You don’t need to eat a big slab of meat every day to meet your protein needs. In fact, loading up on animal-based protein, especially from factory-farmed sources, can do more harm than good.

Studies show that an excessive amount of red meat can lead to increased inflammation, accelerated aging, and increased risk of chronic disease. One major culprit? A sugar molecule called “Neu5Gc,” commonly found in red meat. Your body sees it as a foreign invader, triggering an immune response that can lead to long-term inflammation.

Of course, you should always consult with your doctor before making any drastic changes to your diet. But for many people, plant-based protein can be a powerful alternative that’s packed with benefits like fiber, healthy fats, and anti-inflammatory polyphenols.

Plus, research has continuously shown that non-meat protein sources can be better for your health, longevity, and brain function. Here are six high-protein foods I love and recommend all the time — your body and brain will thank you.

Lentils are my top choice when it comes to legumes. They’re one of the most protein-rich legumes, with fewer calories than most. They’re also higher in resistant starch and prebiotic fiber, which feed your gut microbiome.

Pro tip: Soak or pressure-cook lentils to reduce lectins, which can impact or slow down nutrient absorption. You can add lentils to soups, stews, or homemade veggie burgers.

Hemp seeds are one of the rare plant-based proteins that contain all nine essential amino acids, making them a complete protein.

They’re rich in omega-3s, magnesium, and gut-friendly fiber. Just be sure to choose organic, cold-pressed hemp protein with no added sugars.

Pro tip: Trader Joe’s sells organic hemp protein power, which I like adding to smoothies. You can find hemp hearts at Costco — perfect on salads or roasted vegetables.

Native to Brazil’s Cerrado region, Barù nuts pack more protein per serving than nearly any other nut. They’re also full of antioxidants and fiber, and have a satisfying, earthy crunch.

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Pro tip: You can usually find Barù nuts at grocery stores, but if you don’t, try looking online. I love snacking on a handful daily. They taste like a cross between peanuts and almonds.

This blue-green algae is one of the most protein-dense foods on the planet (by weight, it’s nearly 70% protein). It contains iron, B vitamins, and a powerful antioxidant called phycocyanin that helps support brain and immune function.

Pro tip: Try adding spirulina to your smoothies or juices. You can also substitute it with chlorella, another nutrient-rich algae, in powder or tablet form.

Flaxseeds don’t get enough love, but they’re a fantastic source of plant protein, omega-3s, and lignans, which have hormone-balancing benefits.

When flaxseeds are in their whole form, you cannot digest their beneficial compound, so always choose ground flaxseeds.

Pro tip: I like to keep a bag of organic whole flax in the refrigerator and grind it as needed to ensure freshness (just like you’d only grind coffee beans right before brewing). Add to smoothies, sprinkle on salads, or try my cinnamon flaxseed mug in a muffin recipe for a quick, healthy breakfast.

Sick of quinoa or couscous? Sorghum is a protein-rich ancient grain with a subtly sweet, nutty flavor. One cup has 21 grams of protein (more than twice that of quinoa), and three ounces of sorghum has more iron than a serving of steak!

Even better? It’s a great source of polyphenols and one of the few lectin-free grains.

Pro tip: Use sorghum flour for gluten-free baking, or look for it in pasta form for a high-protein, plant-forward meal.

Dr. Steven Gundry, MD, is a former cardiac surgeon, founder of GundryMD, and author of the bestselling books ”The Gut-Brain Paradox″ and ”The Plant Paradox.” For over two decades, his research has focused on the microbiome’s role in chronic disease and longevity. He received his degrees from Yale University and the Medical College of Georgia, and completed his surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Follow him on Instagram @drstevengundry.

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Growing up in Massachusetts, Angela Blair Cadet was surrounded by books. The novels that filled her childhood home provided her a gateway to the wider world — allowing her to imagine the life she could one day create for herself far beyond the United States. 

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to live abroad. I wanted to have a big, beautiful, amazing life,” the 35-year-old tells CNBC Make It. “Since then, I’ve been planning an exit to live abroad. I didn’t know where, but I knew to have this life that I wanted, what I saw in books and dreamed of, was going to be outside of the U.S.”

Her first taste of that life came in high school, when a study abroad trip took her to Greece, Italy and France. Once Cadet saw that the world she dreamed of was real and within reach, it fueled her to keep seeking opportunities abroad, she says. 

That dream eventually brought her to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where she’s lived since 2022. There, she works as a relocation consultant, networking professional and digital content creator, typically earning between $1,000 and $2,000 a month.

Cadet’s basic living expenses — excluding costs like dining out and entertainment — come out to around $930 a month, including $583 in rent, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

With her current income and budget in Belgrade, Cadet is living her “dream expat life,” she says.

After high school, Cadet’s international aspirations took her around the world. She spent a summer abroad in Quebec, Canada, while earning her bachelor’s degree, earned her master’s degree in Israel, then lived and worked across Asia — including China, Thailand and Kazakhstan — before spending time in Turkey, the U.S. and France. 

By early 2022, Cadet had been living in Paris for nearly half a year, and although she was happy with many aspects of her life in the city, there were too many barriers to getting her business off the ground in France. So, she turned back to the map, brainstorming where else in Europe she could put down roots.

That’s when she first came across Belgrade — a city with an open market for her to grow her business and a seemingly “open-minded” nature, she says. 

Securing a one-way ticket online, Cadet packed up her belongings and boarded the plane to the Balkans, deciding she would give herself one month to decide if Serbia could be a good fit. She landed in her new home at 7 a.m. on June 1, 2022, she says, directly in Belgrade’s historic Republic Square. 

After living in eight different countries, Cadet had already established a list of criteria that a city would need to satisfy in order to meet her long-term needs; it must be walkable and business-friendly, while also offering a local religious community and welcoming citizens who are open to English-speaking visitors. 

Belgrade checked every box within a week, she says, and she’s been there ever since.

To afford her life in Belgrade, Cadet works around 50 hours a week, managing multiple income streams, which typically bring in between $1,000 to $2,000 a month.

Her main business is a relocation service that helps clients mainly from the U.S. and United Kingdom settle in Serbia. After finding so much joy in living abroad, Cadet wanted to help others experience an expat lifestyle, too.

“Many people do want to live the expat life and they just don’t know how,” she says. 

Cadet earns additional income from digital content creation, consulting for other businesses and providing referrals for landlords and property managers.

Her longest-running entrepreneurial project is her women’s networking business, Ladies Afternoon Tea Network, which she has brought with her across the many countries she’s called home. The events are held twice a year, bringing together local and expat women in business over tea.

Cadet also received between $500 to $1,000 a month from her sister between June 2024 and January 2025 and in April 2025, she says, which helped her continue to afford Belgrade as the cost of living increased.

Cadet’s cost of living in Serbia — which, including rent, is around 47% lower than in the U.S. on average, per Serbian database Numbeo — gives her flexibility with how she spends her time, she says. 

Her two bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom apartment costs $583 a month. She also spends around $58 a week on groceries, she says, and uses Belgrade’s free public transportation system to get around.

One of the ways Cadet likes to “live large” after saving money on food, rent and transportation is by enjoying the nightlife in Belgrade, which she describes as the “best in Europe.” In addition to offering venues for all budgets and tastes, the city feels safe at night, she says.

“The nightlife here has taught me that I can leave at three in the morning and no one’s going to bother me,” Cadet says. “It is so safe to walk around. There is no such thing as catcalling or people harassing you.”

Cadet has built a circle of local and expat friends, attends ballet and Pilates classes and plays patel, a tennis-squash hybrid gaining popularity in Serbia.

“A lot of people are really, really friendly. Many people come up to me, even until this day, asking like, ‘Where are you from?’” she says. “I really fell in love with the people.” 

The sense of safety Cadet feels as a Black and Jewish woman is one of the main reasons she chose to stay, she says.

“It’s so nice to exist in a place where I’m an American first, I’m a woman and then I just so happen to be Black,” she says. “I feel very safe, I feel very comfortable … it’s really the people that are really kind and friendly that see me as a human being first.”

While Cadet hopes to continue growing her businesses and potentially experiment with other international markets, she feels a sense of home in Belgrade that provides her with the wonder and adventure she longed for as a kid, and the security she sought as an adult.

“The future is really unpredictable, I have to say. Eleven years living abroad, I did not imagine myself living in Serbia — but here I am. I do hope to make this a home permanently,” she says. 

“I do have aspirations to have residencies in other countries. I definitely want to go back to Thailand, I want to go back to Kazakhstan. I have some other big plans for the African continent,” she says. “But here, I hope Belgrade [will] be my home base.”

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.17 USD and 1 Serbian dinar to 0.0094 USD on Aug. 8, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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Personal finance consultant Michela Allocca made some financial sacrifices in her 20s, and she has no regrets.

At age 30, Allocca has a net worth of more than $700,000 according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. In her experience, you sometimes need to make temporary sacrifices to stay grounded financially, even when it feels like everyone else is spending, she says.

“We act like not having these things in our early 20s means we’re never going to have them,” says Allocca, the Chicago-based author of “Own Your Money.” But often, “they’re status signal things,” rather than things people “genuinely and sincerely care about,” she tells CNBC Make It.

Holding off on certain expenses early in her career helped her stay on track financially, Allocca wrote in a recent LinkedIn post that detailed four financial habits she avoided in her own early 20s. Here are those habits, and what she did instead:

1. She didn’t travel a lot

The social pressure to travel in your 20s can be strong, whether to become more worldly or simply because it seems like everyone else is doing it, says Allocca. Many young people take big trips right after college, often with little thought about whether it’s affordable because they believe, “well, money will always come,” she notes.

Even a budget-conscious trip can cost $1,000 to $2,000, an expense that’s particularly hard to justify early in your career when you’re earning a low salary, says Allocca. A single trip can cost as much as an entire month’s rent: Gen Z spends an average of $1,600 per month on rent, according to data published in January by credit firm Experian.

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When Allocca was 22 and earning $60,000 per year in Boston, flights in particular felt expensive relative to her income, so she focused on taking affordable, domestic trips, she says. While she began taking bigger trips by her late 20s — including a recent visit to Japan — she says they were planned and budgeted for well in advance.

While she now travels on her own terms, she says it’s “both normal and OK” for people in their 20s to hold off until they can afford the expense. “If I am going to go on a vacation, it has to be something that I actually want to go on, not because I’m feeling pressured to go somewhere,” she says.

2. She didn’t live alone until she was 27

Whether it was sharing one bathroom with three other roommates or moving back in with her parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, Allocca chose not to live alone for most of her 20s.

“I was able to continue to save, on average, about $1,000 a month because I wasn’t dumping all my money into rent. And that actually really helped me get ahead” on investments, she says.

Social media can create unrealistic expectations for what early-career earners can afford, says Allocca. In large cities like San Francisco or New York, residents need to earn more than $100,000 annually to keep rent below the commonly recommended 30% of their budget, according to a Zillow report published in May.

“I feel bad for Gen Z, because their perception of what’s normal at their age is so warped,” she says. “There’s all this [online] pressure for young people to live in a high-rise or live alone in these major cities, and it’s just not reasonable.”

At age 27, Allocca finally decided to live alone in a nicer apartment with more space and amenities. She needed a home office, and by that point, knew her income could support a roughly $1,000-per-month rent increase without derailing her financial goals, she says.

3. She didn’t splurge on clothes

Allocca took a minimalist approach to her wardrobe in her early 20s, often buying the same pieces in different colors and sticking to a few signature shades so everything was easy to mix and match, she says. She shopped mostly at inexpensive stores like Primark and Old Navy, she adds.

“When you have a general color scheme, you can match your clothes easier,” says Allocca. “It also helps eliminate the paradox of choice.”

Her approach kept her clothing costs low. “I wasn’t prioritizing shopping as part of my budget,” Allocca says. “If I did need to buy something, I was going to those really inexpensive stores so I could get the least expensive version possible.”

Today, she uses the same principles for what she calls a capsule wardrobe of “elevated basics” — versatile pieces that work with most of what she already owns, she says. She’s now more willing to spend money on better quality that she knows will last for years, she adds — like a roughly $450 cashmere sweater that’s currently the most expensive item in her closet.

4. She didn’t pay for convenience

In her 20s, Allocca avoided spending on things she could easily do herself. When her walk to work was about 30 minutes, she’d make the trip on foot rather than paying for a ride or public transit, she says.

“I didn’t take any unnecessary Ubers, I never ordered delivery,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

Many people justify convenience purchases by thinking “my time is so valuable.” Allocca didn’t see it that way, she says: “The time that I was saving, I wasn’t doing anything valuable with it. So what difference does it make if I spend the 10 extra minutes to go walk and pick up my dinner?”

She only ordered out from restaurants within walking distance, she notes. “If I’m not willing to go pick it up, then I’m not ordering it out, I’m cooking at home” she says. “To me, it’s creating some parameters around, ‘Is this reasonable?’”

Even today, Allocca rarely allows herself to pay for convenience, and only in “extenuating circumstances,” she says — like paying for delivered groceries after coming home from a long trip. By consistently avoiding most convenience costs, from rides to delivery fees, she says she’s freed up around $200 per month.

When paired with her low rent, that money “made a big difference” in her ability to save in her 20s, she says. And while she sacrificed some comfort in her 20s, “when I look back at all of these things, I don’t have any regrets,” she says.

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Emily Odio-Sutton started her Etsy side hustle on her couch while watching a “Real Housewives” TV show in December 2022. She doesn’t recall which one, but she does remember the months of research fed into that moment.

Her oldest daughter would start kindergarten the following year, and she knew she couldn’t leave her 9-to-5 job in the middle of the day — even though it was a remote gig — for school pickups, or gymnastics or swimming practice drop-offs.

Amid her “doomscrolling,” Odio-Sutton found a series of YouTube videos about print-on-demand — an e-commerce method where sellers create designs for products like T-shirts, tote bags and mugs, and list them on online marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon. When a customer places an order, a third-party manufacturer prints the design onto the product and ships it out.

Odio-Sutton decided to give it a try. Her shop, which specializes in gifts for people with hyper-specific jobs or hobbies, has brought in at least $236,000 in revenue so far in 2024 — more than $26,200 per month, on average — according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She’s already outpaced her sales for the entirety of last year.

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In her best month so far, the side hustle — which takes roughly 10 hours per week, she says — brought in $54,900. About a third of her shop’s revenue is profit, she estimates.

Odio-Sutton prefers not to name her Etsy shop, to prevent copycats — but its success helped her scale down her job as an internal operations manager at a children’s book publishing company to a part-time role this past summer. It padded her family’s finances, paying for vacations and her $20,000 in student loans, she says.

Here’s how Odio-Sutton experimented her way into a lucrative side hustle.

Before launching her Etsy shop, Odio-Sutton tried her hand at another online side hustle, often referred to as “Amazon FBA.”

She’d visit brick-and-mortar retail stores near her home in Melbourne, Florida, buy items that were trending on Amazon, package them up and ship them to a nearby Amazon warehouse. Then, she’d try to sell them at a slim profit margin through the e-commerce giant’s Fulfillment by Amazon program, she says.

If the trends changed before she listed her items, she’d lose the margin. Three months in, her home was overrun with boxes of Hoka running shoes and Two-Faced makeup products, she says.

Print-on-demand seemed more appealing: She didn’t need any business or design experience, and the time commitment seemed lighter. As a mom with a full-time job, “I didn’t have the same privilege of time as maybe a different side hustler,” says Odio-Sutton.

Her first attempts fell flat. She sold Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day T-shirts, but Etsy’s website was already flooded with similar listings. Switching to more gift-friendly products like mugs, candles, tote bags and journals helped, she says — as did creating designs aimed at specific jobs or hobbies, from speech pathologists to podcasters.

Odio-Sutton uses Google or ChatGPT to brainstorm niche hobbies or professions, and turns them into simple, mostly text-based designs using a program called Canva. A podcast candle, for example, might have the following text printed on it: “The only podcast I listen to are the voices inside my head.”

If a design starts selling, she’ll duplicate it — swapping in a different hobby or job — to try replicating its success. Last October, she made around $5,000 in profit, matching her full-time job’s monthly salary, she says.

She makes more money during popular shopping months: Her shop brought in more than $100,000 in sales between November and December last year.

Odio-Sutton’s extra revenue covers both “fun and responsible” bills, she says. She and her husband also worked with a financial advisor to invest some of it into the stock market and college saving accounts for her daughters, she adds.

Working 20 hours per week at her publishing job and 10 hours per week on Etsy gives her time for other income streams too, Odio-Sutton says. She still has an Amazon seller account, and opened a second Etsy store last year to sell downloadable templates for events — schedules, invitations, and so on.

She also works as a coach for Gold City Ventures, which teaches aspiring Etsy sellers how to open their own shops, and does contract work for business owners who hire her to manage and market their Pinterest accounts, she says.

Sometimes, people leave their jobs to pursue their side hustles full-time. Odio-Sutton says she’d consider it — but only if she still gets to spend as much time with her daughters as possible.

“I live on my schedule in the afternoons. I pick up my daughter at the bus, then I go take her to gymnastics practice,” she says. “My initial vision for [this routine] was always really strong.”

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Like many Americans, I had always dreamed up moving to Europe. And in 2015, at 35, I decided to leave Texas for Spain.

Two years later, I founded She Hit Refresh, a community that helps women over 30 take the leap abroad. Since then, I’ve helped hundreds of women build new lives in countries like Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.

The most popular destinations among the women I work with tend to have warm weather and flexible visa options. Spain and Portugal top the list because they’re relatively affordable for Western Europe, enjoy a relaxed pace of life, and have residency pathways that don’t require you to be independently wealthy or retired. 

One country that few Americans could probably find on a map, let alone consider moving to, is Albania. But that’s changing. 

In recent years, I kept hearing about Albania from members of my community. A handful had moved there and couldn’t stop raving about it. Intrigued, I spent a month in Albania in 2024, mainly in the capital, Tirana, and along the coast. I wanted to see what the buzz was about, and what I found truly surprised me.

Albania may not be for everyone — no place is — but for many Americans dreaming of a soft landing, it checks a lot of boxes. Here’s why I consider it the No. 1 overlooked destination in Europe for those hoping to relocate from the U.S.:

Albania is one of the few places in Europe where you can still rent a comfortable apartment for under $500 a month, according to the women in my network. This low cost of living is one of the biggest reasons Americans are flocking there.

Take Cheryl Orlov, who moved from Redondo Beach, California, to Tirana. “Even though the cost of living is rising in Tirana, it’s still a fraction of what I paid in California,” she told me. Her rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Tirana, for example, is less than one sixth of what she’d been paying for a two-bedroom cottage in Redondo Beach before she left California in 2023.

Groceries, dining out, and healthcare are also much more affordable. For digital nomads and retirees alike, Albania offers a quality of life that’s increasingly out of reach in many U.S. cities.

One of Albania’s biggest advantages is that Americans can live there visa-free for up to 12 months, a rare benefit in Europe.

You can hop on a plane tonight and start your new life in Albania tomorrow, no paperwork required. This makes it ideal for those who want to “test drive” life abroad without navigating complex visa systems.

While in Tirana, I met with Denisa Kaca Bradley, founder of Expats in Albania, to learn more about immigration options. She explained that while staying beyond a year does require paperwork, it’s possible and her organization helps newcomers with the process. 

At her weekly meetups, I met dozens of Americans: solo women, couples, and families. Many use Albania as a stepping stone. They stay for a year or two before moving on to another part of Europe once they’ve figured out the visa situation elsewhere. Others choose to stay long-term.

From the rugged Albanian Alps in the north to the turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea in the west and the Ionian in the south, the country’s landscape is breathtaking.

During my trip, I drove down the Albanian Riviera and visited Saranda, a lively seaside town with a beautiful promenade. It was September and the weather was still warm enough to swim and sunbathe, but the beaches were practically empty — a rare treat compared to places like Spain or Italy. On a clear day you can see Greece in the distance! The island of Corfu is just a 30-minute ferry ride away. 

I didn’t make it to the northern mountains, but they’re high on my list for next time. Remote villages, hiking trails, and gorgeous landscapes make it a dream for outdoor lovers.

Until the early 1990s, Albania was largely closed off to the world under a communist regime. Tourism has only really picked up in the last decade or so. As a result, Albania still feels authentically Albanian.

At the same time, Albanians are notably welcoming of Americans, something that surprised many expats I spoke with. The pro-America sentiment and friendliness to expats makes it easier for newcomers to feel at home and connect with the local community.

In cities like Tirana and coastal towns like Vlorë, there’s also a growing number of foreigners putting down roots. Like Monica Miranda, an American who moved from Jersey City, New Jersey to Vlorë at 43 with her dog. “I didn’t know much about Albania,” she told me. “But the moment I arrived, something clicked. One month turned into two.” Monica has now lived in Albania for nearly two years and recently received her five-year residency card.

“I’ve built a supportive community of expats from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Latin America,” she said. “We catch up a few times a week. It’s been an incredibly grounding experience.”

It may not be the first country that comes to mind, but for many Americans I’ve met, Albania has become the right place at the right time. 

Cepee Tabibian is the founder of She Hit Refresh, a community and resource platform that helps women aged 30+ move abroad, and the author of ”I’m Outta Here! An American’s Ultimate Visa Guide to Living in Europe.” As the daughter of Colombian and Iranian immigrants, Cepee grew up in Houston, Texas, before becoming an immigrant herself in Spain.

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