Lowcarb Vegetarian Protein Sources

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Introduction

What's included? Not everything listed here is actually lowcarb or vegetarian. I've included other things to help you make comparisons. Everything here is a source of protein, though some items are usually used in other ways.

How to read these charts: I've listed basic nutritional counts in grams per 100 grams. Most places will give you amounts based on an average serving. The trouble with this method is you can't easily make comparisons from one food to another. Doing it per 100 grams means the listed amounts are the same as giving the percentage of the nutrient. This will help you choose more wisely. The disadvantage is you'll have to do some calculating to figure out how much of the food you're actually eating. Use the notes section to help you. I've stated how many grams (a unit of weight) are in a cup or other measure (a unit of volume).

Carb Counts: Carbohydrate is measured "by difference" which means it is the amount leftover after everything else has been measured. There are 3 types of carbs: sugar, starch (listed as "other" on nutrition labels; anything misc goes in here too), and fiber. "Total carbs" on a label means the addition of all 3 (note: sometimes labels lie and only count sugar and starch in the total and some countries outside the US count fiber separately). When I list "carbs" in this chart, I mean the total of sugar, starch, and fiber.

Usable Carbs: This means the (total) carb count minus the fiber count. Most lowcarb diets have you "subtract fiber." This means that you do not count the fiber you eat towards your total allowed carbs. It does not mean that eating more fiber allows you to get away with eating more sugar and starch! If you are a lowcarber who does not subtract fiber, use the "carbs" column to figure your allowances.

Protein to Carb Ratio (PCR): This is the most important part of this chart! which is why it's listed first. Within categories, all foods are ordered by their protein to carb ratio. The higher the number, the better. I calculate it by dividing protein by usable carbs. The number tells you how many grams of protein you will get per gram of usable carbs (it works for any unit of measurement, not just grams). There is no PCR calculated for those foods for which I couldn't find a fiber count. Foods with protein but zero carbs have a PCR of "unlimited." Obviously, these are excellent protein choices for lowcarbers. Keep in mind that brandname products may list "zero" for their carbs when it is really any number less than .5 grams. If the serving size is small, you could really be eating quite a few carbs under the guise of "zero carbs."

What PCR should I use in planning my diet? The minimum PCR you can use will depend on your protein needs, your daily carb maximums, and the amount of carbs in non-or-low-protein foods you consume. Most lowcarbers should make the bulk of their protein intake foods with a PCR of 3 or higher. Moderate-carbers can use foods with a lower PCR.

Should I avoid foods with a low (for me) PCR? Not necessarily. Don't just use the ratio, look at other factors too. Some foods you might normally use in another way have surprisingly high amounts of protein. Boiled snow (podded) peas, for example, have a PCR of .8. This is too low for most people to use as a primary source of protein. But a full cup of boiled snow peas has only 7 grams of carbs, and a lot of other nutrients. This still makes it an excellent vegetable choice and the protein content is a bonus. Also look at how much of the food you will use. Mustard seed, for example, is a decent source of protein with a PCR of 1.2. If this PCR is too low for you, that doesn't mean you should stop eating it. A full tablespoon of the whole seeds has only 2 grams of carbs. That makes a whole lot of mustard.

Why is the PCR different depending on how the food is cooked? Raw foods and cooked foods have slightly (or not so slightly in some cases) different nutritional counts. When you see wildly different amounts per 100 grams, it's usually because of the addition or subtraction of water. But why does the ratio of carbs to protein change? You got me. I certainly can't explain why, say, roasting vs dry roasting a soybean makes such a difference. I suspect that part of the difference has to do with the varieties (or even species) of a plant that are typically used for each type of preparation, or where it is grown. In some cases, the heat in cooking may change the protein or carb. Water used in cooking may wash away starch. Also, these measures aren't absolute; the green bean you buy may have very different nutrition from the one I buy (or grow). Differences for different preparations may reflect the underlying range of nutritional values you'd find if you measured several samples with the same preparation. Don't depend on any of these numbers being exact. Calculate some wiggle room in your diet plans.

Are nutritional counts on a product label more accurate than the count for the food in general? It depends. The official counts use a few samples from typical preparations and varieties. Your package's label will (in theory) be for the particular preparation and variety used by the company. Tofu and tempeh are examples of foods that can vary widely depending on how they are made, even when the ingredients are the same. On the other hand, I've seen people looking for the brand of magic walnuts that has fewer carbs than all the rest. In this case, the 1 gram of carb difference they found probably had more to do with water content or the manufacturer's method of rounding numbers than anything real about the carb count.

What are your sources? For standard one-ingredient foods, I used the fantastic USDA Nutrient Database. I then rounded those numbers to the nearest tenth of a gram. For multi-ingredient foods I used the information on the package label. These are already rounded to the nearest gram, though in some cases I figured what the pre-rounded number was and I use it here. Some of the more obscure foods come from a variety of sources (usually the one linked to from the name of the food, when there is a link). If you can help me fill in missing numbers, or know of an obscure food I missed, let me know!

Calculations of usable carbs and PCR are mine. The PCR is my own invention, with thanks to the protein to calorie ratios used in Diet for a Small Planet.

This is a work in progress. I haven't finished all the categories or even all the major foods within each category.

Protein Source Charts