When chips are better for you than an avocado!

The surprising ways to get your essential daily serving of protein

PROTEIN is the health ingredient of the moment: it’s the hunger- curbing secret behind popular lowcarb diets and is what helps keep us strong and lean. Yet we’re told to eat less meat to reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. So how can we get the protein we need? while animal sources such as steak and cheese are the most concentrated sources, plants also provide good quality protein.

Indeed, Public health england’s latest dietary guidelines list plant proteins ahead of animal sources for the first time (the protein group is now labelled ‘beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins’) in recognition of the fact that lower-meat diets are better for us and more environmentally sustainable. Proteins are made of amino acids, eight of which are essential and must be included in our diet as the body cannot create them. Amino acids build muscle, make hormones and produce the enzymes that facilitate all our biological reactions.

Studies also show protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer. ‘In the past, plant foods tended to be underestimated as protein sources as they generally contain relatively lower levels of total protein and essential amino acids than animal sources,’ says helen Bond, a dietitian and spokesperson for the British dietetic Association.

however, she adds, research shows even diets based entirely on plants can still meet our protein needs. Most of us already consume more than enough protein — data from the national diet and nutrition survey suggests the average is 84.6g (around 3oz) for men and 64.4g (2¼oz) for women — with just over a third coming from meat. the recommended daily intake for adults is 50g, although the over-65s may need more to maintain muscle and people who exercise hard can need twice this amount.

‘Plant sources of protein have a more rounded nutrient profile than animal food sources — generally including some carbohydrates, fibre that we are so lacking, and unsaturated fats, while the saturated fat content is often low,’ says helen Bond.

And it doesn’t have to be all nut roasts, as some of the more surprising sources of veg protein here show. for example, while a large avocado is packed with other nutrients, it has only 3.7g of protein, whereas the portion of chips below has even more hunger- suppressing protein. each of the servings here contains at least as much protein as a boiled egg — which has 6.4g.