PE Diet Food List: 50 Foods Ranked by Protein-to-Energy Ratio
A sortable PE Diet food list: 50 common foods ranked by protein-to-energy ratio, with protein, calories, and PE score per 100g. Plus a grocery list template.
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Tools
PE Diet Calculator
Enter the macros for any food and instantly see its Protein-to-Energy ratio, calorie breakdown, and macro percentages.
Use Calculator→TDEE Calculator
Calculate how many calories you burn per day based on your age, weight, height, and activity level.
Calculate TDEE→Macro Calculator
Get daily protein, fat, and carb targets based on your TDEE and goals, with an overall PE ratio.
Calculate Macros→Protein Calculator
Get your daily protein target in grams for fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance based on your weight and activity level.
Calculate Protein→The PE Diet Guide
Learn how the Protein-to-Energy ratio works, why it matters for fat loss, and how to apply it to your diet.
Read Guide→Satiety Per Calorie Calculator
Score any food on fullness per calorie using protein, fiber, water content, and energy density.
Score a Food→PFFV Score Calculator
Score any meal on Naiman's Protein, Fiber, Fluid, Volume framework — one 0–100 fat-loss verdict from four levers.
Score a Meal→Energy Density Calculator
Calculate calories per 100g for any food and see where it lands on the Volumetrics scale, from broccoli at 35 to olive oil at 884.
Calculate Density→Hyperpalatability Detector
Paste a nutrition label and find out whether a food crosses Fazzino's 2019 thresholds for fat+sodium, fat+sugar, or carb+sodium.
Check a Food→Volume Eating Comparison
See how many grams of one food equal 200 calories of another. The classic broccoli-vs-peanut-butter visualization, applied to any pair.
Compare Foods→Satiety Swap Tool
Pick a low-satiety food you're craving and get high-satiety substitutes at the same calorie level.
Find a Swap→Top-Rated High-Protein Foods
Foods with the best Protein-to-Energy ratios.
Chicken Breast
protein
PE Ratio
8.61
Protein
79%
Serving: 100g raw
31P · 3.6F · 0C · 0 fiber (g)
Large Egg
protein
PE Ratio
1.07
Protein
33%
Serving: 100g (about 2 eggs)
13P · 11F · 1.1C · 0 fiber (g)
Why the Protein-to-Energy Ratio Matters for Fat Loss
Most diet advice tells you what not to eat. The Protein-to-Energy (PE) ratio flips that around: it tells you which foods actively help you lose fat and protect muscle, and which ones quietly stall your progress. The math is simple — divide a food’s grams of protein by its 100-calorie portions — but the result is a single number that ranks anything in your kitchen on a consistent scale.
A high PE ratio (1.0 or higher) means a food delivers a lot of protein per calorie. Chicken breast lands around 8.6, nonfat Greek yogurt around 2.67, and most processed snacks barely clear 0.3. When the bulk of your meals come from high-PE foods, your body has the protein it needs to preserve lean mass, your hunger drops because protein is the most satiating macronutrient, and the calorie deficit you need for fat loss becomes much easier to hold.
How to Use This Site
Three tools work together. The PE Diet Calculator lets you score any food in seconds — useful at the grocery store or when scanning a label. The PE Diet Guide walks through the full method: target ratios, daily protein targets, and how to build meals that hit your numbers without feeling restrictive. Our articles cover the practical questions that come up once you start tracking — like whether to weigh chicken raw or cooked, how to pick a food scale, and which lean-protein staples are worth keeping in your fridge year-round.
Build Muscle While You Lose Fat
Most people in a calorie deficit lose roughly a quarter of their weight as muscle. A high-protein diet cuts that loss dramatically. Aim for around 0.8–1.0 grams of protein per pound of goal bodyweight, eat at a modest deficit (300–500 calories below maintenance), and lift weights two to four times a week. The PE ratio is the lens that makes the food side of that equation almost effortless: pick mostly high-PE foods, leave room for foods you enjoy, and the numbers tend to land where they need to.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Protein-to-Energy (PE) ratio?
The PE ratio is a food's grams of protein divided by its 100-calorie portions. A ratio of 1.0 means the food has 1 gram of protein per 100 calories; chicken breast scores around 8.6, while sugary snacks score below 0.5. Higher is better for fat loss and muscle preservation.
What is a good PE ratio target?
For active fat loss, aim for most of your meals to score 1.0 or higher. Foods between 0.5 and 1.0 are reasonable supporting choices, and foods below 0.5 (most refined carbs and added fats) are best limited rather than eliminated.
How much protein should I eat per day?
A good starting point is 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of your goal bodyweight. For a 180-pound person targeting 170, that's roughly 135–170 grams per day, spread across three or four meals.
Can I lose fat without counting calories?
Many people do. Building meals around high-PE foods naturally reduces calorie intake because protein is more satiating per calorie than carbs or fat. Counting calories is precise, but a PE-first approach is often enough to drive consistent weekly loss.
Are high-PE foods always healthy?
Mostly, yes — lean meats, fish, eggs, nonfat dairy, and most legumes score well. But a few processed protein products (some bars, powders, and lean deli meats) score high while contributing little else. Use the PE ratio as a filter, not a verdict, and keep whole foods at the center of your plate.
Do I need to weigh my food?
A digital food scale removes the guesswork — eyeballed portions are off by 30–50% on average. If you're serious about hitting a protein target, a scale pays for itself in a week.
How does the PE ratio compare to keto or low-carb?
Keto restricts an entire macronutrient (carbs); the PE ratio doesn't forbid anything. Many high-PE foods are also low-carb, so the two approaches overlap, but PE-first eating leaves room for fruit, oats, and other nutrient-dense carbs that keto excludes.