Every Pure Bites article tagged protein.
Nutrition & health
I have been prescribed a GLP-1 medicine and I am vegetarian. What should I actually eat?
GLP-1 medicines shrink appetite, so every small meal has to carry more. What a published expert advisory says about protein, fibre, fluids and the nutrients to watch — translated to dal, paneer, curd and sprouts, with the limits of that translation stated.
Smart snacking
What can a person with diabetes eat in the evening that will not spike blood sugar?
Pulses and nuts have trial evidence behind them, though the effects are modest. Makhana has one small study. Fried namkeen and “sugar-free” biscuits have none. An honest 5 pm list for someone managing blood sugar, from a kitchen that sells fried snacks.
Nutrition & health
Is rajgira actually healthier than wheat, or is it just allowed during fasts?
Rajgira is the fasting grain that outscores wheat on protein, iron and magnesium, carries the amino acid most grains lack, and has no gluten. Nine benefits with the numbers per 100 g, what the evidence supports, and how to cook it so it is not a paste.
Nutrition & health
Paneer, tofu or soya chunks — which is the best protein for the money, and are soya chunks actually healthy?
Three vegetarian proteins, three very different foods. Paneer is the richest and fattiest, tofu the lightest, soya chunks the cheapest by a mile per gram of protein — with a taste and a texture that need a cook. The numbers per 100 g, the cost per 20 g of protein in Surat, what the soya research says, and where each belongs.
Everyday eating
I feel weak and hungry all day during the Navratri fast — what should I actually be eating?
Nine days of vrat food is nine days of sabudana if you let it be — and sabudana is starch. Here is what the fasting staples actually carry per 100 g, which combinations keep you full and steady, and how to build a fast that does not end in a 4 pm headache.
Smart snacking
Makhana, peanuts or roasted chana — which should I keep at my desk?
Three snacks that every Indian kitchen calls healthy, compared honestly per 28 g handful: makhana is the lightest and lowest in protein, peanuts are the most filling and most caloric, roasted chana has the best protein and fibre for its calories. Which wins depends on what you want the snack to do.
Nutrition & health
I am vegetarian and everyone says I am not getting enough protein — how much do I need and how do I get it from Gujarati food?
A Gujarati thali is famous for being short on protein. It does not have to be. Here is what a working adult actually needs, what each thing on the plate contributes, and a day that reaches 60 g with dal, curd, paneer, chana and peanuts — nothing from a tub.
Nutrition & health
Are sprouts really healthier than plain moong, or is that a myth?
What sprouting actually changes in a mung bean — more vitamin C, less phytate, easier digestion — with the numbers, what it does not change, and how to sprout and eat them safely.
Nutrition & health
Are peanuts as healthy as almonds, or a cheap substitute?
Peanuts carry 26 g of protein per 100 g — more than any tree nut — with the healthy-fat profile the heart studies like, at a tenth of the price of almonds. The numbers, the trials, the aflatoxin rule, and why the kitchen fries in peanut oil.
Nutrition & health
Is rajma actually healthy, or just filling?
Nine things rajma does well — protein, fibre, iron, folate — with the numbers per 100 g, what the trials actually found on cholesterol and blood sugar, and the one cooking rule that is not optional.
Nutrition & health
Is paneer healthy or is it too fatty?
Paneer is the densest everyday vegetarian protein — about 18 g per 100 g — with calcium for bones and a complete amino acid profile. It also carries 20 g of fat per 100 g. What that means for a salad, a diet and a heart.
Nutrition & health
Why do doctors always say “eat moong dal”?
Why mung dal is the pulse recommended for sick days and weekday lunches alike: 7 g protein and 7.6 g fibre per 100 g, easy digestion, folate, and what the pulse trials actually show.
Nutrition & health
Which dal has the most iron and protein?
Lentils are the highest-iron everyday pulse — 3.3 mg per 100 g cooked — with 9 g protein, 7.9 g fibre and 181 µg folate, and they cook in fifteen minutes with no soak. The numbers, the trials, and what the kitchen does with them.
Nutrition & health
Are chickpeas good for protein if I don’t eat meat?
Chickpeas are the most protein-dense everyday pulse per katori: 8.9 g protein and 7.6 g fibre per 100 g cooked. What that does for fullness, cholesterol and blood sugar in trials, plus iron, folate and the boiling rule.
Nutrition & health
Are almonds worth the price, or just expensive calories?
What a 28 g handful of almonds carries — 6 g protein, 3.5 g fibre, a day’s worth of vitamin E — what the trials found on LDL cholesterol and heart risk, and why “a handful” is the honest portion.
Recipes & food ideas
I want something quick that is filling and not boring.
A fifteen-minute bowl with real protein in it, written with the weights and timings we actually use, including the sprouting step most recipes skip.
Nutrition & health
People say besan snacks are “healthier” and I want to know whether that is true.
Besan carries real protein and fibre, which is more than most snack flours can say. Here are the numbers, and an honest account of what frying does to the picture.
Nutrition & health
I eat a full lunch and I’m hungry again by half past three.
A big lunch that leaves you raiding a drawer at 3.30 is usually missing one of four things. Here is how to work out which one, from the meal you already ate.
Nutrition & health
The numbers on a nutrition panel don’t tell me how the meal will actually feel.
Three numbers explain most of how a meal will make you feel. Here is what each one actually measures, what a normal day looks like, and why the calorie is the least useful of the three.
Nutrition & health
My salad looks healthy but I have no idea whether it is actually a meal.
A bowl of leaves is not a meal. Five components turn a salad into lunch that holds you until evening — and one of them is the part everyone gets wrong.
Nutrition & health
I’m vegetarian and my salads never keep me full.
The single most common reason a vegetarian salad fails as a meal is that nobody put protein in it. Twelve ingredients, with the numbers, from an all-veg kitchen.