Proteins are made up of amino acids. The human body uses about 20 different amino acids to build proteins (2).

Your body can make some amino acids itself, but you have to get nine of them — known as essential amino acids — through your diet.

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Protein sources can vary greatly in the types of amino acids they contain.

Generally, animal proteins are known as complete proteins, meaning they contain all nine essential amino acids.

While some plant proteins, including pea protein and soybeans, are also complete protein sources, many other plant foods are considered incomplete proteins (3).

This means plant foods such as beans, peanuts, and wheat are rich in total protein but lack one or more of the essential amino acids. Still, you can easily combine these incomplete plant protein sources to meet your body’s needs.

For instance, a peanut butter sandwich is a tasty example of a combination that results in a complete protein source. While wheat used to make bread is low in the amino acid lysine, peanuts are rich in it, resulting in a complete protein meal or snack (4).

It’s important that people eating a vegetarian or vegan diet enjoy a variety of plant protein sources to ensure they’re getting all the essential amino acids.

Animal Protein Sources

Rich sources of animal proteins include (5):

• eggs
• fish and seafood
• lean meat
• poultry
• wild game
• dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese

Generally, animal protein sources also supply other important nutrients, including vitamin B12 and a type of iron called heme iron. Heme iron is more readily absorbed than the iron found in plant foods, which is known as non-heme iron (6, 7).

Keep in mind that some animal proteins are less nutritious than others. For example, ultra-processed animal products such as hot dogs and chicken nuggets are high in unhealthy fats and sodium and aren’t ideal for overall health.

Instead, choose nutritious sources of animal-based protein like whole eggs, salmon, chicken, turkey, and shellfish.

Plant Protein Sources

There are many sources of plant proteins, such as (8):

• beans
• nuts
• legumes
• soybean products like tofu, tempeh, and edamame
• buckwheat
• Ezekiel bread
• quinoa
• wheat
• wild rice
• nutritional yeast
• chia seeds
• hemp seeds
• spirulina

Ezekiel bread, quinoa, buckwheat, spirulina, soybeans, nutritional yeast, chia seeds, and hemp seeds contain all nine essential amino acids, meaning they are complete protein sources (9).

Other plant protein sources, such as beans, nuts, legumes, wheat, and wild rice, are too low in or missing one or more essential amino acids.

Plant-based diets have been associated with significant reductions in blood pressure compared with diets rich in animal protein (10).

Furthermore, studies suggest that people eating a vegetarian diet also tend to have lower body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and lower risk of stroke, cancer, and death from heart disease than people who eat meat (11).

However, not all plant-based diets are created equal, and not all plant foods are necessarily beneficial for heart health.

One study associated plant-based diets rich in nutritious plant foods like whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and seeds with a lower heart disease risk (12).

Certain animal protein sources are also associated with positive health effects (5).

For example, eating fish regularly has been linked to many health benefits, including lower rates of cognitive decline and heart disease (15, 16, 17).

Eating animal protein has also been linked to increased lean muscle mass and a reduction in the muscle loss that occurs with age (

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