8 Healthy High-Protein Snacks to Help You Power Through the Day


Protein is essential to a healthy life. Every diet requires a certain amount of protein to help body organs function smoothly. Protein deficiency may lead to critical health conditions, even cancer.

Every cell in our body, muscle, tissues, organs, and hormones contains some protein. Protein aids muscle growth, stamina, strength, and energy to keep the body running continuously.

Most adults do not get enough protein or the recommended amount the body needs. People over 50 feel fatigued and cannot do daily work with the same energy as when they were young.

At 40, we lose muscle naturally, around 8% of the total muscle mass every ten years. Hence, getting the protein the body needs becomes even more crucial as we age.

We can get protein from plenty of food sources that provide the required level of amino acid our body needs. It depends on your food habits, such as vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.

Have 25–30 g of protein in each meal. Eat a protein-rich breakfast and add protein to each meal daily to reach a minimum of 25-30g protein goal. The daily total target value is 50g.

Milk & Milk Related Food Product Snacks

Milk is equivalent to a full meal for an adult. It contains all the vital proteins your body needs to the growing age and as we grow older. Some are lactose intolerant as we age.

Hence, we have a problem with milk digestion. You can add water to make it light and drink. If it gets digested, the body can absorb the protein and the nutrient it needs.

Make a cool milkshake and drink it during your snack to stay healthy.

Yogurt & Greek Yogurt Snack Dip

Yogurt is thick, creamy, made from milk, and loaded with protein. Greek yogurt contains higher protein than plain regular yogurt.

If you are not lactose intolerant and digest yogurt, include Greek yogurt in your everyday diet with food or after food. Take yogurt during the day and avoid taking it after sunset.

A low-fat yogurt of 8 ounces offers 13g of protein, and a low-fat Greek yogurt has 20g of protein.

Make a Greek yogurt dip and dip your celery stick or veggies. Add honey and peanut butter to relish the Greek yogurt dip with your favorite snacks.

Add Cottage Cheese in any Snack

Another milk-related product is full of protein. Cottage cheese is low in fat and delicious to eat. Children love it. Low-fat cottage cheese has a protein of 12-14 g, 80 calories, and calcium.

You can use it in other food preparation, breakfast, evening snacks, and almost everything. Overeating may cause a problem, so maintain the daily permissible intake amount as prescribed.

You get 14 g of protein per half cup. Pair it with vegetables as a dip makes a great healthy snack worldwide whenever you feel hungry.

Add it to your favorite snacks. Enjoy the taste of cottage cheese with your favorite snacks.

Add Eggs to Your Favorite Daily Snacks

Let us digress to a non-milk-related protein source, which is no lesser than milk. The eggs have all the required vitamins and proteins that your body needs from an outside source. Hard-boiled eggs are a low-calorie, protein-rich source of snacks.

The absence of eggs in your diet can create a deficiency in albumin levels in old age that may affect or deteriorate kidney health. Non-vegetarians need to take egg supplements to cover the albumin deficiency.

A whole egg contains saturated fat of 1.6g, protein of 6g, 20% mg of cholesterol, and 72 calories.

Make a scramble or the sunny side up. Sprinkle the egg white on your favorite snacks, and enjoy the snack.

Nuts Rich in Protein and Essential Fats

Let’s turn to some vegetarian options. If you love almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, or even peanuts, you are in for high-fiber healthy eating that keeps you full longer.

We can sprinkle the nuts on any healthy snack and add taste and crunchiness. But have only a handful a day. Nuts are high in fiber. It fills you with fewer calories and helps you stay away from hunger for a long. 

Nuts offer fats that are good for your heart. Peanuts have the highest protein of 7g per ounce. Almonds offer 6 g per one-fourth serving (23 almonds or fewer) with iron and calcium.

You can sprinkle it on your snack or mix it and enjoy snacking.

Edamame & Cooked Soybeans

Edamame is soybeans that are yet to mature. They are in the growing stage in the pod that contains high protein, minerals, and vitamins. It makes an easy snack.

Half a cup of cooked edamame or fresh soybean has a protein of 9g. One come of edamame offers every nutrient your body needs. It includes a protein of 17g, 52% of your daily vitamin K, and 100% of your daily folate requirement.

You can make a 112-calorie snack. Edamame served steamed. You can get it pre-cooked and frozen. Just unpack and heat it in the microwave. It is ready.

You can have it from the pod directly. Add a touch of sea salt to the edamame in the pod. Pinch the beans from the pod and have it as you go.

Hummus and Veggies

We make it from a cooked paste of chickpeas blended with olive oil. This snack will blow your mind. Filled with protein and nutrients, you can use it as a dip or spread.

You get 4g of protein per one-third cup serving. It is tasty and filling, loaded with nutrients. You can have it as a snack or part of your meal anytime.

Pair it with Pita bread, veggies, or any other nutrient-dense food. Add a few carrots, beetroots, and celery sticks over the hummus, and enjoy the great snack.

Apple With Peanut Butter

Last but not least on the list is the tastiest nutrient-dense protein-rich snack. Apples offer high fiber and antioxidants. Peanut butter has a high protein quotient when combined.

Apple uplifts your gut health and mitigates heart disease risks. Peanut butter increases good cholesterol (HDL) and lowers bad cholesterol (LDL).

A combination snack of a medium-sized apple with a spoonful of peanut butter offers a protein of 4g. In addition, you get nutrients, vitamin C, and potassium.

You need to consume peanut butter in moderation as it is high in calories, and you may put on weight if consumed in excess.

Conclusion

Avoid high saturated fat and high cholesterol foods. Even healthy food can turn unhealthy if deep fried in oil or butter. We regard both as a source of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Your diet may become unhealthy if you consume high-saturated-fat food, such as bacon, pork, sausage, and ham, even with a healthy protein-rich diet.

High-fat or saturated-fat diets can cause heart and cardiovascular diseases. When you have charted out a healthy protein-rich diet, you must know which food you must exclude from your regular intake.

Updated on: 13-Apr-2023

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