Your best protein sources

By Mike Lackner

Oh yeah, I’m feeling a bit carnivorous! Someone bring some form of cooked dead animal carcass for me to devour!
Not only does meat taste good, it is full of muscle-building protein. Protein is probably the most important part of a bodybuilder’s diet. Don’t get me wrong, carbohydrates are very important. However, without the proper amount of protein, your body will not be able to rebuild the muscle tissue that is broken down during those vicious workouts. No matter how perfectly planned your training routine and rest is, you need to feed your muscles lots of high quality protein if you want to be a monster.

As stated earlier, protein is what your body uses to rebuild muscle tissue broken down during resistance training. If you do not consume enough protein to rebuild the muscles you have broken down, your muscles will get smaller and weaker. They will not be able to recover and get back to their normal size before they are broken down again the next workout.
Protein is not only a source of nutrition for building muscle tissue, it helps our immune system, produces enzymes (our body’s catalyst for all its chemical reactions), helps control blood sugar levels and enables us to produce many hormones.
Three quarters of our body tissues are comprised of protein, such as muscles, organs, antibodies and enzymes. The basic structure of protein is the amino acid. These are combined in an infinite number of combinations to form the various tissues. There are both essential and non-essential amino acids.
Proteins can be found in both plant and animal food sources, which differ in their amino acid composition and digestibility. Animal protein tends to be of a higher nutritional quality, but the correct combination of plant proteins can also provide a quality source of protein.
Like carbohydrates, proteins contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The difference is, protein also contains nitrogen. That is why bodybuilders always hear the term “nitrogen balance” when discussing bodybuilding nutrition.
Positive nitrogen balance occurs when the total amount of nitrogen lost while sweating and during waste functions is less than the total nitrogen ingested. Positive nitrogen balance must exist for new tissue to be synthesized. When your daily protein intake is insufficient to maintain your body’s total nitrogen balance, negative nitrogen balance occurs and new tissue can not be synthesized.
When the body is in nitrogen balance, protein intake is sufficient to maintain protein requirements, and the amounts of nitrogen entering and exiting the body are equal. That is why it is so important to take in enough protein. Without it, your efforts in the gym are futile, and you will actually be doing yourself more harm than good. If the necessary nitrogen is not absorbed from your diet, your body will be forced to make the amino acids it needs by stealing from other body sources. These may include such sources as red blood cell haemoglobin, the lining of your intestines and gut, already developed muscle (so you lose muscle instead of gaining it). If your body is forced to steal nitrogen sources, it may sacrifice certain functions already provided by the structural proteins of these sources and this can lead to poor overall body health.
Proteins are made up of chains of up to twenty-two different amino acids joined together by peptide bonds. These are called polypeptides. At least eight amino acids are considered essential for adults (must be supplied in the diet) for tissue maintenance and growth. These essential amino acids are isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine. The amino acid histidine (considered the ninth essential amino acid) is essential for the growth and development of children but can be synthesized by adults.
Other non-essential amino acids are also required to maintain health but can be synthesized by the body if supplied with a source of nitrogen. These non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, hydroxyproline, proline, serine and tyrosine.
The balance of amino acids in a specific protein determines its biological value. This biological value is analogous to the glycemic index of carbohydrates that I mentioned in a previous article. Complete proteins have a high values since they contain adequate amounts of the essential amino acids to promote normal growth in animals. Proteins of high biological value are found in many animal sources such as milk, eggs, cheese, meat, poultry and fish. Plant sources are normally lacking specific essential amino acids and have lower biological scores. These plant sources must be used in specific combinations in order to yield the correct combination of amino acids for assimilation. Also, compared to animal sources, relatively large amount of plant products (total calories) must be consumed to get enough protein. The exception in plant products is the soybean, which contains relatively large amounts of high biological value protein.
Scientific research has proven that whey protein has the highest biological value (BV) of any protein. With a biological value of 104, whey topples soy (BV-74), casein (BV-77), egg white (BV-88) and even milk (BV-91). I mention this, because whey protein is the main source of protein used in most protein supplements. People who exercise and do resistance movements require greater amounts of protein than do others (amounts to be discussed later) and will most likely need to use protein supplements.
The subject of the proper amount of daily protein consumption has drawn great controversy over the past several years. The common numbers that seem to appear are the following:

0.6-0.8g of protein per kg of lean body mass for the average adult
1.0-1.4g of protein per kg of lean body mass for athletes
2.0-2.2g of protein per kg of lean body mass for weight lifters 

Of course, these values are not fixed for all individuals. They are to be used as a guideline and adjustments made as needed. Metabolisms differ from person to person. What works for one person may not work well for you. If you are having 1.5g of protein per kg of body weight and not building muscle mass, then add more protein to your diet and monitor the effect. Use your common sense as well as your knowledge of what makes for a sound diet. Keep records of your body weight, performance, body-fat percentage, and how you look in the mirror. These parameters can also help you determine if your protein intake is too low or high.
Now, for all you vegetarians out there. As stated earlier, meats are a much more complete source of protein than vegetables (plants). Plant protein must be consumed in certain combinations in order to be useful. Meat protein can stand alone. Vegetable proteins can be divided into three categories: legumes, grains and nuts and seeds.
These categories can be mixed in a couple of different ways to promote proper amino acid combinations that will make the proteins absorbed useful. Legumes and grains should be combined, combine nuts or seeds with legumes or grains,  or combine animal products with any vegetable product (try to add a small amount of meat to a meal of vegetables). Again, for you vegetarians, only the first two rules really apply.
Legumes are plants whose seeds grow in pods such as peas, beans and peanuts. When the pods of legumes are in their early stages, they are especially high in vitamin A and iron. As they ripen, their protein value increases significantly. Grains include plant sources such as rice, wheat and corn. The very amino acids that are missing in beans are found in abundance in grains. The same is true for other legumes, so it important to combine them with grains if you do not wish to include meat sources in your diet. Soy beans are a great choice and contain almost twice as much protein as other types of beans.
Nuts and seeds not only give you nutrition, they provide flavour and a good texture to meals to make them more enjoyable. Nuts tend to be a little higher in fat than seeds but they contain mostly unsaturated fats and are a good source of essential fats. Nuts and seeds do contain a lot of protein, but they must be combined with legumes or grains in order for your system to use them as a complete protein. Pumpkin and squash seeds are the seeds with the highest protein, followed by sunflower seeds. Sesame seeds and flax seeds also provide high amounts of protein and are great sources of calcium. As for nuts, walnuts, almonds and cashews are the best choice for protein. Many other types of nuts have more fat than protein.
Choosing to be a vegetarian will make it difficult to consume the amounts of protein that intense training demands of a bodybuilder. If you do choose to keep animal products out of your diet, be sure to use protein supplements as much as possible. This will make it a lot easier and les stressful to get that much-needed protein for building solid muscle mass.
If you want to add a lot of muscle, then you have to add a lot of protein to your diet. To be a monster, you have to eat like one, which means eating large amounts of meat. Tyrannosaurus rex got big from chewing up every living creature he could find. He didn’t snack on vegetables and seeds like those other, sissy dinosaurs did. So, eat like T-rex and you will be eating up the competition.