Finding motivation to exercise can be the greatest challenge in working out. This might be part of the reason why less than a quarter of people achieve the activity goals recommended by the World Health Organization.
But what if working out could be more enjoyable? One way of achieving this could be opting for types of exercise that fit our personalities. To this end, researchers in the UK now have examined how personality affects what types of exercise we prefer, and our commitment and engagement to them. The results were published in Frontiers in Psychology.
We found that our personality can influence how we engage with exercise, and particularly which forms of exercise we enjoy the most.”
Dr. Flaminia Ronca, first author from University College London’s (UCL) Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health
“Understanding personality factors in designing and recommending physical activity programs is likely to be very important in determining how successful a program is, and whether people will stick with it and become fitter,” added senior author Prof Paul Burgess from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Different sports for different people
The researchers recruited participants that attended lab testing for baseline fitness. They then split them into two groups; the first group was provided with an eight-week home-based fitness plan made up of cycling and strength training (intervention group), the other group continued their usual lifestyle (control group). During lab testing, the first intervention week, and after the intervention, all participants completed a questionnaire on how much they’d enjoyed each training session. The personality traits examined in the study included extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness.
“Our brains are wired in different ways, which drives our behaviors and how we interact with our environment,” Ronca explained. “So it’s not surprising that personality would also influence how we respond to different intensities of exercise.”
For example, people scoring high on extraversion enjoyed high intensity sessions with others around, including team sports. Contrary, people scoring high on neuroticism preferred private workouts. While they are fine with high intensity, they need short breaks in between. Others, scoring high on consciousness and openness were found to engage in exercise regardless of whether they particularly enjoyed it or were driven by curiosity, respectively.
Stress less
What was particularly interesting was the relationship between personality, change in fitness, and stress, the researchers said. Before the intervention, the stress levels of both groups were similar. After the intervention, however, especially people who scored high in neuroticism showed a strong reduction in stress. “It’s fantastic news, as it highlights that those who benefit the most from a reduction in stress respond very well to exercise,” Ronca said.
The researchers pointed out that the most important part about exercising is finding something we enjoy and not to be discouraged if we don’t immediately find it. “It’s ok if we don’t enjoy a particular session,” Ronca said. “We can try something else.”
“We hope that if people can find physical activities that they enjoy they will more readily choose to do them,” Burgess concluded. “After all, we don’t have to nag dogs to go for a walk: being so physically inactive that we start to feel miserable might be a peculiarly human thing to do. In effect, our body punishes us by making us miserable. But for some reason, many of us humans seem poor at picking up on these messages it is sending to our brain.”
Source:
Journal reference:
Ronca, F., et al. (2025) Personality traits can predict which exercise intensities we enjoy most, and the magnitude of stress reduction experienced following a training program.Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1587472.
A new review of antidepressant withdrawal effects – written by academics, many of whom have close ties to drug manufacturers – risks underestimating the potential harms to long-term antidepressant users by focusing on short-term, industry-funded studies.
There is growing recognition that stopping antidepressants – especially after long-term use – can cause severe and sometimes debilitating withdrawal symptoms, and it is now acknowledged by the UK government as a public health issue.
One of the main reasons this issue took decades to recognise after the release of modern antidepressants onto the market is because medical guidelines, such as those produced by Nice (England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), had for many years declared withdrawal effects to be “brief and mild”.
This description was based on studies run by drug companies, where people had only taken the medication for eight to 12 weeks. As a result, when patients later showed up with severe, long-lasting symptoms, many doctors didn’t take them seriously because these experiences contradicted what the guidelines led them to expect.
Related: Some Antidepressants Could Speed Decline in Dementia Patients
Our recent research helps explain this mismatch. We found a clear link between how long someone takes antidepressants and how likely they are to experience withdrawal symptoms – and how severe these symptoms are.
We surveyed NHS patients and found that people who had used antidepressants for more than two years were ten times more likely to have withdrawal effects, five times more likely for those effects to be severe, and 18 times more likely for them to be long lasting compared with those who had taken the drugs for six months or less.
For patients who used antidepressants for less than six months, withdrawal symptoms were mostly mild and brief. Three-quarters reported no or mild symptoms, most of which lasted less than four weeks.
Withdrawal is milder for those who use antidepressants for less than six months. (fizkes/Getty Images/Canva)
Only one in four of these patients was unable to stop when they wanted to. However, for long-term users (more than two years), two-thirds reported moderate or severe withdrawal effects, with one-quarter reporting severe withdrawal effects.
Almost one-third of long-term users reported symptoms that lasted for more than three months. Four-fifths of these patients were unable to stop their antidepressants despite trying.
About 2 million people on antidepressants in England have been taking them for over five years, according to a BBC investigation. And in the US at least 25 million people have taken antidepressants for more than five years. What happens to people in eight-to-12-week studies is a far cry from what happens to millions of people when they stop.
Studying what happens to people after just eight to 12 weeks on antidepressants is like testing car safety by crashing a vehicle into a wall at 5km/h – ignoring the fact that real drivers are out on the roads doing 60km/h.
History repeating itself?
Against this backdrop, a review has just been published in JAMA Psychiatry. Several of the senior authors declare payments from drug companies.
In what looks like history repeating itself, the review draws on short-term trials – many funded by the pharmaceutical industry – that were similar to those used to shape early treatment guidelines. The authors conclude that antidepressants do not cause significant withdrawal effects.
Their main analysis is based on eleven trials that compared withdrawal symptoms in people who had stopped antidepressants with those who had continued them or stopped taking a placebo. Six of these trials had people on antidepressants for eight weeks, four for 12 weeks and just one for 26 weeks.
They reported a slightly higher number of withdrawal symptoms in people who had stopped antidepressants, which they say does not constitute a “clinically significant” withdrawal syndrome. They also suggest the symptoms could be explained by the “nocebo effect” – where negative expectations cause people to feel worse.
In our view, the results are likely to greatly underestimate the risk of withdrawal for the millions of people on these drugs for years. The review found no relationship between the duration of use of antidepressants and withdrawal symptoms, but there were too few long-term studies to test this association properly.
The review probably underestimates, in our view, short-term withdrawal effects too by assuming that the fact that people experience withdrawal-like symptoms when stopping a placebo or continuing an antidepressant cancels out withdrawal effects from antidepressants. But this is not a valid assumption.
We know that antidepressant withdrawal effects overlap with side-effects and with everyday symptoms, but this does not mean they are the same thing. People stopping a placebo report symptoms such as dizziness and headache, because these are common occurrences.
However, as was shown in another recent review, symptoms following discontinuation of a placebo tend to be milder than those experienced when stopping antidepressants, which can be intense enough to require emergency care.
So deducting the rate of symptoms after stopping a placebo or continuing an antidepressant from antidepressant withdrawal symptoms is likely to underestimate the true extent of withdrawal.
Some withdrawal effects are severe enough to require emergency care. (Mikhail Nilov/Pexels/Canva)
The review also doesn’t include several well-designed drug company studies that found high rates of withdrawal symptoms. For example, an American study found that more than 60% of people who stopped antidepressants (after eleven months) experienced withdrawal symptoms.
The authors suggest that depression after stopping antidepressants is probably a return of the original condition, not withdrawal symptoms, because similar rates of depression were seen in people who stopped taking a placebo.
But this conclusion is based on limited and unreliable data (that is, relying on participants in studies to report such events without prompting, rather than assessing them systematically) from just five studies.
We hope uncritical reporting of a review based on the sort of short-term studies that led to under-recognition of withdrawal effects in the first place, does not disrupt the growing acceptance of the problem and slow efforts by the health system to help potentially millions of people who may be severely affected.
The authors and publisher of the new review have been approached for comment.
Mark Horowitz, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry, UCL and Joanna Moncrieff, Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry, UCL
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The declaration of Suriname as the first malaria-free Amazonian country by the World Health Organization should spur other countries in the region affected by illegal mining and high migration, say disease specialists.
The small country on the northeastern coast of South America is one of the poorest in Latin America, heavily dependent on mining of natural resources such as gold and bauxite. More than 90 per cent of the land is covered in rainforest.
Roberto Montoya, regional malaria advisor for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), who has worked extensively in the region, told SciDev.Net: “The elimination of malaria in Suriname is a very important milestone because it shows that it is possible, even with jungle, gold mining, and dispersed indigenous populations, for health ministries to overcome these challenges.”
The country, which is one of the smallest in South America with a population of less than 630,000 people, achieved eradication after nearly seven decades of work.
The certification last week (30 June), took the total of malaria-free countries in the Americas to 12, and the global total to 46, plus one territory.
The Amazon region encompasses nine countries and its abundant rainforests are an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carry the parasite that transmits malaria.
This is what makes Suriname’s achievement even more significant, says Montoya.
“Being malaria-free means that our population is no longer at risk of contracting this disease,” said Amar Ramadhin, Suriname’s Minister of Health in a press statement.
“Furthermore, eliminating malaria will have positive effects on our health sector, boost the economy, and improve tourism.”
He stressed that to maintain the status the country would need to conduct ongoing surveillance.
“We must continue to take the necessary measures to prevent the reintroduction of malaria,” he urged.
Transmission hotspots
Suriname used two strategies to obtain the certificate, Montoya explained. One was reaching out to indigenous communities, which often meant travelling up to two hours by river to seek a diagnosis. The other was making contact with legal and illegal miners.
Gold mining and the resulting movement of workers is closely linked to malaria in South America, in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, according to Montoya.
This creates transmission hotspots that are difficult to control.
These populations self-medicate and incompletely follow treatments, which also leads to resistance problems.”
Roberto Montoya, regional malaria advisor for the Pan American Health Organization
To counter this, health officials took rapid diagnostics tests and treatments directly to the people.
“Community members, including those associated with mining, were trained to administer medicines,” the PAHO expert said.
“We went to the mining camps to create mechanisms to connect these informal actors,” he added.
The switch from eight-day quinine treatment to other artemisinin-derived medicines in 2005 was also instrumental in fighting the disease, according to Montoya.
Angélica Knudson-Ospina, a malaria expert at the National University of Colombia, highlighted the importance of the political will demonstrated by Suriname, which is sometimes lacking.
“Suriname also had a very nice strategy for providing diagnostic and treatment kits, which encourages self-care among miners,” she told SciDev.Net.
“It’s a financial effort and requires the participation of many entities, including the owners of the mining companies, who must give their consent.
She added: “These networks must be built to bring so many stakeholders together. That’s why political will is key.”
Reactivation risk
Malaria is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes, which transmit Plasmodium parasites. These parasites lodge in the human liver and cause symptoms including fever, vomiting, and anaemia.
In the Americas, the most common variant — found in three quarters of cases — is Plasmodium vivax, which is different to the more lethal Plasmodium falciparum, predominant in the African continent.
The predominant variant in the Americas persists after treatment and the parasite can remain dormant in the liver for many months, Montoya explained.
“It’s harder to eliminate, and reactivation can occur after four months. Therefore, more treatment is required, with many days of pills,” he said.
Other countries in the region on the path to eliminating malaria are Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and French Guiana.
High caseloads of the disease persist in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, as well as Peru and Haiti.
Creatine is popularly known as a muscle-building supplement, but its influence on human muscle function can be a matter of life or death.
Creatine is very crucial for energy-consuming cells in skeletal muscle throughout the body, but also in the brain and in the heart.”
Chin-Yi Chen, research scientist at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Chen is part of a research team working to develop a technique that uses focused ultrasound to deliver creatine directly to the brain. The work, being conducted in the lab of Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Assistant Professor Cheng-Chia “Fred” Wu, will be supported by a $30,000 grant from the Association for Creatine Deficiencies.
Creatine plays a vital role in the brain, where it interacts with phosphoric acid to help create adenosine triphosphate, a molecule essential for energy production in living cells. In addition to its role in energy production, creatine also influences neurotransmitter systems.
For example, creatine influences the brain’s major inhibitory pathways that use the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid, which limits neuronal excitability in the central nervous system. It may play a role in a variety of functions, including seizure control, learning, memory, and brain development.
A growing body of research suggests that creatine may itself function as neurotransmitter, as it is delivered to neurons from glial cells in the brain and can influence signaling processes between other neurons. While creatine deficiency disorders can weaken the skeletal muscle and the heart, they can also severely affect the brain. Many patients see increased muscle mass and body weight with creatine supplements, but they often continue to face neurodevelopmental challenges that can hinder their ability to speak, read, or write.
This is largely caused by the brain’s protective blood-brain barrier. This selective shield blocks harmful substances like toxins and pathogens from entering brain tissue, but it can also prevent beneficial compounds like creatine from reaching the brain when levels are low.
Wu studies therapeutic focused ultrasound, which precisely directs sound waves to areas of the brain to which access has been opened temporarily. The process allows drugs to reach diseased tissue without harming surrounding healthy cells. While Wu is investigating this method as a potential treatment for pediatric brain cancer, he also sees potential in applying it to creatine deficiency.
“Through the partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National Hospital, I was able to present our work in focused ultrasound at the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus,” Wu said. “There, I met Dr. Seth Berger, a medical geneticist, who introduced me to creatine transporter deficiency. Together, we saw the promise that focused ultrasound had to offer.”
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation has recognized Virginia Tech and Children’s National as Centers of Excellence. Wu said the two organizations bring together clinical specialists, trial experts, and research scientists who can design experiments that could inform future clinical trials.
“It was a moment that made me really excited – that I had found a lab where I could move from basic research to something that could help patients,” Chen said. “When Fred asked me, ‘Are you interested in this project?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
Because creatine deficiencies can impair brain development, the early stages of Chen’s project will concentrate on using focused ultrasound to deliver creatine across the blood-brain barrier. Chen hopes the technique will restore normal brain mass in models of creatine deficiency.
A new study has found that going to bed earlier, not just sleeping more but shifting your sleep timing, can significantly boost your physical activity the next day. Researchers tracked nearly 20,000 people for an entire year using WHOOP bands—a kind of high-tech wrist confessional that records everything from when you hit the pillow to how hard you hustle during your workouts.
They found that people who typically went to bed around 9pm logged about 30 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity the next day than those who crashed at 1am. Even compared to folks who hit the bed at 11pm, those early sleepers still managed 15 more minutes of heart-pumping movement.
That may not sound like a big deal at first. But add it up over weeks, months, or years, and we’re talking a serious edge in fitness, stamina, and probably smug self-satisfaction.
Is there something magical about 9pm?
Not quite. According to Dr Josh Leota, lead author and psychologist at Monash University, it’s all about alignment. People who stay up late often find their natural body clocks clashing with conventional 9-to-5 routines. This mismatch, called “social je means poor sleep quality, groggy mornings, and about as much motivation for a morning jog as a root canal.
By contrast, people who sleep early and wake in sync with daytime schedules tend to feel better, move more, and have more energy to actually do things—like go for a run, hit the gym, or even just walk the dog without resenting it.
The effect wasn’t just limited to night owls versus early birds. When people shifted their sleep earlier than usual while keeping the same amount of sleep, their physical activity the next day went up.
To make sure this wasn’t a fluke, the team at Monash University validated their findings with another large dataset—this time from nearly 6,000 Fitbit users in the All of Us Research Program. The results? Same pattern, different people. Across the board, earlier bedtimes predicted more movement the next day.
What does this mean for the rest of us?
If you’re trying to get fitter, healthier, or just feel less lethargic during your morning commute, it might be time to rethink those late-night scrolling sessions. No need to overhaul your entire life; just try nudging your bedtime earlier while keeping your usual sleep quota intact.
Newswise — In a new study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers reported the successful development and validation of a medical artificial intelligence (AI) model that screens for cardiac amyloidosis, a progressive and irreversible type of heart disease.
The results showed that the AI tool is highly accurate, outperforming existing methods and potentially enabling earlier, more accurate diagnoses so patients can benefit from getting the right treatment sooner.
What is cardiac amyloidosis?
Cardiac amyloidosis is a heart condition in which abnormal proteins build up in the heart muscle, making it stiff and impairing its ability to pump blood. Multiple life-prolonging drug treatments for this condition have recently become available, but without early diagnosis, physicians miss out on opportunities to extend patients’ survival and quality of life.
“Unfortunately, cardiac amyloidosis can be challenging to diagnose, because it’s often difficult to distinguish from other heart issues without a burdensome amount of testing,” explained co-lead author Jeremy Slivnick, MD, a cardiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Developing AI for cardiology
The AI model was developed by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Ultromics, Ltd., an AI echocardiography company. They trained a neural network to detect cardiac amyloidosis using routine heart ultrasound images, known as echocardiograms.
The resulting AI model can analyze a single echocardiogram video of the heart’s apical four-chamber view to quickly detect cardiac amyloidosis and differentiate it from other similar heart conditions.
UChicago Medicine joined 17 other hospitals worldwide to validate and test the algorithm’s results in a large and multiethnic patient population. They found that the AI tool demonstrated an accuracy rate of 85% for correctly identifying patients with cardiac amyloidosis and 93% for correctly ruling it out. This efficacy held true across multiple types of cardiac amyloidosis in diverse populations.
In their analysis, Slivnick and his colleagues compared the AI model to existing clinical scoring methods commonly used to detect cardiac amyloidosis. Their results showed that it significantly outperformed these traditional approaches, making it easier for doctors to decide who needs advanced imaging tests or further evaluation.
“It was exciting to confirm that artificial intelligence can give clinicians reliable information to augment their expert decision-making process,” Slivnick said. “Since the new treatments for cardiac amyloidosis are most effective in early stages of the disease, it’s critical that we leverage every tool at our disposal to diagnose it as soon as possible.”
Bringing AI into the clinic
The AI model is FDA-cleared and already being implemented at multiple hospitals across the country, and the researchers hope its use will ultimately become widespread in routine cardiac care.
“This AI model provides a practical solution,” Slivnick said. “Because it automatically analyzes a common echocardiogram view, it can easily integrate into everyday clinical practice without causing hassle or sacrificing diagnostic accuracy.”
“Cardiac amyloidosis detection from a single echocardiographic video clip: a novel artificial intelligence-based screening tool” was published in the European Heart Journal in July 2025. Authors include Jeremy Slivnick, Will Hawkes, Jorge Oliveira, Gary Woodward, Ashley Akerman, Alberto Gomez, Izhan Hamza, Viral Desai, Zachary Barrett-O’Keefe, Martha Grogan, Angela Dispenzieri, Christopher Scott, Halley Davison, Juan Cotella, Matthew Maurer, Stephen Helmke, Marielle Scherrer-Crosbie, Marwa Soltani, Akash Goyal, Karolina Zareba, Richard Cheng, James Kirkpatrick, Tetsuji Kitano, Masaaki Takeuchi, Viviane Tiemi Hotta, Marcelo Luiz Campos Vieira, Pablo Elissamburu, Ricardo Ronderos, Aldo Prado, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, Anita Deswal, Amit Pursnani, Nitasha Sarswat, Amit Patel, Karima Addetia, Frederick Ruberg, Michael Randazzo, Federico Asch, Jamie O’Driscoll, Nora Al-Roub, Jordan Strom, Liam Kidd, Sarah Cuddy, Ross Upton, Roberto Lang and Patricia Pellikka.
Proteinsupports muscle growth, repairs tissues and aids in the production of enzymes and hormones.
There are many ways to incorporate protein into your diet from both animal- and plant-based sources.
Daily protein needs vary based on factors such as age, activity levels and health conditions, so talk to a registered dietitian for individualized advice.
Protein is a vital nutrient that serves as a powerhouse for your body. It not only helps keep you feeling full but also supports the growth and maintenance of muscles, blood vessels, skin, hair and nails. It also plays a crucial role in the production of hormones and enzymes, ensuring your body functions efficiently. Protein is found in a variety of foods, including meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, beans, nuts and whole grains. Adults typically need at least 46 grams (g) of protein per day, but this varies depending on how many calories you eat each day. Your protein needs are also dependent on your age, activity level, whether you are pregnant and other factors that can result in you needing much more than the standard recommendation. Learn exactly how much protein you need to eat every day.
If you eat a balanced diet, you are likely getting the daily required amount without much difficulty. A standard 3-ounce chicken breast has about 26g of protein in it, which is more than half the minimum recommendation. But despite the fact that most people get enough protein, it remains a popular macronutrient to focus on. To make it easier for you to eat up, we looked at what a serving of protein looks like and how much you’re getting from different sources.
Chicken Breast
Abbey Littlejohn
2.4 ounces (oz) cooked = 15g protein
Chicken is a fantastic source of lean protein, making it an excellent addition to any balanced diet. Packed with essential nutrients like B vitamins, phosphorus and selenium, it is a nutritional powerhouse. What’s great about chicken is how versatile and cost-effective it is; it can be grilled, baked, or added to countless recipes, making it easy to include in meals. Whether you’re looking to build muscle or simply enjoy a satisfying and healthy food, chicken is a smart choice.
Salmon
Abbey Littlejohn
2.4 oz cooked= 15g protein
Salmon is one of the healthiest fish you can eat. It’s loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart, brain and skin. Additionally, salmon is an excellent source of high-quality protein, essential for muscle repair and growth. It also contains important vitamins like B12 and D, which support energy levels and bone health. Including salmon in your diet may help reduce inflammation and support your health in many other ways.
Shrimp
Abbey Littlejohn
2.6 oz cooked = 15g protein
Shrimp provides high-quality protein while being low in calories and fat. Additionally, shrimp are packed with essential nutrients like selenium, iodine and B12, all of which contribute to overall health. To prepare shrimp, simply sauté them with olive oil, garlic and your favorite spices for a quick and delicious meal. You can also toss them into pasta, salads or stir-fries for a versatile addition to your dishes. Their quick cooking time makes them perfect for busy weeknight dinners.
Eggs
Abbey Littlejohn
2.4 large eggs = 15g protein
Eggs are a healthy vegetarian protein source. When you think of how much protein is in an egg, you might think of the egg white first. While lots of protein advocates reach for egg whites, the yolk also contains protein and houses many key nutrients, like choline, a nutrient that supports brain health.
Ground Beef (80/20)
Abbey Littlejohn
3.1 oz cooked patty = 15g protein
80/20 ground beef strikes the great balance between flavor and nutrition. The 80% lean portion provides ample protein to support muscle growth and repair. Meanwhile, the 20% fat content adds rich taste and juiciness, making dishes super satisfying. It’s versatile and can be used in a variety of meals, from burgers to pasta sauces, and it is widely available and budget-friendly, making it an accessible option for many households.
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Abbey Littlejohn
5.1 oz = 15g protein
Cottage cheese is packed with high-quality protein that helps keep you full and supports muscle growth and repair. Plus, it’s incredibly versatile: You can enjoy it on its own, mix it into smoothies or add it to salads and snacks. Cottage cheese is also low in fat (if you choose lower fat percentage options like nonfat, 1% or 2%) and contains important nutrients like calcium. Best of all, it’s lower cost, easy to find and works for many different kinds of meals. Pro tip: Try adding it to a baked potato. It’s so good!
Canned Tuna
Abbey Littlejohn
2.8 oz = 15g protein
Canned tuna is a staple in many households. It’s cost-effective and easy to find, offering a generous amount of nutritional value while aligning with many budgets. Packed with key nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins, it supports heart and brain health while satisfying your hunger. Just remember, different types of tuna might have varying levels of mercury, which can be a concern because high mercury intake is harmful to human health, potentially affecting the nervous system. Skipjack tuna typically has lower mercury levels compared to other varieties, making it a safer option for regular consumption.
Ricotta Cheese
Abbey Littlejohn
6.7 oz = 15g protein
Ricotta cheese offers a creamy texture and mild flavor, making it easy to include in both savory and sweet dishes. It’s packed with high-quality protein that supports muscle repair and overall health. Try using ricotta cheese as a rich and creamy base for pancakes or in smoothies for a creative and flavorful twist.
Firm Tofu
Abbey Littlejohn
2.8 oz = 15g protein
Firm tofu is packed with plant-based protein, making it a versatile option for those following a vegetarian or vegan diet. It easily absorbs flavors from marinades and spices, so you can customize it to suit any dish. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to cook; whether you pan-fry, bake or grill it, it always turns out delicious. Not to mention, it is lower cost and widely available, making healthy eating more accessible. Lastly, firm tofu is also a natural source of iron and calcium, adding even more nutritional benefits to your meals!
Cheddar Cheese
Abbey Littlejohn
2.3 oz = 15g protein
Sliced cheddar cheese offers about 7 grams of protein per ounce, making it a quick way to help meet your daily protein goals. It’s an excellent option for making sandwiches, pairing with crackers, or topping on a salad. Full of calcium as well, cheddar cheese supports healthy bones and teeth while keeping you feeling full.
Canned Chickpeas
Abbey Littlejohn
7.4 oz = 15g protein
Chickpeas aren’t just a protein source. Sure, they provide high-quality protein. But they are also a natural source of antioxidants, which help combat oxidative stress and promote cellular health. Their impressive fiber content aids in meeting your nutritional needs, supporting digestive health and improving gut microbiota. Chickpeas also contribute to better heart health. Versatile and nutrient-dense, they enhance a variety of dishes while offering significant health benefits.
Low-Fat Greek Yogurt
Abbey Littlejohn
5.3 oz = 15g protein
Low-fat strained-style yogurt—such as Greek yogurt—is packed with protein. It’s creamy, delicious and available in a variety of flavors. It is also rich in probiotics, supporting healthy digestion and gut health. Whether enjoyed on its own, blended into a smoothie or as a base for savory dips, it’s an incredibly versatile food.
Depending on which type of yogurt you pick, the protein content will vary. Greek yogurt typically contains more protein compared to regular yogurt due to its straining process.
Quinoa
Abbey Littlejohn
3.8 oz = 15g protein
Quinoa is a grain that also happens to give your meals a protein boost. It’s also a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own. This gluten-free grain is easy to prepare and pairs excellently with vegetables, meats or sauces, making it a great addition to any meal. Quinoa is also a source of fiber, adding to the laundry list of why dietitians love it. Its mildly nutty flavor and chewy texture make it a tasty and nutritious base for diverse dishes.
Lentils
Lentils (cooked), 2.2 oz.
Abbey Littlejohn
2.2 oz cooked = 15g protein
Lentils are a powerhouse of plant-based protein, with approximately 18 grams of protein per cup when cooked. They’re incredibly budget-friendly, accessible and easy to prepare, making them a favorite for healthy eating. Aside from protein, lentils are a source of iron and folate, which are essential for energy production and overall health. They blend seamlessly into soups, stews, salads or even as a meat substitute in recipes like burgers or tacos. Their hearty, satisfying nature makes them an excellent option for vegetarians, vegans or anyone looking to include more plant-based meals in their diet.
Almonds
Abbey Littlejohn
2.5 oz = 15g protein
Just a small handful of almonds packs a solid protein punch, along with healthy fats and fiber that help keep you feeling full and satisfied. They’re also plant-based. One of the best things about almonds is their convenience. Unlike cooking up a piece of chicken or preparing a protein shake, almonds are ready to eat right out of the bag. They’re perfect for snacking on-the-go, tossing into a salad or adding to your morning oatmeal. With their crunchy texture and nutty flavor, they’re delicious and versatile in a variety of dishes.
Beyond protein, almonds are packed with other nutrients that make them a powerhouse food. They provide a healthy dose of vitamin E, which supports skin health and your immune system. They’re also rich in magnesium, which helps with muscle function and energy metabolism, making them excellent for post-workout recovery.
Our Expert Take
When it comes to your protein intake, variety is the name of the game. There are several foods that are good sources of protein, but they offer other health benefits as well. Consuming numerous different foods to meet your protein needs is the best way to help support your nutritional needs and overall health. Daily protein requirements vary based on factors such as age, activity levels, and individual health conditions, so meet with a registered dietitian to get more individualized advice.
