When your kid needs a ton of protein . . .

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old is big, 97th %ile for height, and gearing up for a growth spurt. He's also incredibly active, getting up on his own to run before school, playing two sports at a high level, and choosing things like basketball at the park whenever he has down time.

So, not surprisingly, he eats a ton, and particularly craves food with protein.

But, I feel like so many kinds of protein have some kind of warning about consuming too much.

Eggs, red meat -- cholesterol
Soy -- estrogen
Fish -- mercury
Protein powder -- processing

etc . . .

To complicate things, we've got nut allergies in our house. He eats them away from home, but we don't cook with them at home, eat them in the car, etc . . .

If you have a kid eating thousands of calories a day, and wanting a lot of protein, what are you serving them? Can you give me a sample day's diet?

[Anonymous]

I have a teen athlete boy who needs lots of protein. Eggs and meat and milk and cheese are his main sources of protein. I don’t think you need to worry bout cholesterol in food for fit, healthy teens.

He also has at least one protein shake a day. Yes it is processed, and I wish he would eat more beans or tofu or something, but there is only so much he can eat. So we do a homemade shake of milk, peanut butter, and chocolate protein powder, sometimes yogurt.

Oh, and ice cream is a major food group for my super skinny kid. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Beans, lentils, cheese, eggs. I wouldn’t worry about cholesterol. Make sure to get lots of carbs in!

[Anonymous]

My 13-year-old boys do a smoothie every day after school, adding Greek Yogurt, milk, frozen fruits, banana, Gold Standard Whey protein powder (Vanilla Ice cream flavor from Costco) in a nutribullet. Just adds the protein they need for growth and travel / MS sports.

[Anonymous]

Chicken refried beans, and cheese to make a quesdilla and DD likes to microwave all together.

Boathouse makes this fruit smoothie parfait thing she drinks at school throughout the day.

She does a lot of nuts, protein bars, and the typical teenage kid snack foods.

[Anonymous]

He should be fine with 2 eggs a day unless a doc had told you he has high cholesterol. Chicken wasn’t on your list so maybe do more if that, cheese tortellini had quite high protein, beans, lentils, He could do a canned lentil soup over WG rice if you want easy and quick.

[Anonymous]

Where are all of the posters who came out of the woodwork when I asked about home-mixed protein powder shakes for my teen - I received many responses telling me active teens don’t beed that much protein and definitely don’t need protein shakes.

Anyway, OP, same boat here. We try to mix up the main dinner protein each night, so DC isnt eating more than 2 nts/wk of red meat or fish or whatever. I also have started packing extra large lunches and almonds and granola bars for mid school snacks. DC has a protein shake each night also.

[Anonymous]

I am laughing at the idea of two eggs! (nicely) My teen swimmer thinks of 4 eggs as first breakfast.

Anyway, other ideas: Sunflower seeds. Beef Jerky. Cheese its.

Our other staple foods have been listed already.

[Anonymous]

Is he allergic to milk? Why isn't he drinking milk?

My 14 yo drinks the Fairlife milk and chocolate milk (it has extra protein), or whole milk. We go through 5 gallons a week between him and my 12 yo only.

[Anonymous]

Soy is fine - https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/soy/

Two eggs a day are fine.

Many forms of dairy are high in protein, as are beans and lentils. Also, he probably doesn't need as much protein as you think to grow. Focus on other nutrients as well. Calcium, iron and grains are important.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm saying this in a sincere way. But you're being paranoid. Red meat and fish are fine. Protein powders are fine. Moms Organic Market sells both. Just give the boy some nice steaks, burgers, fish, chicken. Soy not so much. That's not so great

[Anonymous]

High protein yogurt
Meat
Gatorade has a protein bar with 40 grams
Protein shakes

Fat is very important you don’t want their body fat to be too low they will get more injuries of their joints don’t have “cushion”.

[Anonymous]

Breakfast - eggs and toast

Lunch - deli meat, tuna salad, or no salt added chicken salad sandwich. Side of hummus with crackers. Or side of guacamole with crackers. Or yogurt side and crackers.

Snacks:

Apple with sunflower seed butter
Crackers with cottage cheese with chives or part skim ricotta
Yogurt
Crackers with sliced cheese
Grapes

Dinner:

Steak and mashed potatoes
Breaded + fried chicken tenderloins and mashed potatoes
Hamburgers and Israeli cous cous (its really pasta)
Baked fish and rice
3 lamb shanks on low in crock pot with rice.
Grilled lamb chops
Tacos
Spaghetti with meatballs

[Anonymous]

can snack on boiled eggs kept in fridge too

[Anonymous]

It’s not hard at all if you’re not a vegetarian, and not that hard if you are. Our teen athletes have different forms of meat/fish for dinner 5 days a week, mostly chicken or pork, but with fish, beef, or very occasionally, lamb or duck mixed in. Vegetarian meals usually feature lentils or chickpeas. They eat more cereal with milk than I would like for breakfast or snack, but are always happy to eat yogurt or eggs. Vegetables included for lunch, dinner, and most weekend breakfasts. Nuts often for snacks.