron and omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, meat is one of the most concentrated sources of protein available.

Beef

Choose lean cuts of beef, and trim all visible fat before cooking it. According to BeefNutrition.org, a website managed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the top 29 cuts of lean beef have 21.9 to 28.6 g of protein per 3-oz. cooked serving. Lean ground beef with only 5 percent fat has the lowest protein count, while shank cross cuts have the highest. All lean cuts have 10 g of fat or less per serving.

Pork

Popular lean cuts of pork include sirloin chop, top loin chop, tenderloin and rib chop, containing 24.2, 25.4, 25.9 and 26.2 g of protein per 3-oz. cooked serving respectively, according to BeefNutrition.org. A slice of bacon has almost 3 g of protein, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, while a 3-oz. cooked serving of boneless, spiral-sliced ham has nearly 19 g of protein.

Poultry

A 3-oz. cooked serving of skinless, boneless chicken breast has 26.4 g of protein, and a similarly sized serving of skinless, boneless turkey breast has 25.6 g of protein, according to BeefNutrition.org. A 95-g boneless, skinless roasted chicken leg has 25.7 g of protein, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database, while a similar amount of skinless, boneless roasted turkey leg provides 27.8 g of protein.

Fish

Finned fish and shellfish both typically have 15 to 25 g of protein per cooked 3-oz. serving. Three ounces of canned tuna fish provides 20 to 24.8 g of protein, while 3 oz. of canned pink salmon has 16.8 g of protein, says HighProteinFoods.net, an Internet database that provides information on more than 6,000 foods. A cooked 3-oz. serving of pink salmon has 21.7 g of protein. Oysters can contain as little as 6 g of protein per 3-oz. serving.