Since the various Brewer books have different levels of protein that are recommended, how can we know which level to aim for?
The basic place to start is with the 4 glasses of milk (or an equivalent) and 2 eggs every day. Each glass of milk should be only 1 cup, which gives you 8 grams of protein. Each egg gives you 6 grams of protein. So from this starting place you already have 42 grams of protein. If you add 1 serving of salmon (1 oz), you add about 6 grams of protein. And if you add 1/2 cup (1 oz) of walnuts, you add another 7 grams of protein. So in this case, just adding 2 servings of protein to the basic milk and eggs, gives you only 55 grams of protein, where the Brewer minimum is 80 grams. Adding 6 servings instead–1 oz salmon (6 grams), 1/2 c. walnuts (7 grams), 1 c. bean soup (8 grams), 1 oz chicken (7 grams), 1/2 c. almonds (13 grams), and 1 c. yogurt (8 grams)–gives you 91 grams of protein, which is much closer to the Brewer minimum. Just for reference, if you eat a portion of chicken or fish which is the size of the palm of your hand, or the size of a deck of cards, that portion is about 3-5 o
