What’s The Best Protein To Eat?

Q: What’s the best protein to eat? That’s it, that’s my question. I’m not going to state whether I want to know what’s the best protein to eat to lose weight, or to build muscle, or for after a workout, or for breakfast, or before bed, or blah blah blah. Absolutely none of that! I’m going to leave it to your imagination to figure out exactly what I want to know.

A: First and foremost, allow me to express my gratitude to you for being vague and not doing me any favors so I can better know how to serve you. You’ve essentially made my job that much harder, and for that you deserve the laurels I’m now heaping on you.

Expressing gratitude is the en vogue thing to do nowadays, so with me jumping on the bandwagon and getting that out of the way, let us now proceed.

*ahem*

I don’t feel like having to expend that much energy to come up with an imaginative response, so I’m just going to speak in general terms. For the most part, protein is protein. As such, as long as the total protein count of everything you eat meets your daily needs, you can eat whatever the fuck you want, regardless of your goal.

That’s what I’d tell you just to brush you off but if I really wanted to put some effort into a reply, then I might say something different.

Yeah, were I in the mood to do some real work here, I might say that the best protein to eat comes down to a matter of quality, with some sources offering more bang than others because not all protein is equal.

…

No, your mind isn’t deceiving you. I most certainly said “protein is protein” a few sentences ago. But get it straight, I also couched it by saying “for the most part”!!!

All protein isn’t equal but to understand why, it must first be understood that protein is composed of amino acids. It varies depending on the source but there are a total of 21 amino acids that your body needs for the creation of muscle tissue, as well as enzymes and hormones. Of these amino acids, there are 12 that your body can make on its own.¹ The remaining 9 have to be obtained via the diet to form a complete protein for the development of muscle and optimal health. These 9 amino acids are known as essential amino acids (EAAs).²

Protein from animal sources supply all of the essential amino acids in large quantities. Comparatively, plant proteins often contain low amounts of one or two of the essential amino acids and thus require that you consume a combination of plant foods to ensure that you get a complete mix of EAAs. In addition, animal protein is generally higher in leucine, an essential amino acid that’s vital to the growth of new muscle and recovery after exercise.

As we see, animal protein has a better distribution profile of amino acids. Foods from animal-based sources also have higher protein content, of which that protein has greater digestibility, absorption, and bioavailability. All of these things together are part of why animal foods rank higher than plant-based foods on various quality ratings.³ With this information in hand, I’d tell you to eat more meat, fish, and eggs and less quinoa and buckwheat if I were in the mood to tell you such a thing, which I’m clearly not. Neither am I in the mood to provide you with a list of protein sources that you can look for that you don’t have to get a third job, sell an organ, or whore yourself out to furries to pay for.

Yeah, I’d tell you all of that shit but I’m not gonna!

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?⁣

Glossary: diet, exercise, fitness, goal, hormones, muscle, nutrition, workout

Author
Recent Posts

Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer in San Diego. He has been lifting weights for +25 years and training clients in the gym and online for about half of that time. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys long walks and leaving buildings crushed and entire city blocks decimated in his wake.

What’s The Best Protein To Eat?

Related Articles: