Thanks!!! I have some difficulties getting protein, as I don't really eat much meat. Don't know why, but ive never really liked it much. And I have an egg allergy.....so any ideas on how to get protein??
Besides meat and eggs, the following are significant protein sources:
Dairy products. But limit dairy fat if you have high blood LDL cholesterol or family history of heart disease. If you have difficulty with the lactose in dairy products, lactase enzyme pills are available for when you consume dairy products. Note that hard cheeses and other dairy products that have been well processed by bacteria have lower lactose content.
Beans/lentils. Generally the most protein-dense plant foods; contains good (low glycemic) carbohydrates and fiber as well.
Nuts. Also high in fat, but the good kind of fat. But be careful with the total calories.
Grains. Mostly carbohydrate, but wheat and oats have some protein (rice and maize are lower in protein). Choose whole grains over refined grains.
Green vegetables actually have a high percentage of calories from protein, but are very low in calories to begin with, so you'd have to eat a huge amount of them to get significant amounts of protein from them. (But eat them anyway since they are good for you.)
Note that each of the plant sources listed above is low in some essential amino acid, but when eaten with other plant sources (or animal sources like dairy or meat) will provide higher quality protein.
For bone healing, be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D. Dairy products, green vegetables, and tofu made with calcium sulfate are good sources of calcium. Sunshine on your skin is a good source of vitamin D (but if you are dark skinned, you need more exposure to sunshine to generate vitamin D). Good food sources of vitamin D include fish and fish oils, liver, fortified dairy products and cereals, and those eggs that you are allergic to.
