High protein Pakistani foods already in your kitchen.

Which Pakistani foods are high in protein?

Meat, fish, eggs, pulses and dairy, with nuts and roasted chana as snacks. The table shows roughly how much protein a typical portion gives, rounded from USDA FoodData Central. Weights are for food as you eat it: cooked meat without the bones, and cooked daal or chana.

Daal varies with the cook: a thin, watery daal has less protein per bowl than a thick one. The roasted chana figure uses USDA's value for dried chickpeas, and paneer differs from brand to brand, so check the label if you buy it. Pulses bring fibre too, which meat and eggs don't.

How much protein do you need a day?

About 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight for most healthy adults. That's the US recommended dietary allowance (RDA), and a 2017 review in Advances in Nutrition explains it was worked out as roughly the minimum needed to avoid losing body protein. The same review notes that recent studies, particularly in older adults, point to benefits from eating more.

The weight loss range comes from a 2015 review on protein and weight. The exercise range is from the International Society of Sports Nutrition, which says 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg is enough for most people who exercise. If you have kidney disease, the right amount for you may be different, so ask your doctor first.

Should you spread protein across your meals?

Yes. A meal with protein tends to keep you a little fuller, so it makes sense to have some at breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than most of it in one big salan at night. For people managing their weight, the 2015 review suggests at least about 25 to 30 g a meal.

Breakfast is usually the gap. Chai with rusks, or a paratha on its own, gives little protein. Here's an example day using the figures above:

That suits someone of about 60 to 75 kg on a higher-protein plan. If your target is lower, keep the pattern and use smaller portions.

Does protein help with weight loss?

It helps, mainly by making meals more filling and protecting muscle while you lose fat. The 2015 review found that higher-protein meals gave a modest boost to fullness. In shorter, tightly controlled studies, higher-protein weight loss diets led to more fat loss and kept more muscle than lower-protein ones. Longer studies were mixed, mostly because people found the diets hard to stick to.

So protein works inside an overall plan: smaller roti and rice portions, measured oil and plenty of sabzi still matter. Swapping a fried breakfast for eggs, or adding dahi to lunch, is an easy start. Our Pakistani diet plan for weight loss shows a full week, and if you're trying to put weight on instead, see our weight gain diet plan.

How can vegetarians get enough protein?

Eat pulses and dairy every day, and pair pulses with grains. Daal chawal, chana with roti and lobia with rice are good protein meals as well as comfort food.

Pulses and grains fill each other's gaps. Daal and chana are low in one of the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) that wheat and rice have more of, and grains are low in one that pulses supply, so together they give a fuller mix. Eating both across the day works too. A plate of 150 g of daal with two rotis gives about 24 g of protein.

• Breakfast: a besan cheela (30 g of besan has about 7 g of protein) with dahi, or paneer bhurji with a roti.
• Lunch: chana or lobia with rice or roti, and a bowl of raita.
• Snacks: roasted chana, a few peanuts or almonds, a glass of milk or a namkeen lassi.
• Dinner: a thick masoor, moong or mash daal with roti and sabzi.

If you eat eggs, they're the simplest addition of all: two eggs add about 13 g.

Who should be careful about eating more protein?

Anyone with kidney disease. As your body uses protein, it leaves waste that your kidneys remove from the blood. The US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases says people with chronic kidney disease may need to adjust how much protein they eat, and advises working with your doctor and a nutrition professional to find the right balance, since too little can lead to malnutrition. If you have kidney disease, don't add protein without asking your doctor.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of chronic kidney disease in adults, according to the same institute. If you have either, ask your doctor to check your kidney tests before going higher in protein. Our diabetic diet plan covers meals for blood sugar, and our cardiometabolic health service looks at waist size, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure together.

If you'd like your protein worked out for you, NutriZaika is a virtual nutrition clinic, and its 28-day plans set calorie and macro targets, protein included, with every ingredient weighed in grams and health conditions taken into account. Every plan is reviewed by Nida Tu Sehar, Senior Nutrition Consultant and Clinical Lead. See our plans and prices. If you'd like one, choose your plan.