Top 10 High Protein food for vegetarians

Top 10 High Protein food for vegetarians

 Why Protein rich food.

Protein is an essential macro-nutrient required for growth and maintenance of our body.

Everyone must have high protein food in their daily meal. Even if you are a vegetarian or have sedentary lifestyle i.e. less physical activities, you need optimum amount of protein for you body maintenance.  

Like Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals and etc are also necessary for body growth and maintenance.  

There will be separate articles posted in future regard the other necessary nutrients. But For now here are Top 10 High Protein food for vegetarians.

Note that some food items mentioned here might not be complete protein. In order to get all the benefits you would need to pair them with other food items to complete the amino acid profile of your food.

(10) Wheat

Whole wheat grain

Wheat is definitely a good source of protein and carbohydrates but the amino acid profile is incomplete. So you have to pair wheat with lentils and beans since both lentils and beans have complementary amino acids to wheat. When you combine wheat with such food items it becomes complete protein and you should definitely add this in your diet if you would like to bulk up or gain weight. 100g of wheat contains 12g of Protein, 72g of Carbohydrates and 3g of  Fats. Wheat might not be great if you would like to cut some weight off. Carbohydrates present in whole wheat is complex which means it makes your stomach feel full for long duration. Saturated Fats in wheat is negligible.

(9) Oats

Oat Meal

Oats like the previous one is again a grain. Like the previous one it moderately good in Protein, High in Carbohydrates and the fat content is not that high but still more than that of wheat. Oats contains complex carbs which are slow digesting. If you want to lose some weight you must add oatmeal in your diet and you would see the results in mere weeks. Talking about nutritional values, it contains 14g of Protein, 66g of Carbohydrates and 7g of Fats Per 100g. You have to again pair oats with milk in order to get complete protein out of it.

(8) Peanuts

Peanuts

Nuts are definitely high in protein but they are high in fats too. But these fats are not necessarily bad fat. If you want to have healthy gaining you must add nuts to you diet. Add peanuts in you are not allergic to it since peanut is way cheaper than almonds and cashew but has almost same nutritional values. 100g of Peanuts contains 25g of Protein 16g of Carbohydrates and 50g of Fats. Again this is not complete source of protein so you can have it with oatmeal or make oat peanut butter shake for complete protein.

(7) Udad/Urad

Black Gram

Black gram is one of the great bean I would like to suggest you. It is definitely high in carbs but the fat content in these is very less. This gram moderately high in Protein. Again this is also not complete protein source. Consuming with whole wheat bread or rice will make it complete. Talking about nutritional value, it contains 25g of Protein, 58g of Carbohydrates and  1.7g of Fats. Black Grams are very good for health.

(6) Rajma / Kidney Beans

Red Kidney Beans

Not only tasty but healthy also. Eating raw kidney beans might turn out to be poisonous.  
It is suggested that you should eat well cooked kidney beans. Kidney beans are low in fat but high in carbs and moderate in protein. A 100g serving of it provides 24g of Protein, 60g of Carbohydrates and 1g of Fat. Some people might have problem with digesting kidney beans so it not suggested if you have poor digestion.

(5) Chickpeas

Chickpea

Chickpeas are loaded with carbs and protein too. Talking about nutritional value it similar to that of red kidney beans. It might gain you some weight if you add this in your daily diet. Compared to Kidney beans it is digestible. Contains 100g of serving has 19g of Protein, 66g of Carbohydrate and 6g of Fat.

(4) Cottage Cheese/Paneer

Cottage cheese/Paneer

In the entire list this is the first thing which has complete amino acid profile. But the protein is casein which is slow digesting protein so it suggested to be consumed in the dinner. Note that Paneer is way high in saturated fats so it is need recommended to be eaten daily. Per 100g of Paneer has 19g of Protein, 6g of Carbohydrates and 27g of Fats. If you consume low fat Paneer on daily basis then there is no issue.

(3) Quinoa

Quinoa

Quinoa is again a grain but in entire vegetarian food it is the only one which has complete amino acid profile which means it is a complete protein. There is 16g of Protein, 64g of Carbohydrates and 7g of Fats in 100g serving.

(2) Soya Chunks

Soya chunk

Soya chunk is an amazing food. It the one food which has the highest Protein among all vegetarian foods. Amino Acid profile is not complete but having it with rice or chapati will make it complete. 100g of it will provide 52g of Protein, 33g of Carbohydrates and 0-3g of Fats. There is limit on consumption of soya for men. Men should not eat more than 45-50g everyday. Eating more than that might cause hormonal imbalance.

(1) Low Fat Yogurt

Low Fat Yogurt

Yogurt again is an amazing food. If you consume yogurt on daily basis then you might not need to have probiotics since they are present in yogurt itself. 100g serving has 11g of Protein, 4g of Carbohydrate and 5g of Fats.