I am back with the next installment of my Protein series! You can read my thoughts on how to Simplify Protein Intake and how Protein and Calorie Needs should be considered together if you’d like to catch up. As with my theme for this series, the goal is to turn the volume on some of the noise down a bit so that you can make well informed choices without being completely overwhelmed.
Protein, as you will hopefully recall, is a macronutrient. As such, it can be found as a component of many different types of food. Protein is most abundantly found in animal products, particularly meat. It is a slightly gross way to think about it, but a chicken breast isn’t any different from our own muscle tissue. That’s why when people want to put on muscle mass, you will often see them increasing their meat consumption. But protein exists in many plants, too. And, as you can probably guess, there is a fairly hefty pro-con list associated with each of the sources of protein.
Animal sources of protein aren’t limited to meat. Dairy provides a good source of protein, both from the whey (as in Little Miss Muffet) and the casein. Eggs are another egg-celent source of protein (ba-dum bum, ching). Meat’s biggest advantage is the sheer amount of protein per serving. A typical 4 ounce serving of chicken or beef can contain 40 grams of protein. For comparison’s sake, a typical serving of dairy (an 8 ounce glass of milk, 1 ounce of cheese, or 6 ounces of yogurt) contains about 8 grams per serving, depending on the exact type. That’s still not nothing, though.
The real benefit of consuming animal based protein, is its bioavailability. That’s basically a big fancy nutrition word meaning how easy it is for our bodies to get at said nutrient and actually use it. Like I already said, there isn’t much difference physiologically between a chicken breast and our own muscle tissue. So of course when your body sees meat coming in, it knows exactly how to break it down and use it to build rebuild human muscle tissue.
Another benefit, at least to those of us living in North America, is the actual availability and cost of animal based protein. We just pop into a grocery store and there are two entire sections dedicated solely to animal protein. All we have to decide is which recipe will be the tastiest. And when you compare grams of protein per serving payoff, animal based protein is also very cost effective.
There are downsides to animal based protein, though. Milk and egg allergies and intolerances are a legitimate concern for some. And large amounts of protein can cause stomach upset in others. But, of course, the real downside is moral/ethical. You are consuming an animal or animal product. And many of us have problems with that.
Plants, as I said, can also provide protein. And there are many good sources out there. In fact, the biggest area of growth in protein right now is in plant based proteins. Soy is a well-known plant based source of protein. Plant protein can also be procured through grains (rice and oats), legumes (peas, lentils, and nuts), and seeds (quinoa and hemp).
The biggest benefit to plant based protein, is that all of these sources typically come with added nutritional bonuses. With grain based protein, you also get carbohydrate for energy and fiber to keep you full. Legumes and seeds will provide additional fats (especially those omega-3s), not to mention tons of other vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. What can I say, whole foods and plant based diets rule!
But that brings us to the downsides. Soy is a complete protein (meaning it offers all 20 amino acids), but it can act like estrogen in the body, which is not ideal if your goal is to put on muscle. Soy is also often from a GMO, the long term effects of which we have yet to understand. As a general rule, the plant based proteins are less bioavailable than animal based ones. And you won’t get as much protein bang for your buck, in terms of number of grams per serving or cost per serving.
For example, one serving of hemp hearts offers the same amount of protein as a glass of milk. However, milk is easier to find and a gallon costs about $4 (depending on where exactly you live), or about $0.25 per serving. Hemp hearts cost about $7 per 8 ounces, which translates to about $0.88 per serving, or more than triple.
The true reality is that the source probably doesn’t matter as long as you are hitting your macronutrient and calorie marks for your goals. And as long as pro-con list jives with your goals and your conscience, you’ll do just fine. But you will notice that I confined this discussion to real, whole foods. No, that wasn’t an oversight. Supplements are a whole other beast, so stay tuned!
Until next time, be well friends!
