High-Protein Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Protein is key for helping prevent muscle loss. It’s also critical in creating hormones (e.g., insulin and thyroid hormones), neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin and dopamine), enzymes, and antibodies, which determine how well our bodies function and, as a result, how we feel.

For both women and men, the Recommended Daily Allowance for protein is based on your body weight: 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, which is about 54 grams a day for a person weighing 150 pounds (68 kilograms). Physical activity and age can affect how much protein we need. If you’re relatively active, you’re going to need more protein to compensate for the breakdown and utilization of proteins that occur while you’re moving.

We also need to consume more protein as we age. Studies show that consuming about 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day can help prevent age-related muscle loss, which can impair physical movement in older adults.

If you’re looking to get more protein in your diet (for whatever reason), here are some simple recipes from the goop archives—for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—to help.

Our bodies can make more than half of the 20 amino acids we need. There are nine that we can’t make: phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, and histidine. (They’re called essential amino acids because we must get them from food.)

Protein sources are referred to as complete or incomplete, but the names are a bit misleading. Complete protein sources include animal-based foods that contain the nine essential amino acids (e.g., meat, fish, poultry, and eggs). Incomplete protein sources—plant-based foods (e.g., legumes, nuts, and seeds)—contain all nine essential amino acids, but the amount of one or more amino acid is lower than the dietary requirements.

There are some plant-based foods that meet the amino acid dietary requirements and are considered complete protein sources, like soy, quinoa, amaranth, and hemp and chia seeds. Even so, generally all plant-based proteins, including complete ones, are lower in all the essential amino acids than animal-based protein sources. If you’re eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, it’s important to combine different plant-based protein sources so that you get enough essential amino acids.

This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of goop.