High protein diet (1960)

Key points below


Your child’s doctor or dietitian recommends a diet high in protein.  Protein is important to help the body heal and grow. 

What foods are in the protein food group?

Foods made from meat, poultry, fish and seafood, beans and peas, eggs, milk, soy, nuts, and seeds are part of the protein food group. Other food groups like grains also have protein, but in smaller amounts. For a diet high in protein, eat more foods from the protein food group. Each food in the protein group has different health benefits, so it is important to choose a variety. 

How to eat more protein:

Have a protein in the protein food group at each meal. 
Examples:

Add protein at snack time. Add nuts or nut butter to fruit, fruit and yogurt parfait, sausage and crackers, half of a sandwich with meat and cheese, hardboiled egg with vegetables 

Tips:

Food Serving size Grams of protein

Meat - Beef, ham, chicken, pork, turkey, bison, venison, lamb

1 ounce 6 to 7 grams
Fish and seafood - Catfish, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, pollock, salmon, trout, tuna, crab, lobster, shrimp 1 ounce 5 to 6 grams
Soy - Tofu, tempeh, soybeans, edamame, soy milk 3 ounces tofu
1 ounce tempeh
½ cup cooked soybeans
½ cup edamame
1 cup soy milk
8 grams
5 grams
15 grams 
8 grams
8 grams 
Eggs - Whole eggs, egg whites 1 large egg or 2 egg whites 6 grams
Dairy - Yogurt, milk, cheese 8 ounces milk
6 ounces yogurt
1 ounce cheese
8 ounces Greek Yogurt
8 grams
8 grams
6-7 grams
15-23 grams
Beans and peas - black, chickpeas (garbanzo), kidney, navy, pinto, lima, lentils, split peas 1/2 cup cooked 8 grams 
Nuts - Almond, cashews, pecans, pistachios, peanuts, walnuts 1/4 cup 3 to 7 grams
Seeds - pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flax  2 tablespoons  2 to 4 grams

ALERT

Call your child’s doctor, nurse, or clinic if you have any questions or concerns or if your child has special health care needs that were not covered by this information.