Just about every article on fitness (particularly on building muscle) recommends protein. People are quite right to recommend protein, but few articles elaborate on what are the best sources of protein for building muscle and overall fitness and health.
Proteins come in 2 different types: complete and incomplete.
Complete proteins are the best sources of protein for building muscle because they contain all eight essential amino acids.
Complete proteins include: eggs, milk, cheese, fish, beef and chicken.
These are your typical sources of protein bodybuilders use.
But, it goes a little further than this…
Each different sort of protein has different adsorption rates. For instance, you may eat 20 g of protein from chicken and 20 g of protein from eggs, but because eggs have the far superior and absorption rate, the eggs will do more for your muscle gains than the chicken will.
For your information, eggs and milk are the best sources of protein with regards to absorption rate, so, if you aren’t lactose intolerant I highly recommend you drink plenty of milk as well as eat plenty of eggs.
While a few eggs are usually a pleasure to eat, they can become a little sickly tasting after a while, I have to admit. I do not recommend that you remove the yolk — people only do so in the misinformed belief is a reduce cholesterol by doing so — as it contains great protein, but you might want to vary how you serve your eggs – and with what.
You may wish to have a few scrambled, poached, boiled and, occasionally, fried. I also recommend you eat your eggs with wholegrain bread or toast to make them a little less monotonous. Add a little sauce and you’re well away!