P is for Protein

Ah...good ol' protein...we all love it, don't we? But why do we need it?

Protein has many functions in our body. It is needed for growth and repair of body tissues. It forms the most vital parts of our structures: skin, muscle, bone, organs, ligaments, tendons. It has regulatory roles with our hormones, antibodies, fluid balance. It is needed for energy.

It is imperative that we get enough protein in our daily diets. There is a formula to figure out what your need is:
1. Find the desirable weight for a person your height.
2. Change the pounds to kilograms (divide pounds by 2.2)
3. Multiply kilograms by 0.8 g/kg

This will give you the amount of grams you should have minimally per day. Of course, the need increases based on your fitness regime and other health factors.

Too little protein can eventually lead to malnutrition. Too much can actually lead to deficiencies in other nutrients, plus the excess will be stored as fat. It is best to balance our protein selection to 1/3 or less from animal sources and the rest from plants. Below are "some" vegetable protein sources.

Description	Weight (g)	Measure	Content per Measure (g)
Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw	33	1 cup	1.32
Artichokes, (globe or French), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	120	1 medium	4.18
Asparagus, canned, drained solids	72	4 spears	1.54
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained	60	4 spears	1.55
Asparagus, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.31
Avocados, raw, California	28.35	1 oz	0.60
Avocados, raw, Florida	28.35	1 oz	0.45
Beans, baked, canned, plain or vegetarian	254	1 cup	12.17
Beans, baked, canned, with franks	259	1 cup	17.48
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and sweet sauce	253	1 cup	13.43
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and tomato sauce	253	1 cup	13.05
Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	172	1 cup	15.24
Beans, Cowpeas (Blackeyes), immature seeds, boiled, without salt	165	1 cup	5.23
Beans, Cowpeas (blackeyes), immature seeds, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	14.43
Beans, Cowpeas, common (blackeyes, crowder, southern), mature seeds,	172	1 cup	13.30
Beans, great northern, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	14.74
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, canned	256	1 cup	13.44
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	15.35
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, canned	241	1 cup	11.88
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	188	1 cup	14.66
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, cooked, boiled, without salt	124	1 cup	2.52
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, raw	104	1 cup	3.16
Beans, Navy beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	182	1 cup	15.83
Beans, Pinto beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	171	1 cup	14.04
Soybeans, mature cooked, boiled, without salt	180	1 cup	22.23
Soybeans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	172	1 cup	28.62
Beans, Snap beans, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	135	1 cup	1.55
Beans, Snap beans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	125	1 cup	2.36
Beans, White beans, mature seeds, canned	262	1 cup	19.02
Beet greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	144	1 cup	3.70
Beets, canned, drained solids	170	1 cup	1.55
Broccoli, raw	88	1 cup	2.62
Broccoli, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	4.65
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	170	1 cup	2.86
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	50	1 beet	0.84
Cabbage, Chinese (pak-choi), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	2.65
Cabbage, Chinese (pe-tsai), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	119	1 cup	1.79
Cabbage, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.53
Cabbage, raw	70	1 cup	1.01
Cabbage, red, raw	70	1 cup	0.97
Cabbage, Savoy, raw	70	1 cup	1.40
Carrots, baby, raw	10	1 medium	0.08
Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	1.70
Carrots, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	146	1 cup	1.74
Carrots, raw	110	1 cup	1.13
Cauliflower, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	124	1 cup	2.28
Cauliflower, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	2.90
Cauliflower, raw	100	1 cup	1.98
Celery, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.25
Celery, raw	120	1 cup	0.90
Corn, sweet, white, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, cream style, regular pack	256	1 cup	4.45
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, vacuum pack, regular pack	210	1 cup	5.06
Corn, sweet, yellow, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels cut off cob, boiled, drained, without salt	164	1 cup	4.51
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels on cob, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	63	1 ear	1.96
Cucumber, peeled, raw	119	1 cup	0.68
Cucumber, with peel, raw	104	1 cup	0.72
Dandelion greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	105	1 cup	2.10
Endive, raw	50	1 cup	0.63
Garlic, raw	3	1 clove	0.19
Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	198	1 cup	17.86
Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw	56	1 cup	0.91
Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw	55	1 cup	0.56
Lettuce, looseleaf, raw	56	1 cup	0.73
Mushrooms, canned, drained solids	156	1 cup	2.92
Mushrooms, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	3.39
Mushrooms, raw	70	1 cup	2.03
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, without salt	145	1 cup	2.26
Mushrooms, shiitake, dried	3.6	1 mushroom	0.34
Mustard greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	140	1 cup	3.16
Okra, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	2.99
Okra, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	184	1 cup	3.83
Olives, ripe, canned (small-extra large)	22	5 large	0.18
Onions, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	210	1 cup	2.86
Onions, dehydrated flakes	5	1 tbsp	0.45
Onions, raw	110	1 whole	1.28
Onions, spring or scallions (includes tops and bulb), raw	100	1 cup	1.83
Parsley, raw	10	10 sprigs	0.30
Parsnips, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	2.06
Peas, edible-podded, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.23
Peas, edible-podded, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.60
Peas, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	170	1 cup	7.51
Peas, green, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	8.24
Peas, split, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	196	1 cup	16.35
Peppers, hot chili, green, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, hot chili, red, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, sweet, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	149	1 cup	1.33
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Peppers, sweet, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, red, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Potato pancakes, home-prepared	76	1 pancake	4.68
Potato, baked, flesh and skin, without salt	202	1 potato	5.05
Potatoes, baked, flesh, without salt	156	1 potato	3.06
Potatoes, boiled, cooked in skin, flesh, without salt	136	1 potato	2.54
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	135	1 potato	2.31
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	156	1 cup	2.67
Potatoes, hashed brown, home-prepared	156	1 cup	3.78
Pumpkin, canned, without salt	245	1 cup	2.70
Pumpkin, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	245	1 cup	1.76
Radishes, raw	4.5	1 radish	0.03
Spinach, canned, drained solids	214	1 cup	6.01
Spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.35
Spinach, frozen, chopped or leaf, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	190	1 cup	5.97
Spinach, raw	30	1 cup	0.86
Squash, summer, all varieties, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	1.64
Squash, summer, all varieties, raw	113	1 cup	1.33
Squash, winter, all varieties, cooked, baked, without salt	205	1 cup	1.82
Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, cooked, boiled, without salt	240	1 cup	2.95
Sweet potato, canned, syrup pack, drained solids	196	1 cup	2.51
Sweet potato, canned, vacuum pack	255	1 cup	4.21
Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, without salt	146	1 potato	2.51
Sweet potato, cooked, boiled, without skin, without salt	156	1 potato	2.57
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, stewed	255	1 cup	2.42
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, whole, regular pack	240	1 cup	2.21
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	180	1 cup	1.53
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	17	1 cherry tomato	0.14
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	123	1 tomato	1.05
Tomatoes, sun-dried	2	1 piece	0.28
Tomatoes, sun-dried, packed in oil, drained	3	1 piece	0.15
Watermelon, raw	286	1 wedge	1.77