This simple visual guide will ensure you get 100 grams of protein every day

Most people already have enough protein in their diet. If not, you may be wondering what sufficient protein looks like on a plate. How much you need daily depends on your diet and especially your body weight, as the recommended daily intake of protein is 0.36 grams per pound. (The USDA has a calculator that can help you with this.) If you want to build muscle, are pregnant or breastfeeding, you’ll need more, but maybe not as much as you think.

If you want to learn more about protein or change your protein goals, you should first consult your doctor. To put things in perspective, we created this visual guide showing what 100 grams of protein looks like for vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, and carnivores.

Grams were calculated by taking information from the nutrition label on packaged items and weighing them if necessary. The gram quantities listed in these instructions are specific to the products used in this experiment. Therefore, your numbers may vary if you look at a different brand for the following products.

This is what 100 grams of protein looks like for omnivores

If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, getting 100 grams of protein per day should be pretty easy. This is what it would look like:

• Two eggs (12 grams)
• Snack cheese (5 grams)
• Greek yogurt (15 grams)
• Beef sausage (14 grams)
• A can of tuna (27 grams)
• ½ cup oatmeal (5 grams)
• 2 ounces deli ham (10 grams)
• 1 ounce mixed nuts (5 grams)
• Two slices of rye bread (10 grams)

Everything pictured above is 103 grams, so just over 100 grams.

This is what 100 grams of animal protein looks like for carnivores

As you can see, it doesn’t take much to get 100 grams of protein from animal products:

• Four eggs (24 grams)
• A can of tuna (27 grams)
• Three beef meatballs (15 grams)
• 2 ounces turkey bacon (10 grams)
• 3 ounces turkey breast (24 grams)

That’s a perfect 100 grams of protein. If you ate all of this in one day, plus bread and other non-animal products, you would consume more than 100 grams of protein per day.

This is what 100 grams of protein looks like for vegetarians

For vegetarians, 100 grams of protein might look like this:

• Four eggs (24 grams)
• ½ cup oatmeal (5 grams)
• Two snack cheeses (10 grams)
• ¼ cup protein cereal (10 grams)
• A single serving of Greek yogurt (15 grams)
• One tablespoon of hemp seeds (4 grams)
• Two tablespoons of peanut butter (7 grams)
• One scoop of plant-based protein powder (20 grams)

This actually equates to 99 grams of protein, which is pretty close.

What 100 grams of protein looks like for vegans

What you see is not quite what you get with the amount of protein here:

• 1 ounce nuts (5 grams)
• ½ cup oatmeal (5 grams)
• One protein granola bar (8 grams)
• Two slices of rye bread (10 grams)
• ¼ cup protein cereal (10 grams)
• One tablespoon of hemp seeds (4 grams)
• Two tablespoons of chia seeds (10 grams)
• Two tablespoons of peanut butter (7 grams)
• One scoop of plant-based protein powder (20 grams)

This corresponds to 79 grams of protein. If we double the mixed nuts, chia seeds and hemp seeds, we get 93 grams of protein. You could add an extra tablespoon of peanut butter or eat a full cup of oatmeal instead of half a cup to get closer to 100 grams.

Protein-rich vegan meat substitutes such as tofu, tempeh or plant-based meats are also excluded from this plate Impossible Burger. These food sources can make it easier for someone eating a to get 100 grams of protein vegan diet.