In India the protein consumption patterns are very varied.
There are 20 different amino acids that create different combinations for specific functions in the body. Protein Quality: the amount and type of protein can vary greatly, some are better than others
Complete Proteins like Meat, Poultry, & Fish (Animal Sources) are Very high in all Indispensable Amino Acids.
Certain protein are called Incomplete Proteins from Plant Sources which are lower in quality missing or short in one or more of the indispensable. Amino Acids Proteins from animal sources (eggs, dairy, meat, poultry, and fish) and one vegetable protein. VEGANS - (or strict vegetarians) eat no foods from animal sources. Diet limited to foods from plant sources.
LACTO-VEGETARIANS - eat animal protein by milk, cheese, and other dairy products. They do not eat meat, fish, poultry, or eggs.
OVO-VEGETARIANS - eat eggs, but do not eat meat or dairy products.
LACTO-OVO VEGETARIANS - eat protein from dairy products and eggs. Do not eat meat, fish, or poultry
PESCETARIANS - eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and fish/seafood, but reject animal or poultry products.
FLEXITARIAN/SEMI-VEGETARIANS - partial vegetarians, eat dairy products, eggs, poultry, and seafood. Eat little to no red meat. Now a days many people are adopting to new variety of alternative protein source, plant based texture proteins or ‘mock meats’.
Find the following foods are various protein sources
Many people are unaware of the quantity of protein their body requires. This leads to consumption of random amounts of proteins daily without assessing the requirements. So how much protein would one need? And how does an ordinary person determine their protein intake. As per the ICMR (latest 2020 guidelines) a healthy adult would need about 0.8 to 1 gm per kg of their body weight. In India there are some people who either over consume protein just by a rough estimate or presume that they are deficient while some hardly even reach a target of 0/6 gms per kg body weight. Healthy people need not double or triple their protein intake .Then, who are the people who need more than 1 gms per kg body weight of proteins? Generally people who are physically very active such as athletes, weight trainers (gym) additionally, pregnant, breastfeeding women, older certain people who are undergoing medical treatment for cancer or on dialysis would need higher that 1 gms per kg body weight, but this has to be prescribed by a qualified nutritionist or a dietician, and not by someone who has by self-experimenting or self-exclaimed nutritionist who themselves have managed to lose weight by consuming extra proteins. In case where people consume more than 1 gms per kgs body weight without a scientific and medical evaluation for any underlining disease, such as people having kidney or liver issues are the people who could be at a risk of exerting an extra pressure on organs to process the by-products of protein metabolism. Similarly people who consume high protein diet by eating meats that an also high is saturated fats are the ones at risk of heart diseases. Similarly people who are high protein diets by consuming excessive processed meats rich is nitrosamines are a t a risk of cancer. It would be better that they get an evaluation done form a medical actioner before starting any extreme diet programmes The best practise for consuming proteins in the diet is choosing good quality protein source form egg whites , low fat dairy products such as curds , paneer or cottage cheese, soya or tofu, lean meats such as fish or lean cuts of poultry, other sources such as legumes, lentils, dals, Nuts & seeds can be combined with cereals to increase the biological value of the protein. Supplements available are based on the Type of protein which would include Whey, casein, soy, hemp, rice and pea. However ‘more the better’ does not hold true for proteins. It’s important to eat adequate just as much as one body required for growth and maintenance. Protein preserves muscle mass and eating it in adequate amounts is beneficial for weigh management diabetes control and amino acid requirement of growing children. Each ones protein needs depend on many aspect such as weight, age, body composition goals, stage of life cycle, medical issues etc.