Your Authoritative Guide to Protein

I get asked a lot of questions as a nutritionist – are carbs bad for me? How do I make healthy meals for my family? What’s the deal with the Paleo diet?

I have answers to all of those, of course.  But nearly every client, once starting one of my bespoke T101 nutrition programs or joining THE METHOD Community Coaching and seeing their daily protein target, asks me: how in the heck do I get all that protein?

First things first: most folks in general, and nearly every woman I’ve worked with, are chronically undereating protein.  If you want to lose weight, you’ll need a protein-forward calorie deficit.  If you want to gain muscle, you’ll need a protein-dominant macronutrient plan.  If you want to age healthily and without aches and pains, you’ll need adequate dietary protein to maintain degrading lean mass as you age.  There is almost no one (kidney dialysis patients aside) that doesn’t need dietary protein to thrive.

Second thing: you can, of course, get your protein from whole foods – and I encourage you do to so for the majority of your intake.  There are six primary sources of lean protein – meat, fish, egg whites, nonfat & lowfat dairy, tofu, and protein powder.  You can skip that last one if you wish, but know this: there is nothing inherently “wrong” with using a protein powder supplement if you struggle with the convenience, time constraints, and portability of other protein products.  High-quality protein powders like these are safe and effective – why is why fitness, nutrition and medical professionals recommend them to patients and clients alike.

Brands and availability of both protein foods and protein products vary by country, and I have clients around the world so forgive me if some of the stuff I refer to below isn’t available in your region.  But there are certain parameters I look for when I am “vetting” processed protein foods that might help you:

• If you’re looking to lose weight, make sure your protein product has fewer than 250 calories (otherwise it would be considered a “meal replacement” and would need to take the place of a full meal).
• If you’re consistently low on whole-food protein intake (getting under 100g a day from real food), make sure your bar has no less than 20g protein in a single serve (again, making sure that single serve is less than 250 calories).
• If you’re watching your carb and sugar intake, make sure your bar has less than 20% of its total calories coming from carbs (and as close to 0g Added Sugars as possible).
• If you’re concerned about your intake of ultraprocessed food, choose cleaner powders over bars, and look for those with fewer non-nutritive compounds (like gums, stabilisers, sugar alcohols, etc.)

My most-recommended bars are those that hit at least one of the above criteria, such as Pure Protein bars (lowest calorie), Musashi bars (highest protein), Quest bars (lower net carbs), and ALOHA bars (more unprocessed ingredients).

Honourable mentions for having at least 20g protein and tasting awesome are ONE bars, CarbKilla Grenade bars, MyProtein Layered bars, Barebells bars, Protein Crisp bars, and PhD Smart bars.

Watch out for any bars that claim to be “protein” bars on the box or package – but contain fewer than 15g protein (or more than 250 calories, or more carbohydrates than protein) per serve. These are often the result of savvy food distributors trying to rebrand what used to be known as “granola bars” or “energy bars” as protein bars, though they’re actually closer to candy bars than nutritional powerhouses (Nature Valley, Carman’s, CLIF, RXBar, Tasti and KIND bars fall into this category).

From here, let’s broaden the conversation to other protein “products” – this includes not only protein powders, but protein pasta, cookies, Pop-Tarts, peanut butter cups, potato chips, and ice creams. Please know I am not saying these foods should be the cornerstone of your diet – in fact, if you can avoid them entirely and commit to designing your personal diet around whole foods, you should.  But if you’re struggling to maintain your weight, achieve your protein target, or find alternatives to highly palatable energy-dense foods, you may want to consider them as alternatives that can move you closer toward – versus further from – your goals.

Before you enter the increasingly absurd (though occasionally delicious!) world of protein cookies, pastries, and other treats, make sure you know how to read and assess nutrition labels (get literate in terms like calories per serving, total carbs, net carbs, added sugar, fibre, protein, total fat and saturated fat) so you know exactly what you’re getting – and can tell if it’s actually any better than the “normal” food alternative.

The example I always give is the aforementioned “protein peanut butter cup” (linked above) – a fave among my clients because they seem too good to be true. But if we put the QUEST cups against good ol’ regular Reese’s, here’s what you get: QUEST Cups (190 cals – 15g fat / 9 saturated, 13g carbs / 4g fibre / 1g sugar, 11g protein) vs. Reese’s Cups (220 cals – 13g fat / 4.5 saturated, 24g carbs / 2g fibre / 22g sugar, 5g protein). As an indulgence, the QUEST Cups will at least give you 23% of calories from protein, only 9g net carbs and barely any sugar – though they’re closely on-par calories wise and contain double the saturated fat as Reese’s.

Point is, protein products will rarely come close to the protein percentages possible in natural, whole foods (chicken breast and fat-free Greek yogurt get about 80% of their calories from protein; eggs and lentils still about 34%), so make sure to choose processed protein products simply to help “fill the gap” on your daily intake (which, for most healthy and active adults, should be ~2g per KG of bodyweight or about 1g per pound) – not replace whole-food sources of true, quality protein.

In the end, for most folks, I recommend whey isolate protein if you can tolerate dairy since it’s the highest protein bang for your calorie buck; if you’re dairy-free you can also consider egg white or beef, and if you’re animal-free you can try pea isolate, soy isolate, or simply collagen peptides (but do note that collagen on its own, without other, better sources of protein, is not enough.)

And as always – if you’re looking for specific guidance on a protein-forward nutrition protocol tailored to your specific needs, preferences, dietary pattern, and goals – that’s what I do each and every day for my T101 clients.