Proper protein intake is crucial to muscle functioning, and proteins support nearly every biochemical process inside the body. However, nutritionists increasingly agree that some protein sources are better than others.

In particular, studies have linked overconsumption of animal-derived proteins with problems ranging from digestive disorders and heart disease to cancer. By contrast, plants and plant-derived proteins have been hailed as providing significant health benefits.

In addition to that, there is a myth which suggests that we should consume “as much as possible” of proteins, according to Rachel Venokur-Clark, diet commentator and certified holistic health counselor writing for EatDrinkBetter.com.

“The reality is that only around 15 percent of daily calorie intake should come from protein,” she writes. “This means for most of us eating a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, we only need around 300 calories worth of protein.

Good sources of “healthy” proteins include vegetables, nuts, grains and legumes.

At the top of the list are beans, which contain a more complete set of amino acids – the building blocks of protein – than any other plant source as well as soybeans.

Among the lesser known but equally excellent sources are sea vegetables such as alaria, dulse, kelp, laver, sea lettuce and bladderwrack.

Some people have also obtained protein from nutritional health supplements.