Vegetarian protein worth the calories it costs
Ranked by calories per gram of protein, not by grams per 100 g. Which vegetarian sources are efficient, which are not, and how to build a 130 g day.
6 min read
Protein and macros
How much protein, carbohydrate and fat you actually need, how to reach those numbers, and which of them are worth tracking at all.
Protein is the macro worth counting; the other two mostly take care of themselves once calories and protein are set. These articles cover how much protein the evidence supports, how to reach it on a vegetarian diet, what a gram of each macro is worth, and when tracking macros is more trouble than it is worth.
Start with
How much protein do you actually need per day?The RDA is a floor, not a target. What the evidence supports for people who train, how to reach it on Indian food, and why it is the one macro worth counting.
16 articles
What macros are, and which ones are worth counting
Protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol, what each supplies, and why calories plus protein is the two-number system most people should actually use.
5 min read
Protein timing: what matters and what doesn't
The anabolic window is wider than the supplement industry implied. What distribution actually does, how much per meal, and where timing genuinely helps.
5 min read
Protein per kilo: where the number comes from
Why 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilogram, what to do if you carry a lot of body fat, and how the target changes between a deficit, maintenance and a surplus.
5 min read
Paneer or tofu: the protein comparison in full
Tofu gives similar protein for half the calories; paneer gives more calcium and better taste to most palates. The full comparison, with the numbers.
5 min read
Protein in eggs, whole and whites only
One large egg is about 6.3 g of protein for 72 kcal. What the yolk adds, whether whites-only is worth it, and how eggs compare on cost per gram.
5 min read
Protein in dal, chana, rajma and the rest
A katori of dal is 7 to 9 g of protein. Useful, and less than its reputation. What each pulse supplies, and where legumes fit in a protein target.
5 min read
Protein in chicken breast, raw and cooked
Raw chicken breast is 22.5 g of protein per 100 g and cooked is 31, because water is lost. The numbers, the raw-versus-cooked trap, and how cuts compare.
5 min read
What macro split actually helps fat loss?
Set protein high, keep fat above its floor, let carbohydrate fill the rest. Why that order works and why percentage-based splits mislead.
5 min read
Is whey protein necessary, or just convenient?
The evidence says supplementation helps because it adds protein, not because it is a powder. When a tub is worth buying and when it is a solved problem already.
4 min read
Hitting your protein without a single scoop
Six food changes that add 60 g of protein a day on ordinary Indian food, with what each one costs in calories and which to make first.
5 min read
Fibre, fullness, and the macro nobody counts
Fibre is why two 500 kcal meals leave you in different states three hours later. How much you need, where to get it, and why it makes a deficit survivable.
5 min read
Do you need to track macros, or just calories?
Two numbers capture almost all the benefit of four. When macro tracking earns its extra effort, and when it is precision that changes nothing.
4 min read
Dietary fat: the minimum, and why it has one
Fat is required for hormones and vitamin absorption, and at 9 kcal per gram it is the easiest macro to overshoot. Where the floor is and how to stay above it.
5 min read
Carbs: how many you need and when it matters
Carbohydrate has no strict dietary requirement, which is not an argument for cutting it. What it is actually for, and how to decide your own intake.
5 min read
How much protein do you actually need per day?
The RDA is a floor, not a target. What the evidence supports for people who train, how to reach it on Indian food, and why it is the one macro worth counting.
7 min read
Terms used in this topic
- Amino acid
Amino acids are the building blocks proteins are made from; nine of the twenty used by the human body are essential, meaning they must come from food because the body cannot make them.
- Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is the macronutrient comprising sugars, starches and fibre; it supplies about 4 kcal per gram, is the body's preferred fuel for hard training, and has no strict minimum dietary requirement.
- Complete protein
A complete protein is a food source that supplies all nine essential amino acids in proportions adequate for human needs; eggs, dairy, meat, fish and soy qualify, while most single plant sources fall short in one.
- Dietary fat
Dietary fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient at about 9 kcal per gram; it is required for hormone production and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and it is the item most often missed in home-cooked food logs.
- Fibre
Fibre is carbohydrate that the small intestine cannot digest; it adds bulk and slows digestion, improves fullness and gut health, and yields far less energy per gram than other carbohydrate.
- Leucine
Leucine is the essential amino acid that acts as the main dietary trigger for muscle protein synthesis; a meal containing roughly two to three grams of it is enough to produce a full response.
- Macronutrient
A macronutrient is one of the three nutrients the body uses for energy in gram quantities — protein, carbohydrate and fat — together with alcohol, which also supplies calories but serves no nutritional purpose.
- Micronutrient
Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals the body needs in milligram or microgram quantities; they supply no calories, so a diet can hit every macro target and still be nutritionally poor.
- Protein
Protein is the macronutrient made of amino acids that the body uses to build and repair tissue, including muscle; it supplies about 4 kcal per gram and is the one macronutrient with a daily target worth tracking.
- Protein synthesis
Muscle protein synthesis is the process by which the body builds new muscle protein; it rises after eating protein and after resistance training, and muscle is gained when it exceeds breakdown over time.
- Whey protein
Whey protein is the fast-digesting protein fraction separated from milk during cheese-making, sold as a powder; it is a convenient concentrated protein source, not a requirement for building muscle.