Protein is a building block, helps in strengthening muscles, growth and development of body, repair and maintenance of body tissues. It is present in all living organisms and very essential nutrient for them. Protein are the most abundant kind of molecules in our body, constitute of 20% of your body weight. Requirements of the protein depend on age, gender, growth, energy intake and many others.

Protein requirement chart

Infants                 – 1.16gm/kg/day

Children               – 0.94/kg/day

Men                     – 1 gm/kg/day

Women                – 1gm/kg/day

Pregnant women   – 78gm/day

Lactating mother  – 70gm/day 

Why is protein necessary?

• Protein is the building block and used for strengthening of muscles in our body. Without it building process of muscles is not possible.
• It is important for the proper growth and development in infants and children. That is why parents are really focused and depended on this for their growth.
• When we consume protein in appropriate amount according to our weight, it really helps in losing weight and maintaining it.
• Low consumption of proteins will disturb your metabolic activities, so to maintain healthy metabolisms we need to consume it in proportionate amount, on daily basis.
• It keeps our bones strong and healthy and keeps us away from major bone related diseases.

Deficiency of protein can cause:

• When we consume less protein we face the issue of severe weight loss,
• Feeling tired and weak all the time are the common symptoms of protein deficiency.
• As the body is weak and not ready to fight, the person is low in immunity and falls sick very regularly,
• Proteins deficient person catches any type of infection frequently.
• Major loss of fat store and severe muscle wasting
• Protein deficiency badly affects the quality of hair and makes them thin and brittle.
• Soreness in the muscles, frequent pains are all symptoms of protein deficiency.

Different sources of protein:

Pulses and beans

Beans/ legumes are the common source of protein on which maximum people depend. It is a easy to available and cheap source of getting protein. Apart from being rich in protein beans and legumes are also good source of fiber, calcium, iron and other minerals. They are plant based protein and best option for the people on vegetarian diet. Some of the beans and lentil rich in proteins are:

Soybean, Kidney beans/ Rajma, Pulses/ lentil/ Dal, Black beans/ Kale Sem, Tofu.

Milk and other dairy products

All dairy products are rich in protein and has all 9 essential amino acids. Along with proteins these products are also best way of getting calcium, vitamins, magnesium and zinc.  Some of the dairy products which have protein in good amount are:

Milk,  Curd,  Cottage cheese/ Paneer,  Cheese

 Vegetables

Protein is the building block nutrient, requirement of this nutrient is the most required in our body. So this plant based protein is another option of getting these essential amino acids. People who are on vegan or vegetarian diet completely depend on this type of protein. Choosing the right amount of protein in your diet plays a very important role.  

Some of the vegetables which are rich in protein content are:

Peas, Beans, Sweet potato, Mushrooms, Sweet corn, Broccoli

Fruits

Thanks to the veganism, this has expanded our knowledge on different sources of protein. As vegans are completely depended on plants and fruits for their protein. Earlier we were just aware about beans, legumes and dairy products as a source of protein. Fruits which are rich in many other nutrients along with protein are:

Apple, banana, kiwi, avocado, guava, pineapple, cherries, grapes, black berries

Cereals

Cereals, which we consume on daily basis in our one or two meal. Preparing its porridge or in the form of flour or in some liquid batter for making dosas. Cereals are our staple food and we totally depend on them for our daily needs, they are cheap source of protein and  easily available everywhere.

Some of the cereals list which are good in protein are

Wheat, bajra, barley, oats, rice bran

Dry fruits, nuts and seeds

Seeds, nuts and dry fruits are the energy giving food which has to be consumed in smaller quantity to get the most of its benefits. In this case lesser does the better, as the smaller quantity suffice our daily requirement of nutrient. They are the power house of energy, proteins, mineral and other vitamins. Best way to consume them is after soaking the nuts and dry fruits. Soaking helps in removing the phytates from them and make it more nutritious.  List of dry fruits, nuts and seeds which are rich source of amino acid are:

Dry Fruits-> Almonds pista cashews, dates apricots walnuts

Seeds-> pumpkin  sunflower sesame chia flax seeds