Protein: The Building Block of Muscle

This is going to be a brief section covering the different types of protein and a little explanation about how all protein isn’t equal in terms of nutritional value. It is primarily used by the body to build, repair, and maintain muscle tissue. Protein consists of amino acids, also referred to as the “building blocks of protein.” These include 20 different amino acids, 9 of which are considered “essential” because the body cannot make them, and they have to be supplied by the diet.

Benefits of Protein Beyond Muscle Growth

Besides being used for energy and as a building block for muscle, protein has many other benefits when it comes to improving our body composition and physique. Of the 3 macronutrients, protein requires the most energy to digest compared to fats and carbohydrates. What this means is that your body burns more calories digesting it, which is referred to as the TEF, or thermal effect of food. Protein also can diminish your appetite by keeping you full longer, which can help those who are trying to cut down on what they eat.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

Like we talked about before, the minimum amount of protein you should be setting as your goal is 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day. Athletes require much more protein than the RDA or recommended daily allowance, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition says an intake of 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is “not only safe but may improve the training adaptations to exercise training”. In my experience, getting at least 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight is a good place to start if your macros and daily calorie intake allow it.

Best Food Sources of Protein

The sources of food with the highest amounts of protein include fish, meats, and dairy products. Some of the most popular sources in the fitness community are lean steak, turkey, skinless chicken breasts, tuna, eggs and cottage cheese or yogurt. Earlier I mentioned that not all protein is equal; this is because different protein sources contain more or less of the amino acids we talked about. Meat normally contains all 9 essential amino acids, while fruits, grains and vegetables contain less than 9. Combining different protein sources is a successful way to form “complete proteins” when some of your foods lack all 9 amino acids. This is very popular in the vegetarian community because they don’t benefit from the amino acid profile of meat. The goal here is to get a well-rounded diet so your body can use the amino acids to build, repair and maintain muscle tissue.

Protein Shakes and Powders

Protein shakes are a very convenient and healthy way to get added protein during important times throughout the day. But once again, not all protein powders are the same, and the different types of protein behave differently in the body. I will cover the main ones here and talk about when to take each type later on.

• Whey concentrate: is the cheapest and most basic form of protein powder. It usually contains between 70-80% protein, with the rest being carbs, fat, and moisture. This is the lowest quality, but it does not mean there are no advantages to taking it.

• Whey isolate: This is a higher-quality protein and has little or no fat or carbs and is very quickly digested in the body. Most of the fat and lactose are taken out when it is converted to this formula. It is a great choice immediately before or after your workouts and is also one of the lowest calorie protein powders.

• Whey hydrolysate: This is whey protein that has been heated up, to assist in the breakdown of the amino acid chains. This makes it digest a little faster than regular whey concentrate or whey isolate.

• Casein: This is a very slow-digesting protein that gets absorbed in 3 to 4 hours, compared to as little as 20 minutes with some whey proteins.

• Milk protein isolate: This form of protein comes in many ready-to-drink shakes you can purchase in the store. It contains both whey and casein proteins, which means it can provide your muscles with amino acids both in the short term, and for several hours after you drink it.

• Egg protein concentrate: A very high-quality protein for those that want a convenient way to add eggs to their diet without eating them hard boiled or drinking egg whites.

Biological Value of Protein

One last point that I wanted to make was to talk about something called the biological value, or BV of protein. This is a measurement of how much protein is actually absorbed by our body after the ingestion of a food source. You can look up the different BV values of food online, but egg whites are at the top of the list and are considered the gold-standard of protein sources. Keep this in mind and personally I try to incorporate egg whites into my daily diet.