Think protein, and what springs to mind? Chicken breast, maybe. Protein powders, probably. Shakes and supplements, almost certainly. It’s a message Dr Rupy Aujla is keen to change. “I think protein has sort of got this reputation as being just for gym bros and for people in the fitness industry,” he tells me over Zoom. “But protein is super important.” He should know: he’s written a book on the issue. Titled Healthy High Protein, it’s a cookbook that encourages us to incorporate more protein into our everyday lives – a topic that has become something of a mission for him. Originally an NHS doctor, Dr Rupy set up The Doctor’s Kitchen (a website which shares healthy, easy to cook recipes) in 2015 after being diagnosed with a heart condition. And protein, he realised during his Nutritional Medicine masters, is that many of us don’t get enough of.“
“The current guidelines surrounding protein are set too low,” he explains. “They're based on research that is over 40 years old. Not that there's anything wrong with some early research, but… the studies that they use to determine our current guidelines are based on healthy adult young males.” Of course, not of all us are healthy young adult males, and most of us – especially women, and especially menopausal women – need to eat more. In fact, “if you look at the new research coming out of protein research, we generally need around 50% more as a baseline to prevent deficiency and to thrive.”
What exactly is it that makes protein so important? For one thing, it powers pretty much every part of the body. As Rupy puts it, “protein is like the building blocks of biological materials, right? If LEGO are the building blocks in the world of toys, proteins are the building blocks in the world of biological materials.”
“So, when you consume protein, only 25% of that protein actually goes to muscles. The vast majority of it goes to building all these other structures that no one really thinks about when they think about protein. Your immune cells, your hormones, your skin, your hair, your organs, these are all made out of protein.”
More protein means better gut health, a better immune system and higher energy levels – while less protein means cravings, a lack of focus and a lack of energy. “If you don't consume enough protein, because protein's so important, your body is constantly switching into hunger mode,” Dr Rupy explains. “It will force you to go out and maintain that hunger until you're satisfied your body's requirement for protein. Which is why a lot of people will have croissants in the morning, cereal, a big breakfast by volume, and then still be hungry at 11:00a.m. It's because your body is saying to you, ‘Go out there, get some food,’ because you haven't had enough protein. You have this constant hunger signal.”
As for why we’re not getting enough – perhaps it’s because many protein-rich foods, such as tofu, nuts and seeds, are expensive. Or perhaps it’s just that we’re not very well educated on how to eat with protein in mind. After all, most people in search of a protein hit would just slap a chicken breast on a plate – but in an increasingly flexitarian society, Dr Rupy is keen to show that we can meet our protein needs through non-animal-based sources. What that doesn’t mean is tanking up on shakes, which come primed with a whole lot of additives and unwelcome extra ingredients that can harm gut health. “A lot of people are having these products daily and then they turn up at the GP or the gastroenterologist like, ‘I've got bloating, I've got all these issues,’ and when the GP asks the simple question, ‘Do you eat protein shakes?’, invariably the answer is yes," he says. “[So] when I say, eat more protein, that doesn't mean eat more meat, take more supplements, drink more powders, and shakes and bars.”
The key instead, is to diversify our protein sources as much as possible: using nuts, seeds, tofu, legumes, lean meats and fish to hit our requirements. “Let's look at high protein plant-based sources, to complement a flexitarian diet if that's what you prefer, which I prefer myself. So instead of just adding more fish or more chicken, let's add some nuts and legumes in there.“Let's add some tofu, let's add some beans, let's make it easy for people to hit their requirements. I also people should know how much their unique requirements are.” To that end, the book's recipes include options like Thai Green Curry Lentil and Hake Traybake, or Tahini and Gochujang Noodle Broth with Turkey.
He asks what I ate for lunch; cautiously, I tell him lentil soup. “So if you add a handful of pumpkin seeds, you'll get 6 grams of protein, but you also get zinc, magnesium, vitamin E, fatty acids that are anti-inflammatory, as well as the amino acids.” Fortunately, the book also includes a calculator for hitting those protein gains within its pages, but as he says, “as a general rule of thumb, the minimum that you should be aiming for is 1.2 g per kilogram of body weight, per 24 hours.” For a 50kg person, that’s around 60 grams, whereas the official guidelines state it’s only half of that (or as he puts it, “a chicken breast a day.”) Are there any downsides to consuming too much protein? Not really – despite the pervading myth that it damages the kidneys. “It’s completely untrue,” he adds. “If your kidneys are healthy, or you consume more protein that is surfeit to your requirements, your body will simply excrete out the excess protein.” No excuse, in other words, for not going to town on all the protein you can fit on your plate.
Tahini and Gochujang Noodle Broth with Turkey
Sserves 2
2 tbsp olive oil
200g lean turkey or chicken mince, or finely chopped boneless thigh or breast
150g shiitake mushrooms, torn into pieces
100g spring onions, sliced diagonally, plus extra to serve
150g mange tout, sliced diagonally
100g ready-to-eat konjac (shirataki), rice vermicelli or udon noodles
For the broth
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp gochujang
300ml just-boiled water
To serve
1 lime, cut into wedges
10g black sesame seeds
2 tsp chilli oil
1 First make the broth. Add the tahini, 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and the gochujang to a large saucepan over a low heat and gradually whisk in the just-boiled water. Cook gently until heated through, and smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper.
2 Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium–high heat. Add the mince or finely chopped meat and cook for 6–8 minutes, breaking it down into small pieces with a spatula, until browned in places and starting to crisp, then scoop it out with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set aside.
3 To the same pan, add the remaining oil and the mushrooms and cook over a medium–high heat, stirring often, for 3 minutes until softened and starting to turn golden. Add the spring onions and mangetout and cook for another 2–3 minutes until just tender. Return the meat to the pan and toss through the vegetables with the remaining soy sauce and heat through briefly.
4 Add the noodles to the pan with the creamy tahini broth, stir to combine with the liquid, then heat through briefly over a low–medium heat. Transfer the hot noodle broth to serving bowls. Spoon the mince and vegetable mixture on top and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over, the extra spring onions, sesame seeds and a drizzle of chilli oil.
Thai Green Curry Lentil and Hake Traybake
300g hake fillets
4 tbsp Thai green curry paste
Olive oil, for drizzling
200g baby tomatoes, halved
250g broccoli, stalks diced into
1cm pieces and florets broken into 2cm pieces
1 x 400g can green lentils, drained and rinsed
To serve
10g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
30g peanuts, toasted and crushed
Juice of 1 lime
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
2 Smother the hake fillets in 1 tablespoon of the curry paste, season well and drizzle with the oil, then leave to marinate.
3 Add the tomatoes, broccoli stalks, the remaining 3 tablespoons of the curry paste and the lentils to a baking tray with 50ml of water and mix thoroughly with your hands. Drizzle with oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the broccoli stalks are partly cooked, stirring halfway through.
4 Remove the baking tray and carefully nestle the broccoli florets into the lentils and tomatoes. Place the fish on top of the vegetables and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Serve with coriander leaves, toasted peanuts and a squeeze of lime.
Spicy ‘Meaty’ Tacos with Avo and Lime-soured Cream
Serves 2
2 tbsp olive oil
150g onion, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, finely chopped
200g tempeh, coarsely grated
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
50g walnuts, finely chopped
2 tsp hot smoked paprika
2 tsp fajita or Cajun spice mix
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato purée
20g nutritional yeast
3 tbsp soured cream
1 tbsp lime juice
For the slaw
100g red cabbage, finely sliced
1 tbsp lime juice
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
To serve
4 medium corn tortillas, warmed
1 baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 avocado, halved, stone removed and sliced
30g jalapeños from a jar
1 lime, zested then quartered
1 Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium–high heat. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until starting to turn golden, then add the mushrooms and tempeh and cook, stirring often, for another 8 minutes until there is no sign of any liquid, and everything has browned. Mix in the garlic and walnuts and cook for another 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
2 Stir the spices into the pan followed by the soy sauce, tomato purée, nutritional yeast and 6 tablespoons water. Turn the heat to low– medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until cooked through, adding a splash of water to loosen if needed.
3 Meanwhile, make the slaw. Massage the red cabbage, lime juice, onion and a good pinch of salt in a mixing bowl for a few minutes until the cabbage starts to break down and soften. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the meal.
4 Mix together the soured cream and lime juice in a small bowl and season with salt, then set aside.
5 To assemble the tacos, place a warm tortilla on each serving plate and top with the shredded lettuce, the ‘meaty’ mixture, slaw, avocado, a spoonful of the soured cream mixture and finish with the jalapeños and a squeeze of lime juice with some zest. Serve the tortillas flat or rolled up.
Extracted from Healthy High Protein by Dr Rupy Aujla (Ebury Press, £26). Photography by Andrew Burton
