80 % of Indians have a protein deficient diet. What are your staple sources of protein ?

[rangeelaraja]

Just now, coffee_rules said:

Both are fermented milk product, Curd/daho is naturally fermented using curd or lemon juice. It is milder in taste. Yoghurt is commercially fermented with bacterial cultures and controlled fermentation and with added flavors. Processed food basically

But even regular yogurt because of the commercial fermentation process has more protein than home made Dahi. 

[rangeelaraja]

14 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Yoghurt is our normal dahi only na? Or is there some extra bacterial strain added? I have dahi almost every day. 

Yes there are specific probiotic bacterial strains in the commercial process ( to make Yoghurt) . It cannot be made at home like Dahi (Curd ) 

[Gollum]

Rarely bought commercial yoghurt because I try to avoid processed food. Even the paneer I buy is from a local milkman, who makes paneer and few other dairy products in his house. 

[coffee_rules]

8 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Rarely bought commercial yoghurt because I try to avoid processed food. Even the paneer I buy is from a local milkman, who makes paneer and few other dairy products in his house. 

Better to avoid procesed food. I tarely have yoghurt not that ist is bad or anything, it has more sugars than regular home-made dahi.  Additional protein is good, but sugars are bad, so one must consume iut in moderation.

If you have dahi wof excellent quality and you recycle it with curdling , the nikder sweet taste is natural and won't cause sugar spikes. 

Edited February 26 by coffee_rules

[Teengunalagaan]

20 hours ago, rangeelaraja said:

Yes there are specific probiotic bacterial strains in the commercial process ( to make Yoghurt) . It cannot be made at home like Dahi (Curd ) 

 

I use this Yogurt maker, it's convenient to use. 

[Muloghonto]

On 2/26/2025 at 7:04 AM, Gollum said:

Rarely bought commercial yoghurt because I try to avoid processed food. Even the paneer I buy is from a local milkman, who makes paneer and few other dairy products in his house. 

Problem with yoghurt is again, no one eats enough yoghurt to replace chicken or fish or other meats normally in Desi diet by quantity, nevermind actual healthy amount of meat consumption that is China level or something per capita.

 

It's ancillary and a side dish amount of protein. What u need is more tofu or seitan. Seitan I think is easier to make and source  but it tastes like cardboard soaked in gel. Literally. 

 

Or start a diet where every single meal has 2 big mandatory glass of Lassi bare minimum.

Edited February 27 by Muloghonto

[rkt.india]

Protein diet is overrated if you are not into body building. Rotis and milk, curd provide enough. 

[Teengunalagaan]

Amul is doing a great job with their protein stack of products, I have tried their protein Dahi, it does not taste as a normal Dahi and is a bit thicker, but if dilute it with a bit of water, it becomes better.

 

The major problem with their products is availability, I have consumed their Calci+ milk and it tastes much better than any other non fat milk, but it is almost always out of stock.

 

 

[Muloghonto]

5 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Protein diet is overrated if you are not into body building. Rotis and milk, curd provide enough. 

what nonsense. Indians are hugely deficient in protein diet. Your diet should be, at least by calorific value, around 30-40% protein. Indians very rarely achive this and as a result usually have had problems producing big broad physique people. we arent just short- we are short and frail people. this comes from stunted bone and muscle development from protein defeciency growing up. This is one of the great fails of veggie diet of India, no beating around the bush about it. Thankfully modern world does offer veggie options that can rectify this protein deficiency in our diet.

Milk products can do the job, but remember this - 1 cup of milk gives 8g of protein. For an average sedentary adult who weighs around 65 kilos ( weight above which indians who are 5'8 or shorter are overweight for sure), they would need about 7 cups of milk daily to meet their average protein needs.

This is hard to achieve based on milk and milk products and is prime reason why indian veggie diet IS protein deficient - we simply cannot consume enough milk+milk products, as a society, to make up for it, given that we dont already do it. Drink more milk/eat more dahi works to a limited degree, even as an individual due to this factor.

As a society, it doesnt work, coz we cant just quadruple our cow population to account for quadruple milk consumption, that easily : cows at end of day are expensive and sourcing milk (or meat) from them is a very expensive option - at that point society starts to win by eating more chicken and eggs for eg in pure cost and feasibility accounts.

To do with veggie, you gotta search for more plant based options that are denser in protein. What are sources ?

Answer: Seitan & tempeh : one is based off of wheat starch, the other is a soybean product you make by fermenting it.
Pretty much these are the only two options for vegetarians/vegans, as complete sources of protein, that can give enough protein in density to not make people overat calories to get enough protein/be protein deficient.

But problem is taste/texture.
Seitan tastes like nothing - it literally has a texture of a dense sponge soaked in water that tastes like nothing and is a bit chewey.

And tempeh is fermented soybeans - i eat a type of fermented soybean for health reasons regularly and its taste is okay- its got decent umami flavour but has a horrible texture - the exact same texture as chunky snot. Tempeh isnt as snotty as what i eat, but it is still snotty coz any fermented soybean of any stage = snotty.

 

Like yes, we shouldnt overfixate on protein to the point of going whey protein freakazoid as a rule of thumb or cool gym guy. but at the same time its important to have enough protein in your diet and the simple rule of thumb is, multiply your weight in kilos by 0.8. That is the amount of protein in grams you need daily as a normal sedentary human and if you are an active person, make that 1.0 or 1.1g per kilo body weight.

 

[rangeelaraja]

37 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

what nonsense. Indians are hugely deficient in protein diet. Your diet should be, at least by calorific value, around 30-40% protein. Indians very rarely achive this and as a result usually have had problems producing big broad physique people. we arent just short- we are short and frail people. this comes from stunted bone and muscle development from protein defeciency growing up. This is one of the great fails of veggie diet of India, no beating around the bush about it. Thankfully modern world does offer veggie options that can rectify this protein deficiency in our diet.

Milk products can do the job, but remember this - 1 cup of milk gives 8g of protein. For an average sedentary adult who weighs around 65 kilos ( weight above which indians who are 5'8 or shorter are overweight for sure), they would need about 7 cups of milk daily to meet their average protein needs.

This is hard to achieve based on milk and milk products and is prime reason why indian veggie diet IS protein deficient - we simply cannot consume enough milk+milk products, as a society, to make up for it, given that we dont already do it. Drink more milk/eat more dahi works to a limited degree, even as an individual due to this factor.

As a society, it doesnt work, coz we cant just quadruple our cow population to account for quadruple milk consumption, that easily : cows at end of day are expensive and sourcing milk (or meat) from them is a very expensive option - at that point society starts to win by eating more chicken and eggs for eg in pure cost and feasibility accounts.

To do with veggie, you gotta search for more plant based options that are denser in protein. What are sources ?

Answer: Seitan & tempeh : one is based off of wheat starch, the other is a soybean product you make by fermenting it.
Pretty much these are the only two options for vegetarians/vegans, as complete sources of protein, that can give enough protein in density to not make people overat calories to get enough protein/be protein deficient.

But problem is taste/texture.
Seitan tastes like nothing - it literally has a texture of a dense sponge soaked in water that tastes like nothing and is a bit chewey.

And tempeh is fermented soybeans - i eat a type of fermented soybean for health reasons regularly and its taste is okay- its got decent umami flavour but has a horrible texture - the exact same texture as chunky snot. Tempeh isnt as snotty as what i eat, but it is still snotty coz any fermented soybean of any stage = snotty.

 

Like yes, we shouldnt overfixate on protein to the point of going whey protein freakazoid as a rule of thumb or cool gym guy. but at the same time its important to have enough protein in your diet and the simple rule of thumb is, multiply your weight in kilos by 0.8. That is the amount of protein in grams you need daily as a normal sedentary human and if you are an active person, make that 1.0 or 1.1g per kilo body weight.

 

Chickpea flour ( besan ) is atleast as protein dense as Tempeh  - which is probably not even commonly available in India. 

 Nothing beats soy chunks at 52 grams protein / 100 grams weight.
 

Soy chunks beat almost all animal based proteins, if not all, it’s  really very affordable and commonly available. 

 

Edited February 28 by rangeelaraja

[rangeelaraja]

Almonds and Peanuts are also protein dense, great source of healthy fat and fiber.

@Muloghonto

[Muloghonto]

13 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

Almonds and Peanuts are also protein dense, great source of healthy fat and fiber.

@Muloghonto

Almonds are a total water guzzler, you will have trouble popularizing almonds in mass amounts in place like India. Infact plants like avocados, almonds, etc. shouldnt be promoted outside of being ancillary food because they have huge ecological footprint.

Peanuts probably works, but again, with peanuts i am not sure if they are complete source of protein. I think with combination of nuts +milk+curds+cheeses+beans you can get complete protein and in amounts sufficient without overeating but  you gotta bring in either seitan or tofu of some sort because they can be scaled up and be relatively cheap as well.

Problem with veggie options ( i dont even bother with the nonsense of vegan- that is stupidity for developing world to even bother with and a one way ticket to poor nutrition-ville) is having an option that is cheap+scalable that is ALSO dense source of protein.

For meat eaters, this is where chicken+eggs+fish reside , fish being dependent on location. For veggie eaters, the scalable options are pretty much only in tofu based stuff or seitan, though i will freely admit, i know jack **** about growing nuts and/or if they are complete source of protein or not or how scalable and realitistic it is to be a vegetarian in India and expect good nutrition.

 

[Muloghonto]

29 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

Chickpea flour ( besan ) is atleast as protein dense as Tempeh  - which is probably not even commonly available in India. 

 Nothing beats soy chunks at 52 grams protein / 100 grams weight.
 

Soy chunks beat almost all animal based proteins, if not all, it’s  really very affordable and commonly available. 

 

 

big problem is chickpea flour isnt complete protein. tempeh is complete protein. I believe the fermentation process adds the missing proteins that make it a complete one.

Soy chunks are fine as source of protein but cannot be singular source of protein for men - because soy contains phytoestrogens and does ever so slightly increase estrogen in men ( women arent very strongly affected coz they make YUUGE amounts of estrogen comparative to us anyways), so eating a **** ton of soy WILL alter the hormonal balance of a man over time. Tempeh has this drawback too, though in tempeh they arent phytoestrogens but another chemical that still binds to estrogen receptors and mimics the effects of estrogen.

Regardless, this is a relatively new field of discussion in soy based products and its difficult for me to gauge how much of it is actual concerns with soy vs western 'bat eater food so diss it' mentality.

i dont think one should eat soy as one eats meat in many cultures - where just one huge portion/filling of meat(soy) is sufficient, i think it should definitely be complementary to milk+cheeses+curds to round out the picture.
Remember, getting enough complete protein isnt that much protein- just multiply your body weight by 0.8 if you are normie human and 0.9-1.1 if you are active human to see how much complete protein you need. in grams. Now remember that whatever number you get for recommended daily protein intake, that is supposed to be 30-50% of your calories, depending on how much fat you are eating. That gives you calorie number to aim for ( not obsess over, just aim for to keep a check on where you are food-wise).

As a rule of thumb for nutritious eating, i find the japanese concept to be very handy for us desis, since we also eat rice a lot : the rule of 1/3rds or the rule of 3s : your meal consists of 3 portions : protein, carbs + nutrients. Aka, protein + rice + veggies. Take a portion of protein- fish/meat/tofu etc. You get exactly the same amount of rice AND same amount of veggies. Eat till full.
This is a good rule of thumb to aim for, to get good amounts of proteins, vitamins and sufficient but not excessive carbs.

 

[rangeelaraja]

13 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

 

big problem is chickpea flour isnt complete protein. tempeh is complete protein. I believe the fermentation process adds the missing proteins that make it a complete one.

Soy chunks are fine as source of protein but cannot be singular source of protein for men - because soy contains phytoestrogens and does ever so slightly increase estrogen in men ( women arent very strongly affected coz they make YUUGE amounts of estrogen comparative to us anyways), so eating a **** ton of soy WILL alter the hormonal balance of a man over time. Tempeh has this drawback too, though in tempeh they arent phytoestrogens but another chemical that still binds to estrogen receptors and mimics the effects of estrogen.

Regardless, this is a relatively new field of discussion in soy based products and its difficult for me to gauge how much of it is actual concerns with soy vs western 'bat eater food so diss it' mentality.

i dont think one should eat soy as one eats meat in many cultures - where just one huge portion/filling of meat(soy) is sufficient, i think it should definitely be complementary to milk+cheeses+curds to round out the picture.
Remember, getting enough complete protein isnt that much protein- just multiply your body weight by 0.8 if you are normie human and 0.9-1.1 if you are active human to see how much complete protein you need. in grams. Now remember that whatever number you get for recommended daily protein intake, that is supposed to be 30-50% of your calories, depending on how much fat you are eating. That gives you calorie number to aim for ( not obsess over, just aim for to keep a check on where you are food-wise).

As a rule of thumb for nutritious eating, i find the japanese concept to be very handy for us desis, since we also eat rice a lot : the rule of 1/3rds or the rule of 3s : your meal consists of 3 portions : protein, carbs + nutrients. Aka, protein + rice + veggies. Take a portion of protein- fish/meat/tofu etc. You get exactly the same amount of rice AND same amount of veggies. Eat till full.
This is a good rule of thumb to aim for, to get good amounts of proteins, vitamins and sufficient but not excessive carbs.

 

 

 

Quite frankly I have never understood this crusade that the fitness industry has been running against white rice.

 

The East Asian countries - Japan, Koreas, China, Philipinos - consume more rice per capita than India - but the population is much leaner.

 

White rice in isolation is pure carbs and harmful - but when combined with proteins and fibre - is actually a complete satiating meal.

 

There is a great deal of wisdom in old Indian practices too-- just that we have deviated from it with unhealthy practices and too much of a sedentary lifestyle and not much physical work.

 

Mixed Daal + Rice  ( with a spoonful of ghee  ) with salad = Proteins, carbs, healthy fats, fibre  - it is nutrient rich and delicious.

 

Yes gram for gram...daal has carbs too for a decent amount of protein...so its not comparable to meat.   But it is meant for people who do decent amount of physical work.

 

I genuinely think if you have a healthy mix of pulses,  Kidney beans, Chickpeas, Spinach,  Curd .....you can meet daily protein needs. 

 

For the carbs that come as "baggage" with the protein you get from daal...the answer is to have decently active lifestyle.

 

Italians in general consume a ton of carb heavy meals ( full-on white maida )....but they are much healthier in general because of their active lifestyle.

 

BTW....this is recipe from my favorite chef Sanjay Thumma.....is how you can be creative with protein consumption  as a vegetarian through tasty salads.

 

 

 

[Muloghonto]

4 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

 

 

Quite frankly I have never understood this crusade that the fitness industry has been running against white rice.

 

The East Asian countries - Japan, Koreas, China, Philipinos - consume more rice per capita than India - but the population is much leaner.

 

White rice in isolation is pure carbs and harmful - but when combined with proteins and fibre - is actually a complete satiating meal.

 

There is a great deal of wisdom in old Indian practices too-- just that we have deviated from it with unhealthy practices and too much of a sedentary lifestyle and not much physical work.

 

Mixed Daal + Rice  ( with a spoonful of ghee  ) with salad = Proteins, carbs, healthy fats, fibre  - it is nutrient rich and delicious.

 

Yes gram for gram...daal has carbs too for a decent amount of protein...so its not comparable to meat.   But it is meant for people who do decent amount of physical work.

 

I genuinely think if you have a healthy mix of pulses,  Kidney beans, Chickpeas, Spinach,  Curd .....you can meet daily protein needs. 

 

For the carbs that come as "baggage" with the protein you get from daal...the answer is to have decently active lifestyle.

 

Italians in general consume a ton of carb heavy meals ( full-on white maida )....but they are much healthier in general because of their active lifestyle.

 

BTW....this is recipe from my favorite chef Sanjay Thumma.....is how you can be creative with protein consumption  as a vegetarian through tasty salads.

 

 

 

 

 

This is due to nature of diet. Watch how working class Indians eat - my mother's cook eats like a mountain of rice with 1 piece of fish that is like half the size of a western cut, with like 4 pieces of potol and small tiny amount of saag and thats it.

Indian working class eats where 80% or more of calories = rice. If you eat by the rule of the 3s, rice is fine. As japanese show. They are by far the healthiest people on the planet as far as regular diet goes and even japanese fast food/snack food industry isnt as bad for you as the western ones.

 

[Teengunalagaan]

1 hour ago, Muloghonto said:

Almonds are a total water guzzler, you will have trouble popularizing almonds in mass amounts in place like India. Infact plants like avocados, almonds, etc. shouldnt be promoted outside of being ancillary food because they have huge ecological footprint.

Peanuts probably works, but again, with peanuts i am not sure if they are complete source of protein. I think with combination of nuts +milk+curds+cheeses+beans you can get complete protein and in amounts sufficient without overeating but  you gotta bring in either seitan or tofu of some sort because they can be scaled up and be relatively cheap as well.

Problem with veggie options ( i dont even bother with the nonsense of vegan- that is stupidity for developing world to even bother with and a one way ticket to poor nutrition-ville) is having an option that is cheap+scalable that is ALSO dense source of protein.

For meat eaters, this is where chicken+eggs+fish reside , fish being dependent on location. For veggie eaters, the scalable options are pretty much only in tofu based stuff or seitan, though i will freely admit, i know jack **** about growing nuts and/or if they are complete source of protein or not or how scalable and realitistic it is to be a vegetarian in India and expect good nutrition.

 

No peanuts are not complete source of protein. The are cheaper, but the problem with peanuts and infact with most of the nuts is they are calorie dense with most of calories coming from fat. Although they are all good fats, but you cannot consume them in high quantity.

 

Though they have good protein, but nuts are a primary source of fat, not protein.

Edited February 28 by Teengunalagaan

[Lone Wolf]

22 hours ago, Teengunalagaan said:

Amul is doing a great job with their protein stack of products, I have tried their protein Dahi, it does not taste as a normal Dahi and is a bit thicker, but if dilute it with a bit of water, it becomes better.

 

The major problem with their products is availability, I have consumed their Calci+ milk and it tastes much better than any other non fat milk, but it is almost always out of stock.

 

 

Amul's marketing is probably so shi**y it ain't even a joke now.

Also these protein products are often out of stock in their stores on unavailable.

 

I saw so many people on SM surprised that these products exist.

[crictime]

On 2/28/2025 at 10:38 PM, rangeelaraja said:

 

 

Quite frankly I have never understood this crusade that the fitness industry has been running against white rice.

 

The East Asian countries - Japan, Koreas, China, Philipinos - consume more rice per capita than India - but the population is much leaner.

 

White rice in isolation is pure carbs and harmful - but when combined with proteins and fibre - is actually a complete satiating meal.

 

There is a great deal of wisdom in old Indian practices too-- just that we have deviated from it with unhealthy practices and too much of a sedentary lifestyle and not much physical work.

 

Mixed Daal + Rice  ( with a spoonful of ghee  ) with salad = Proteins, carbs, healthy fats, fibre  - it is nutrient rich and delicious.

 

Yes gram for gram...daal has carbs too for a decent amount of protein...so its not comparable to meat.   But it is meant for people who do decent amount of physical work.

 

I genuinely think if you have a healthy mix of pulses,  Kidney beans, Chickpeas, Spinach,  Curd .....you can meet daily protein needs. 

 

For the carbs that come as "baggage" with the protein you get from daal...the answer is to have decently active lifestyle.

 

Italians in general consume a ton of carb heavy meals ( full-on white maida )....but they are much healthier in general because of their active lifestyle.

 

BTW....this is recipe from my favorite chef Sanjay Thumma.....is how you can be creative with protein consumption  as a vegetarian through tasty salads.

 

 

 

 

As long as one does not has Cholesterol, Obesity, Diabetes, Blood pressure, Thyroid, Arthritis,Brain,Immune, Heart,Lungs,Eyesight, Liver, kidney, prostate diseases, sleep disorder, one is probably on a proper diet and a proper lifestyle. There are many more things to nutrition but the crux is that simple things need not be made unnecessarily complex.Every one has a different lifestyle and what effort one puts in maintaining it may be beneficial for other or harmful for others. 

 

Same applies to propoganda against white rice. Those capable of judging how much white rice one can eat will not have to worry. 
 

The old idiom "One size does not fits all still holds true". A nutrition program for one individual may not be beneficial for the other. 

Edited March 16 by crictime