Proteins are the machinery of living things. They serve every imaginable function from the balance of water in the body to the movement of muscles. It is their role in muscles that make protein especially important to the exercise enthusiast.
As one exercises, muscles are broken down and built up stronger. Like any good structure, the type and quality of materials that go into it matter. The basic building block of a protein is an amino acid. Proteins are often chains of hundreds or thousands of these amino acids, each of which is unique and complex on its own.
Instead of making all-new amino acids, it's usually much easier to start with something pre-made. Just like mason's usually buy their brick from someone else, a body gets it's building blocks from somewhere else: food.
And that leads to our list...
#1 Chicken
There are higher protein foods than chicken. Chicken tops the list, however, for being both high in protein and low in fats. Since many high-protein foods are also high in fats, this is an important quality. White meat is ideal, and it's healthiest to grill, bake or broil chicken. Frying, with all the oil involved, defeats the purpose of a low fat option.
#2 Fish and Seafood
Fish is another popular option for a source of protein. It comes in second since it often has a higher fat content than chicken. Much of that fat is the healthy, unsaturated version, however, including omega fatty acids which can help reduce cholesterol among other benefits.
Different fish have different nutritional values. Tuna is low in fat, but high in sodium. Salmon and shrimp are lower in sodium but high in cholesterol. For it's high protein content, tuna is very popular, so I've included some of it's data here.
#3 - Beef
Beef is also an excellent source of protein, but it tends to have a much higher fat content. Some of this fat is likely to be the least healthy fat: trans-fat. Whenever preparing beef, it's important to buy the leanest cuts of beef possible. The trade-off, though, is that beef is rich in many other things such as creatine and vitamin B-12 which help the muscle-building process.
#4 - Dairy and Eggs
While cheese, eggs, milk and yogurt are all excellent sources of protein, they are also extremely high in fats and cholesterol. If they are being used as a source of protein, then the "low fat" versions should be eaten instead. In eggs, the majority of the fat is in the yolk, so eating egg-whites is an excellent way to streamline a very pure source of protein into one's diet.
#5 - Whey Protein Supplements
Whey protein comes from the process of cheese-making. It is often in isolated from and made into supplements specifically designed for weight gain. For this reason, whey protein is almost always presented in artificial form, often as a powder mixed to make a convenient protein shake.
One must be careful buying whey protein supplements as they often have extra carbohydrates. For those people exercising heavily, these carbohydrates are essential sources of energy during workouts. For those with less demanding workout schedules, too many carbs will lead to rapid weight gain, but not likely muscle.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/James_K_Zane/969532
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