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Favorite proteins
By Beth | January 18, 2008
Protein foods are such a great help on the Six Word Diet, because proteins last a long time and, well, protein is good for you, and you need to get enough–I aim for 40 to 50 grams a day.
Before I show you my list of favorite proteins that I usually have around the house–here is an interesting excerpt from a bestselling book–this explains a bit about our protein needs. After this excerpt is my list.
This is from the book called SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, by Dr. Steven Pratt. I haven’t read this book, but found this interesting excerpt online:
“In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences published a new Dietary Reference Intake on everything from fiber to fatty acids…What does [it] translate to in everyday terms? Well, adult women need at least 46 grams of protein; adult men, 56 grams (very active and elderly people may well need more). It’s very easy to achieve this protein recommendation. A woman can reach her daily goal with 3 ounces of tuna (20 grams of protein) plus 3 ounces of turkey breast (26 grams of protein)…A few dangers in an exceptionally high protein intake: the more protein you take in, the more calcium you excrete in your urine, raising your risk for osteoporosis.” [Article gives the example that 95 grams of protein a day might be too much.]
That kind of information is why I aim for between 4o and 50 grams of protein every day.
So one day I decided to make a chart of my favorite proteins that I use for my meals. I mean, these aren’t necessarily my favorite FOODS, but they are kind of simple-to-eat proteins that are easy to keep around the house, and are relatively inexpensive and require very little labor.
I wanted to see which one gave me the most protein for the fewest number of calories AND let me eat the most, or which lasted longest between meals. I think that’s how the list started.
So here’s what I found:
Favorite proteins were:
Hard-boiled egg whites — 16 calories each — 3 grams of protein each
Egg beaters or generic version (pourable egg whites for scrambled eggs) - 60 calories per serving — 12 grams of protein
Hormel canned chicken breast in little cans — 50 calories per serving — 11 grams of protein
Albacore tuna in foil packet (expensive) — 90 calories per serving — 19 grams of protein
Fat free cheese slices (also a bit expensive, but worth it) — 30 calories per slice (3 slices almost 100 cals) — 5 grams of protein per slice (would be 15 grams of protein if 3 slices eaten)
(This one is weird and is one of my favorites–but truly weird!) Baby meat sticks–one whole jar is just 70 to 100 calories, and there’s like 9 meat sticks in the jar! Crazy tasting, but grows on you — 8 grams of protein per jar
Skim milk (how simple does it get?)– 90 calories in a whole cup — 8 grams of protein (Hot or cold, mixed with sugar free Hershey’s syrup–yum!)
Swiss Miss diet hot chocolate mix — only 25 calories in a whole packet! — 2 grams of protein (make it with skim milk and it’s even more protein and SO good!)
Cottage cheese — (there are better kinds than 4 percent, but that’s what was in the house)–just under a half cup for 100 calories(that’s not much, so I’d go with lower fat content and get to eat more) — a bit less than 12 grams of protein
Kidney beans or garbanza beans or similar — 100 calories per serving (about a third of a can?) — 8 grams of protein. Beans are SO healthy but need something zippy. They’re great hot with raw onion on top and vinegar or ketchup (that’s southern cooking there). Sometimes I use a whole can of garbanza beans and make hummus and just divide the hummus into whatever size equals 100 depending on whether you put olive oil in or not–without olive oil, and just spices, salt, garlic? and lemon, the whole can made into hummus should come out about 100 calories for one third of the can’s worth of hummus. If you add one slight Tablespoon of olive oil, then that’s 100 calories, so you could have one fourth of the resulting pile of hummus, not one third.
This is just a quick list–not all inclusive! It’s just the stuff I like and that I tend to have around the house.
Hope that helps!
Topics: Protein |
February 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Beth, This article on Proteins is very informative. I glean something new with every post you make. God Bless You!!! Carol