If you are looking for some high protein foods that are also low fat high protein foods, that will keep you fuller for longer, then here are some ideas of the best foods to include in your diet. The majority of high protein, whilst low in fat foods come from animal sources so it may prove more difficult to find enough variety if you are a vegetarian. Any food that has a protein content of more than twenty percent of your recommended daily allowance is seen as a high protein food. In terms of quantifiable amounts this would be anything around 10g or more of protein per food item.
Here are some animal and plant sources of high protein foods below that are low in calories, plus low in fat.
Fish
Tuna, monk fish, clams, crayfish and white fish in general are low-calorie, high-protein foods. Interestingly an 85g serving of tuna (which is classed as an oily fish if fresh) has 22g of protein and only 99 calories. Atlantic salmon, by comparison, provides 10g more of protein in the same serving, but has triple the calories. Other oily fish such as mackerel, sardines or herring also have much more fat content and calories than white fish such as cod, halibut or plaice for example.
Seafood
Shellfish can increase the amount of fat, therefore cholesterol in your diet. For example, an 85g serving of crayfish, which has roughly 13g of protein, has 91mg of cholesterol, almost 1/3 of your daily recommended allowance for cholesterol. An 85g serving of tuna by comparison, provides almost 22g of protein and has only 36g of cholesterol and trout slightly more at 72g of cholesterol per 85g serving.
Chicken/Turkey
A very well loved and popular food, a 100g serving of oven-roasted chicken provides slightly more than 20g of protein and has around 170 calories only. Similarly to this a 100g serving of turkey provides 28g of protein and has only 189 calories.
Fat-Free Dairy Products
Full-fat dairy products contain a fairly high level of protein but also contain saturated fat, which is seen as an unhealthy fat, which also contains more calories. Fat-free/low fat dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt are good sources of protein that are lower-calorie alternatives. A great example of a food that is high protein and low fat here would be a cup of low fat cottage cheese, which has 15g of protein and only 104 calories.
Eggs
Eggs are high protein foods. The white of the egg contains the protein and the yolk of the egg contains cholesterol, so If you’d like to reduce your fat intake, thus cholesterol, plus calories, one cup of egg whites has only 117 calories and provides more than 26g of protein and contains no cholesterol.
Soy
Edamame is a great low-calorie but high-protein food choice, which provides 12g of protein per 100g serving and only 120 calories. It also contains no cholesterol, unlike some animal sources of protein.
Beans and Lentils
Beans and lentils, otherwise known as legumes are also low-fat sources of protein. However, legumes do not provide all of the essential amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) that your body requires from your diet. You can combine legumes with grains at every meal to ensure you get all of the essential amino acids you need though. Some suggestions would be hummus, or bean dip, with pita bread, lentil or bean soup with barley or wholemeal bread, or beans/lentils with brown rice.