This Is Exactly How Much Protein You Should Eat Every Day

Protein is important to our diet and helps our bodies function properly. Protein helps regulate hormones, transports molecules, acts as an enzyme for chemical reactions and more.

The average person should ideally eat 100 grams of protein per day. But this number changes based on your activity level, among other factors.

This visual guide shows you what 100 grams of protein looks like, whether you’re following a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous diet. We hope it helps you put your daily protein needs into perspective.

The grams were calculated by taking the information from the nutrition facts label on packaged items and weighing them if necessary. The grams listed in this guide are specific to the products used for this experiment, so your numbers may vary if you are looking at a different brand of bread or yogurt.

100 grams of protein for omnivores

If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, eating 100 grams of protein per day should be pretty easy. Here’s one way to do it:

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

Everything pictured above adds up to 103 grams, which puts you over the 100 gram target.

100 grams of animal proteins

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

• Four eggs (24 grams of protein)
• Three beef meatballs (15 grams)
• Two slices (2 ounces) turkey bacon (10 grams)
• 3 ounces turkey fillet (24 grams)
• 1 can of tuna (27 grams)

This amounts to a perfect 100. If you ate all of this in one day, plus bread and other non-animal products, you would easily consume over 100 grams of protein per day.

100 grams of protein for vegetarians

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

• Four eggs (24 grams of protein)
• ½ cup oatmeal (5 grams)
• Two tablespoons of peanut butter (7 grams)
• One tablespoon of hemp seeds (4 grams)
• ¼ cup protein granola (10 grams)
• One scoop of vegetable protein powder (20 grams)
• Two snack cheeses (10 grams)
• A portion of Greek yogurt (15 grams)

This amounts to 99 grams of protein, which is pretty close and still a good amount to get in a day.

100 grams of vegan protein

What you see is not quite what you get with this photo. In the photo you see:

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

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

This plate also does not contain protein-rich vegan meat substitutes, such as tofu, tempeh or plant-based meat such as Impossible Burger. Those food sources can make it much easier to get 100 grams of protein than someone who has a vegan diet.