Protein 101: Essential Guide to Daily Requirements and Top Healthy Sources

It seems like every day there is a new protein-boosted food or drink on supermarket shelves every day. Many Americans are focused on increasing their protein intake. In fact, a recent consumer survey found that “high protein” was the most popular eating pattern among respondents, with 71% reporting they “try to consume” the nutrient. 

Getting enough protein is important, since it’s essential to so many of our bodies’ functions, from building bone strength and muscles to supporting a healthy immune system. But you can meet your daily protein needs without having to grab a protein bar or shake. 

Protein-rich foods include poultry, fish, meat, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds, and legumes (especially soybeans and tofu). While omnivores enjoy protein from animal sources, plant foods can easily provide all the protein you need, and without the saturated fat found in animal proteins. Most of the whole, unprocessed foods we eat contain at least a little protein, so eating a variety of foods will help you meet your protein needs, too. 

Animal proteins like meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy are considered complete proteins because they contain significant amounts of all nine essential amino acids (amino acids that we must get from food.) Most plant foods (other than soybeans, buckwheat, and quinoa) are low in or missing one or more of these essential amino acids, so they’re sometimes described as incomplete proteins. But these foods still supply amino acids in different amounts and combinations. So, if you eat a variety of them daily, you’ll have a full complement of amino acids to supply all the protein you need. 

Another incentive to get more of your daily protein from plants: it can be good for your heart. When researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reviewed 30 years of dietary records from some 203,000 men and women in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Studies and Health Professionals’ Follow-up Studies, they found that those who ate the highest ratio of plant to animal protein had a 19% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease during the study period, along with a 27% lower risk of coronary heart disease. 

Try spacing out the protein you eat throughout the day, getting some at every meal rather than having most of it at dinner, as many of us do. 

For more information on how to eat protein more efficiently and feel more satisfied between meals—check out Food is Medicine, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

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