People who prefer eating vegetarian food, their daily meals include kabuli chana, soybean, and paneer in rotation to ensure there's no protein deficiency. Animal-based foods have higher levels of all types of proteins. There's no doubt about that. But those who don't eat fish, meat, or eggs have to rely on plant-based and dairy foods. Among these, kabuli chana, paneer, and soybean are quite popular. However, it's necessary to know the protein content of each food before eating.
Paneer ( Indian cheese):
When vegetarian food is mentioned, paneer comes to mind first. Made from milk, paneer contains protein, calcium, vitamins, and other minerals. Paneer can be added to regular curries, tikka, rolls, bharta, and salads. Nutritionists say 100 grams of paneer contains 14 to 18 grams of protein. However, there's one problem. While paneer is good in all other aspects, it has a high fat content. So eating too much can increase calories. Therefore, paneer is not good for those who want to lose weight.
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Chana (Gram/garbanzo beans):
There's a tradition of eating chana as dal, curry, or raw in different parts of the country. Many believe that a good amount of protein can be obtained from this plant-based food. However, nutritionists are revealing the truth. They say 100 grams of boiled chana contains about 7-9 grams of protein, which is much less compared to paneer. But chana has sufficient fibre, which paneer doesn't have. However, the problem is that chana causes bloating in many people. This type of problem shouldn't occur with paneer.
Soybean:
In the list of plant-based proteins, soybean beats everyone else and ranks almost at the top. Because this food has the highest protein content. Nutritionists say 100 grams of soybeans contain about 36 to 40 grams of protein, which is double the amount of paneer and five times more than chana. Soybeans' amino acid profile is almost like animal food. Most importantly, it's easily available and cheap too.
