Whether you eat meat daily or you've been a vegan your whole life, you need protein. Without it, your body would have a hard time regulating hormones and transporting molecules. Protein acts as an enzyme for chemical reactions and building muscle growth in the body. How much protein we need varies depending on factors like activity levels. However, the average person needs at least 100 grams of protein daily.
To help you achieve your daily needs, this visual guide shows what 100 grams of protein looks like, whether you follow a vegan, vegetarian or omnivore diet.
The grams were calculated by taking the information from the nutrition facts label on packaged items and weighing them when necessary. The gram amounts listed in this guide are specific to the products used for this experiment, so your numbers may vary if you look at a different brand for the following products.
Eating 100 grams of protein per day should be pretty easy if you don't have any dietary restrictions. Here's one way to do it:
Everything pictured above comes to 103 grams, which puts you slightly over the goal of 100 grams.
As you can see, getting 100 grams of protein from animal products doesn't take much:
This amounts to a perfect 100 grams of protein. If you ate all of this in a day, plus bread and other nonanimal products, you would easily surpass 100 grams of protein in a day.
For vegetarians, 100 grams of protein might look like this:
This actually comes out to 99 grams of protein, which is pretty close and still a great number to hit for a day.
What you see isn't totally what you get with the amount of protein here:
This amounts to 79 grams of protein. If we double up on the mixed nuts, chia seeds and hemp seeds, this brings us to 93 grams of protein. You could add an extra tablespoon of peanut butter or eat a full cup of oats, instead of half a cup, to come closer to 100 grams.
This plate also excludes high-protein vegan meat substitutes, such as tofu, tempeh or plant-based meats like the Impossible Burger. Those food sources can make it easier to get 100 grams of protein for someone who eats a vegan diet.