You don’t need to be scoffing steaks or gorging on protein shakes to get enough of the macronutrient — a top nutritionist says plant-based protein is the best kind, and better for your gut health than meat, too.
Federica Amati, Ph.D., is the lead nutritionist at ZOE, a science and nutrition company, and a postdoctoral medical scientist at Imperial College London.
Hitting protein targets is currently a huge health trend. But Amati told Business Insider that most people get enough, and don’t need to worry about eating more protein unless they’re an athlete or actively trying to change their body composition.
But where people get their protein from matters, she said.
Amati referred to a 2024 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition involving 50,000 healthy nurses aged 30-55 at the start of the study, between 1984 and 2016. The nurses who ate more protein, and specifically plant protein, had a higher chance of being free from 11 major chronic diseases, having good mental health, and not having cognitive or physical impairments as they aged. Meanwhile, participants who ate more animal protein had an increased risk of chronic disease.
This finding is echoed in a 2021 study by researchers at the University of Oxford, published in the journal BMC Medicine. The 474,985 middle-aged British participants who ate more red and processed meat were more likely to develop heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes, and growths in the colon. Participants who ate more poultry were at higher risk of gastrointestinal diseases and diabetes, the study found.
Amati said the results of the 2024 study suggested that the health benefits came from eating more fruit, vegetable, and whole foods, not protein. The researchers argued this could be because the dietary fiber, micronutrients, and polyphenols in plant foods are associated with positive health effects, including reduced low-density lipoprotein, or “bad,” cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and decreased inflammation.
ZOE
Amati still has animal-based proteins: She eats oily fish twice a week, and eggs and fermented dairy — kefir and Greek yogurt specifically — regularly. But most of her protein comes from plants, she said.
Even if you don’t go fully plant-based, research suggests it’s possible to make a “huge” reduction in your chronic disease risk by replacing some animal protein with plants, Amati said.
She shared some of the best sources of high-fiber plant protein that she eats regularly.
Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast, or “nooch,” is deactivated yeast that has a cheesy flavor and contains B vitamins.
“It’s a nice example of a food that has both protein and fiber,” Amati said. In terms of nutritional value, 100 grams of nooch contains about 50 grams of protein and about 20 grams of fiber.
A dietitian who follows the Mediterranean diet previously told BI she incorporates nooch into her diet by sprinkling it on savory dishes as a cheese replacement. Amati’s colleague at ZOE, the gut health expert Tim Spector, uses it instead of bouillon cubes to add flavor to his cooking.
Soy products
Soy products are good sources of protein and fiber. For example, there are about 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber in 100 grams of edamame beans, and around 20 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber in 100 grams of tempeh. And 100 grams of tofu contains about 8 grams of protein but less than 1 gram of fiber.
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A 2020 study looking at 210,000 people, published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal, found that participants who ate at least one serving of tofu a week had a lower risk of heart disease than those who ate it less than once a month. The researchers suggested that this may have been because the estrogen-like compounds in tofu could have led to effects that mirror the beneficial effects of estrogen in women who weren’t taking supplemental hormones — or because the fiber and minerals found in tofu help to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Oats
Amati often eats oatmeal or overnight oats in the morning, adding kefir, chia seeds, and fruit.
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When it comes to nutrition, 100 grams of steel-cut oats contain about 10 grams of fiber and 12 to 13 grams of protein. Oats also contain a type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which has been associated with reductions in LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.
Legumes
Amati eats legumes every day as part of her personalized “five a day” target for gut health. She often eats lentils or canned beans with whole grains and leafy greens at lunch.
Different types of beans have different nutrient contents, but 100 grams of canned chickpeas contains around 7 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.
Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds are also part of Amati’s five a day.
She said chia seeds are high in macronutrients: they have around 17 grams of protein and 30 grams of fiber per 100 grams of dry seeds.
To incorporate nuts and seeds into her day, Amati keeps a bag of mixed nuts in her bag at all times to eat as a snack, and she sprinkles nuts on her morning oatmeal.