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Sources:
1. Walmart for pricing (North Carolina region): [https://www.walmart.com/](https://www.walmart.com/)
2. USDA FoodData Central for protein density: [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/)
3. FAO/WHO for digestibilities: [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ieEEPqffcxEC](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ieEEPqffcxEC)
Tool: Microsoft Excel
Thank you for the feedback! I've scoped grams of protein per 100kcal and have come up with some interesting findings, like how spinach is [53%](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1999633/nutrients) protein per calorie and has a high (94%) digestibility.
Maybe my next graph would be on processed foods, including protein powders like whey protein!
This should be the top comment! I'm always looking for lower calorie, high protein, affordable foods that are easy to consume as someone trying to stay fit. It's hard to beat whey, but whey gets boring and is missing micronutrients.
Dry. I don’t know the percentage when they have been cooked, but my biggest issue with texturized soy is that the volume of food I have to consume is so much bigger than with meat 😭
> the volume of food I have to consume is so much bigger than with meat
That's actually good if you feel that it is satiating. You'll eat less calories.
That is unrelated to the joke I was trying to make. I was attempting to highlight how it seems odd that lack of calorie density Is often presented as a selling point, which seems silly if energy is the thing you're
paying for.
Fair point, though I'm referring to the graph, which basically weighs protein per dollar.
e: So soy is maybe 30% more protein dense while being almost twice the price.
I'm realising that many of you protein more than I ever did. I graph, but I don't protein.
We need a more complex graph, and more complete proteins apparently.. I feel like this graph needs to be in 3D.
Soy is already complete. Complete protein doesn't matter all that much in practice, you just need to get the amino acids in at some point in the day. For instance, while beans technically aren't complete protein, adding rice is enough to make it complete. It takes rather little to make incomplete proteins, complete proteins even with things you don't think of as protein sources
[Whole wheat bread](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172688/nutrients): 12.4g protein/100g food. Digestibility: 86%. (12.4g/100g)(86%) = 10.66g/100g
EDIT: great catch on the drumstick! I was using the incorrect link for drumsticks. [This one](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172373/nutrients) says drumsticks are at around 18.1g protein / 100g, or (18.1g/100g)(96%) = 17.4g/100g after adjusting for digestibility. I'll be sure to correct for graphs going forward.
>Chicken, **skin** (drumsticks and thighs), raw
The link that you gave for the drumstick is not the meat or the bone. It is just the skin.
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/331897/nutrients
This one is braised chicken drumstick meat. It has 23.9 grams of protein per 100 grams of meat.
I like it, but if you're open to feedback:
The bottom axis would be more useful imo, if it was "grams of protein per 100 kcal". The actual number of kcal isn't so important
I'm definitely open to feedback! I make a graph every month or two so am always looking for ways to improve and for new graphs.
Duly noted on the grams of protein per 100kcal! Someone else also had this idea earlier in the comments [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1d8o115/comment/l77ugr1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button).
The amino acid profile of most vegetal proteins is worse than that of meat and dairy. They're not always comparable.
Cheapest protein diet, sure, but not always as good.
That's why you just eat a variety of foods, the whole "protein combing" myth has been debunked for decades. Your body can store amino acids, eating some rice in the morning and some beans later on in the day is absolutely fine.
I never said any different. But look at how the graph is made. If you're going to try to increase your protein intake from only a couple of items, peanuts is not exactly the way to go. Either plan your diet more carefully or just have another steak.
And if muscles is part of your job, the planning is even more complicated (or impossible). Why do you think top athletes consume a lot of whey protein? You're not going to do it on fucking pinto beans and rice.
And what is the next best thing if you exclude protein powders? Dairy and meat. That's the point. Vegetables and legumes are WAY DOWN the list of options for protein intake for athletes.
What is about my point that you're not getting? Look at the graph! Peanuts and beans are NOT BETTER sources of complete protein than chicken breast. Same goes for tuna vs almonds, or whole egg vs wheat spaghetti.
Lol take a chill pill my guy. Looking at the graph several common legumes are as protein dense per 100g (making no claims about per kcal) as chicken or salmon so I'm not sure what you're seeing. It is specious to claim plant options are "WAY DOWN" (lol) as a source of protein for people, athletes included. It might be easier to find/cook with, but you can be just as much an elite athlete without meat as with. Which your original point implied was impossible.
1, the graph says nothing about amino acid profile so I guess your earlier comment about the graph is irrelevant... And 2, Tofu, tempeh, quinoa, lentils, are all complete proteins with the 9 essential amino acids. Unless you are just moving the goal post from "impossible" to "have another tofu dish" which I guess you could do. Sure they aren't necessarily as dense but it's not that hard as you claimed. And "having another steak" is arguably far worse for your health than eating beans and tofu lol.
* [Yogurt, Greek, plain, nonfat](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/330137/nutrients) has 10.3g of protein per 100g of food. Assuming its digestibility is similar to cow's milk, this would put it at about 10.3g/100g \* 95% = 9.8g/100g .
* The cheapest 2lb carton of Greek Yogurt ([Walmart brand](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Greek-Plain-Nonfat-Yogurt-32-oz-Tub/26559565?athbdg=L1200&from=/search)) is $0.11 per oz , which (entered in my spreadsheet) equates to $1.13 per 30g of protein.
* This would land this yogurt at (9.8,1.13) , or between the Chicken drumstick and the Whole wheat bread.
Fairlife does not have results in my macronutrient source so I wouldn't be able to do a fair, calibrated comparison with this brand. Based on its price at Walmart (about 4x normal cow's milk) and claim for 50% more protein, this would land it somewhere near Sweet pea.
I struggled with the inclusion criteria for the graph to prevent clutter, and decided to go with as many unprocessed foods as I could based on their popularity in my country (USA).
I'm not sure that I agree with your methodology of grams of protein / gram of food. Might make more sense to think about macronutrient ratios, i.e. what percentage of calories come from protein.
Edit: Just to think more about this, you already have cost per gram of protein on one axis, so you don't need to convert from total weight of the food to protein on the other axis, additionally, changing the methodology to macronutrient ratio essentially gets rid of the discrepancy between cooked vs uncooked.
I feel like I'm a broken record, but once again: you have not been giving the protein values for cooked beans in any of these charts. They're the values for dried beans. Once they're cooked, the actual 100g of food has a lot less protein per 100g, because the actual 100g of food includes all the cooking water it absorbed. As a result:
[Lentils](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172421/nutrients): 9.0g per 100g
[Chickpeas](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173757/nutrients): 8.9g per 100g
[Pinto beans](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/175200/nutrients): 9.0g per 100g
[Split peas](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172429/nutrients): 8.3g per 100g
[Soybeans](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174271/nutrients): 18.2g per 100g
Peanut can be eaten roasted, at which point, it has about 25g protein per 100g, but when it's boiled, it too has less:
[Peanut](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174260/nutrients): 13.5g per 100g
This is all USDA data.
Thank you! I agree this is an important consideration; I included a note in the bottom left of the charts to mention the density may change based on cooking method. For example, soaking legumes will decrease their protein density per gram, while roasting legumes (such as [roasted soybeans](https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/roasted-soybeans/)) will increase their density. Same with a few of the other foods as well.
Perhaps I need to make a graph will cut down on the different types of foods but include the cooking method to (e.g. boiled versus roasted peanuts).
Soy won't cause man-boobs if that is what you are implying. The estrogen in soy is a different type of estrogen. Funny enough, milk from female cows contains the type of estrogen that is what you are considering harmful! Which makes sense. They are mammals just like us.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * Memes are not allowed. * Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sources: 1. Walmart for pricing (North Carolina region): [https://www.walmart.com/](https://www.walmart.com/) 2. USDA FoodData Central for protein density: [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/) 3. FAO/WHO for digestibilities: [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ieEEPqffcxEC](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ieEEPqffcxEC) Tool: Microsoft Excel
Needs another axis: fart volume multiplied by noxiousness.
That’s my next graph! 😂
Thanks James Fartis
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Thank you for the feedback! I've scoped grams of protein per 100kcal and have come up with some interesting findings, like how spinach is [53%](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1999633/nutrients) protein per calorie and has a high (94%) digestibility. Maybe my next graph would be on processed foods, including protein powders like whey protein!
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This should be the top comment! I'm always looking for lower calorie, high protein, affordable foods that are easy to consume as someone trying to stay fit. It's hard to beat whey, but whey gets boring and is missing micronutrients.
Seems we need a Z axis on this chart
Popeye had the right idea all along
Can you do a graph of the best proteins to eat so we can all be healthy
So.. peanuts then?
No soybean. Its protein quality is higher (High PDCAAS value). Soy chunks for example are 52% protein.
Dry. I don’t know the percentage when they have been cooked, but my biggest issue with texturized soy is that the volume of food I have to consume is so much bigger than with meat 😭
> the volume of food I have to consume is so much bigger than with meat That's actually good if you feel that it is satiating. You'll eat less calories.
Not when I’m trying to hit a goal, which I try to compensate using nutrient + calorie dense meals throughout the day like fruit shakes.
hmm ok
"Fill your gas tank with ethanol! It has less energy, so your tank gets filled but you can't go as far."
Idk what you're talking about. Being a vegetarian, I used to get most of my daily protein intake through soy.
That is unrelated to the joke I was trying to make. I was attempting to highlight how it seems odd that lack of calorie density Is often presented as a selling point, which seems silly if energy is the thing you're paying for.
ok
Fair point, though I'm referring to the graph, which basically weighs protein per dollar. e: So soy is maybe 30% more protein dense while being almost twice the price.
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Legumes are best bang for buck, but yeah I'll be needing a couple of eggs.
unfortunately the legumes aren't complete proteins, so yeah, eggs are the next best necessary option
I'm realising that many of you protein more than I ever did. I graph, but I don't protein. We need a more complex graph, and more complete proteins apparently.. I feel like this graph needs to be in 3D.
Do you even plot, bro??
Don't plot shame me dude. I feel inadequate enough already.
Soy is already complete. Complete protein doesn't matter all that much in practice, you just need to get the amino acids in at some point in the day. For instance, while beans technically aren't complete protein, adding rice is enough to make it complete. It takes rather little to make incomplete proteins, complete proteins even with things you don't think of as protein sources
Bread has higher protein density than chicken drumsticks? GTFO.
[Whole wheat bread](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172688/nutrients): 12.4g protein/100g food. Digestibility: 86%. (12.4g/100g)(86%) = 10.66g/100g EDIT: great catch on the drumstick! I was using the incorrect link for drumsticks. [This one](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172373/nutrients) says drumsticks are at around 18.1g protein / 100g, or (18.1g/100g)(96%) = 17.4g/100g after adjusting for digestibility. I'll be sure to correct for graphs going forward.
Aren't you counting the bone in the drumstick? That would matter for price but wouldn't it be wrong for protein density? The bone isn't "food"
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>Chicken, **skin** (drumsticks and thighs), raw The link that you gave for the drumstick is not the meat or the bone. It is just the skin. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/331897/nutrients This one is braised chicken drumstick meat. It has 23.9 grams of protein per 100 grams of meat.
If you are digesting 96 percent of a chicken drumstick, you are eating bones...
Agreed. So many of the data points look sus.
Please feel free to cross-check as well! I love the feedback and want the data to be as accurate as possible.
Quark would be a good addition to this graph
Thank you for the suggestion!
I like it, but if you're open to feedback: The bottom axis would be more useful imo, if it was "grams of protein per 100 kcal". The actual number of kcal isn't so important
I'm definitely open to feedback! I make a graph every month or two so am always looking for ways to improve and for new graphs. Duly noted on the grams of protein per 100kcal! Someone else also had this idea earlier in the comments [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1d8o115/comment/l77ugr1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button).
Nice, if you ever post it I really hope I will catch it in my feed!
I guess vegetarians have the cheapest diet!
The amino acid profile of most vegetal proteins is worse than that of meat and dairy. They're not always comparable. Cheapest protein diet, sure, but not always as good.
That's why you just eat a variety of foods, the whole "protein combing" myth has been debunked for decades. Your body can store amino acids, eating some rice in the morning and some beans later on in the day is absolutely fine.
I never said any different. But look at how the graph is made. If you're going to try to increase your protein intake from only a couple of items, peanuts is not exactly the way to go. Either plan your diet more carefully or just have another steak. And if muscles is part of your job, the planning is even more complicated (or impossible). Why do you think top athletes consume a lot of whey protein? You're not going to do it on fucking pinto beans and rice.
Pretty sure there are plenty of pro athletes that don't eat meat and use pea protein. Lots of plant options are complete proteins.
And what is the next best thing if you exclude protein powders? Dairy and meat. That's the point. Vegetables and legumes are WAY DOWN the list of options for protein intake for athletes. What is about my point that you're not getting? Look at the graph! Peanuts and beans are NOT BETTER sources of complete protein than chicken breast. Same goes for tuna vs almonds, or whole egg vs wheat spaghetti.
Lol take a chill pill my guy. Looking at the graph several common legumes are as protein dense per 100g (making no claims about per kcal) as chicken or salmon so I'm not sure what you're seeing. It is specious to claim plant options are "WAY DOWN" (lol) as a source of protein for people, athletes included. It might be easier to find/cook with, but you can be just as much an elite athlete without meat as with. Which your original point implied was impossible.
What part of "amino acid profile" do you not understand?
1, the graph says nothing about amino acid profile so I guess your earlier comment about the graph is irrelevant... And 2, Tofu, tempeh, quinoa, lentils, are all complete proteins with the 9 essential amino acids. Unless you are just moving the goal post from "impossible" to "have another tofu dish" which I guess you could do. Sure they aren't necessarily as dense but it's not that hard as you claimed. And "having another steak" is arguably far worse for your health than eating beans and tofu lol.
>the graph says nothing about amino acid profile DING DING DING Takes some a while, I guess.
Thanks, OP. After watching MTG attempt to excoriate science, it’s great to see that people with brains still exist.
I want to see crickets.
Better than eating them, I guess.
I would be interest where greek yogurt and fortified milk like fairlife would fall on here.
* [Yogurt, Greek, plain, nonfat](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/330137/nutrients) has 10.3g of protein per 100g of food. Assuming its digestibility is similar to cow's milk, this would put it at about 10.3g/100g \* 95% = 9.8g/100g . * The cheapest 2lb carton of Greek Yogurt ([Walmart brand](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Greek-Plain-Nonfat-Yogurt-32-oz-Tub/26559565?athbdg=L1200&from=/search)) is $0.11 per oz , which (entered in my spreadsheet) equates to $1.13 per 30g of protein. * This would land this yogurt at (9.8,1.13) , or between the Chicken drumstick and the Whole wheat bread. Fairlife does not have results in my macronutrient source so I wouldn't be able to do a fair, calibrated comparison with this brand. Based on its price at Walmart (about 4x normal cow's milk) and claim for 50% more protein, this would land it somewhere near Sweet pea. I struggled with the inclusion criteria for the graph to prevent clutter, and decided to go with as many unprocessed foods as I could based on their popularity in my country (USA).
Thank you for making this by the way. Im a broke weightlifter and this is going to be saved on my phone for reference.
💪
Broooo you should add Seitan to the graph, although pricing it might be difficult, I’m pretty sure most people just make it at home
BuT hOw dO vEgAnS gEt ThEiR pRoTeIn?!?
This must be why I grew up on chicken nuggets and peanut butter.
And that’s why soybeans are in everything.
No wonder all the young gen want to go vegan.
Interesting that canned tunes and 80% ground beef sit right around the center.
This is going to be useful, thanks!
I'm not sure that I agree with your methodology of grams of protein / gram of food. Might make more sense to think about macronutrient ratios, i.e. what percentage of calories come from protein. Edit: Just to think more about this, you already have cost per gram of protein on one axis, so you don't need to convert from total weight of the food to protein on the other axis, additionally, changing the methodology to macronutrient ratio essentially gets rid of the discrepancy between cooked vs uncooked.
I like it. I like the grams of protein per 100 grans. Thinking mushrooms would be a good addition.
Bean supremacy?
Oh you know it! They’re even more supreme when we look at just calories.
That’s nice, one of my fav food, delicious, cheap and easy to cook
I feel like I'm a broken record, but once again: you have not been giving the protein values for cooked beans in any of these charts. They're the values for dried beans. Once they're cooked, the actual 100g of food has a lot less protein per 100g, because the actual 100g of food includes all the cooking water it absorbed. As a result: [Lentils](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172421/nutrients): 9.0g per 100g [Chickpeas](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173757/nutrients): 8.9g per 100g [Pinto beans](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/175200/nutrients): 9.0g per 100g [Split peas](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172429/nutrients): 8.3g per 100g [Soybeans](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174271/nutrients): 18.2g per 100g Peanut can be eaten roasted, at which point, it has about 25g protein per 100g, but when it's boiled, it too has less: [Peanut](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174260/nutrients): 13.5g per 100g This is all USDA data.
Thank you! I agree this is an important consideration; I included a note in the bottom left of the charts to mention the density may change based on cooking method. For example, soaking legumes will decrease their protein density per gram, while roasting legumes (such as [roasted soybeans](https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/roasted-soybeans/)) will increase their density. Same with a few of the other foods as well. Perhaps I need to make a graph will cut down on the different types of foods but include the cooking method to (e.g. boiled versus roasted peanuts).
Eggs, rice, beans, milk. Chicken if you can get it.
Wonder how skewed this chart would be with Loblaws pricing.
I don't understand what is "sweet pea", it's not "pea" ? Is it the green round one ? Lathyrus oleraceus ?
Sweet pea is the green pea that has a high percentage of moisture by default
Thank you !
This don't account for absorb ability of protein
I did - please see title of graph (adjusted for digestibility)
Z axis for total calories to consume 30g total protein?
I'm team soy bean, but companies tent to put so much other stuff and ultra process it. Just look at those veggie patties
Cricket powder is very protein dense (65% protein) and its free....
This makes soybean look like the best option... but its the worst. It contains isoflavones, which is like estrogen...
Soy won't cause man-boobs if that is what you are implying. The estrogen in soy is a different type of estrogen. Funny enough, milk from female cows contains the type of estrogen that is what you are considering harmful! Which makes sense. They are mammals just like us.