No. The answer is no.
“Dal is rich in protein” is something you will keep hearing from overweight Indian people but it’s just a type of self-delusion.
They want to feel like they’re eating a high protein diet without actually eating a high protein diet.
They seem to think that if they keep repeating “dal is rich in protein”, dal will actually become rich in protein.
Dal is a carb source, not a protein source.
Dal is a carb source. It has almost 3 times as many carbohydrates as it does protein. Most of the calories in mung dal or any other dal come from carbohydrates, not protein. The protein in dal is fairly low quality and is not very bio-available (even if you soak it in water).
Here is a simple comparison of the macronutrients in dal and a real high protein food.
| Nutrient | Moong Dal (per 100g) | Chicken breast (per 100g) |
| Calories | 347 | 165 |
| Protein | 24g | 31g |
| Fat | 1.2g | 3.6g |
| Carbohydrates | 63g | 0g |
Since we know 1 gram of protein has 4 calories, we can calculate the percentage of protein in them:
| Food | Protein percentage |
| Dal | 27.67% (24*4/347) |
| Chicken breast | 75.15% (31*4/165) |
For reference, a pure protein supplement like whey isolate powder will have over 90% protein.
As you can see, dal barely has any protein. It is a huge stretch to call it a “protein rich” food.
You can’t even eat dal in big quantities.
It’s fairly impossible to eat 100g of raw dal. When you soak or cook it, it will become at least 250-300g dal which is very hard to eat.
Not to mention that it’s a very difficult food to digest (you will have a ton of gas if you try to eat 100g raw dal).
On the other hand, eating 250g chicken breast in one meal is very easy – even my wife can do it. You can get 75ish grams of protein from one chicken breast based meal while struggling to make 25g protein from a dal based meal.
Now, is dal unhealthy?
No. It’s a very healthy food that has a lot of micro-nutrients and some protein.
But, you’ve got to remember that this is a carb rich food, not a protein rich food. If you are trying to add good complex carbohydrates to your diet, dal is a good option for you.
If you’re trying to increase protein in your diet by adding dal, you’re ignorant at best. Dal is not a good source of protein.
I don’t care what your feelings are about this. Your feelings don’t change facts.
For some reason overweight and weak Indian people who can’t even bench their own weight on the bar get very emotional about “dal is good protein”. There’s a reason why diabetes is skyrocketing in the country.
Look you can keep deluding yourself if you want but eating dal is not going to help you meet your protein needs for strength training.
If you are a vegetarian and struggling to hit your protein goals, check out my article on How to Increase Protein in Indian Vegetarian Diet – it’s also got real diet plans you can easily follow.
Also check out my piece on How to Get 200g Protein a Day in 2000 Calories if you’re serious about getting bigger and stronger.
Hope this helps.
Your man,
Harsh Strongman
