Frugal

I want this chart, but add the third Z axis of "environmental cost" whether it be just CO2 emissions or a "total" impact score.

I imagine those legumes get even stronger, while the meats lose ranking.

I like this scatter plot. If you really want to get freaky with it, you should take into account the “protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores.” Things like eggs and whey are 100%, beans are usually in the high 70’s, and peanuts are actually down at near 50%.

So for nutrition’s sake, not all protein sources are created equal, and it makes sense that if you are trying to get adequate protein at the lowest price, you also want to get sources where you can eat the least of it to satisfy the protein requirements of your body.

Great post!

I wanted to add that this isn't quite how proteins work. Those protein-rich legumes aren't what you would call 'complete proteins.' There's a number of amino acids our bodies use as proteins and while legumes are a good source of many of them, there's a couple proteins you won't get enough of from just the beans. Fortunately, brown rice- while not as rich in protein- gives you the proteins that the beans are lacking. That's why beans and rice are a match made in heaven.

Herbivorous animals are just better at metabolising proteins from plants and of course they're capable of eating much more than us. That's why they're able to live off of grass.

This just stuff I read up on a few years ago so if I've gotten something wrong please say so

Curious where tofu would be at on this chart.

Explains how elephants are able to get so jacked without consistent income, they just poppin' them peanuts for days!

This would be cool with ratio of protein to calories as well, in the same format.

Probably should also be noted that you're almost certainly eating more than plenty protein, no matter what you do.
As in, for medical reasons, when people have a dodgy liver, it's helpful to reduce protein intake to what they actually need, but with how much protein our usual diet contains, it's really difficult to get there.

Interesting podcast/video on the topic: https://zoe.com/learn/podcast-should-i-eat-more-protein

This may be helpful from a cost / gram of protein but its a bit misleading on the grams protein/ 100 g axis for beans - those are the dry bean numbers.

Comparing liquid to dry foods on the same chart is completely disingenuous. Also look at any label. Cows milk always has more protein than soy milk.

This data seems way off - steak has 24-30g of protein per 100g, for example

how legumes have more protein per weight than ground beef?

Sirloin steak needs to be added to this. It's not only cheaper than other steak but it's significantly higher in protein too at 27g per 100g.

The problem is that a lot of those sources of protein aren't just protein. Take legumes; they all have a ton of carbs as well. Nuts? Loaded with fats. (Same with pork belly, TBH; that's a very fatty cut.) On the other hand, boneless, skinless chicken breast has a trivial amount of fat and carbs.

If you were plotting a 3-dimensional chart, factoring in proteins, cost, and other macronutrients, you would likely find that boneless, skinless chicken in general was the highest combination of both purity of protein, and price.

What, no grubs?

I basically live on turkey breast, only slightly more expensive than chicken breast, but more protein and almost no fat. Makes macros super easy.