How can you add some high-quality protein foods to your day?

Do you know anyone playing sports this fall or coming winter?  In order to play at one’s best, one has to eat healthy.  As I noted before, many people have a poor understanding of what “eating healthy” means.  This month I will focus on eating well for sports, starting with protein.  Although focused on sports, the information provided is helpful to anyone interested in nutrition and eating healthier.  Ask some friends or family members, “Which food provides the highest quality protein?”  You will be surprised that few people know the correct answer.

Many young people playing sports want to boost their muscle mass but often have little understanding about protein.  What foods are the best sources of high-quality proteins?  What does “high quality” protein actually mean? 

How do you know what protein foods are high quality?

A nutritionist in the United Kingdom and host of Movement and Nutrition on Facebook, wrote an interesting post on good sources of protein.  With his permission, I will share some of the easy-to-understand information he posted (adapted).

What makes a food a good source of protein?

There are two benchmarks - biological value and protein quality.

 

Biological value is an assessment of how easily your body can absorb and use a nutrient from a food. So, if a protein source has a high biological value, it’s easy for your body to metabolize and use the protein for its own needs.

 

Protein quality is an evaluation of both the protein source’s digestibility and its amino acids profile. High-quality proteins sources are easily digested. And they contain all the essential amino acids in proportions matching your body’s requirements. Low-quality protein sources, in contrast, are missing one or more essential amino acids.

 

What are Amino Acids?

 

Amino acids are the building blocks used to make proteins. Some your body can make others it can’t. The ones it can’t make have to come from your diet. They are “essential amino acids”.

In summary, as Movement and Nutritionist notes, high-quality proteins have all the essential amino acid your body needs to make protein and are high in biological value, meaning your body can easily absorb and digest this protein. 

Protein from animals including poultry, meat, fish, eggs and dairy foods all provide high-quality protein because all animal foods provide all of the nine essential amino acids.  “Plant protein sources such as beans, nuts, vegetables, and grains can also help meet nutritional needs.  However, these often do not provide the amounts of essential amino acids the body needs”. 

Can you guess what one food is the highest in biological value?  

The egg, is considered the gold standard for protein quality.   “Eggs are a great example of a high-quality protein as all nine of these essential amino acids are found in eggs in a pattern that closely matches the body’s needs.”

Bodybuilding dietitians note: “Did you know that the protein in eggs have a biological value of 100?  This makes them one of the BEST sources of protein on earth!  A biological value of 100 means that 100% of the protein in eggs can be used for protein synthesis, compared to a biological value of ~70 for plant proteins.” 

Each egg provides about 6 grams of high-quality protein per egg.  Half of the protein is in the egg white and half is in the yolk.   I had a student that took out the yolk when feeding her child eggs as she thought this was healthy.  Not so, as the yolk provides many nutrients including vitamin D, calcium, iron, folate, and vitamin B12.  I also had a student ask me if egg whites were a good source of protein.  And they are.  But eat the whole egg and get the benefit of all the nutrients eggs provide. 

 In addition to eggs, what other food is high in biological value and protein quality? 

Cow’s milk is considered a high-quality protein source as cow’s milk provides two high-quality protein sources, casein and whey.  Many body builders buy protein powders that contain casein and/or whey as they are of high biological value and provide all nine essential amino acids.  To provide high-quality protein, it has to be cow’s milk and not the artificial milks like oat milk or almond milk which do not contain any whey or casein. 

What does WebMD say about whey and casein?   “To best promote muscle growth, you should feed your muscles more protein than they need.  Between whey and casein, whey is the “faster” protein supplement because its amino acids are absorbed quickly by your body.  While casein in the “slower” supplement – since it’s digest more slowly – both proteins can help your muscles grow when you work out.  That’s because they re-form muscles after exercise.”    

But one doesn’t have to buy protein supplements or powders to get casein or whey.  Just drink a glass of real cow’s milk or eat some real cow’s milk yogurt.  “Approximately 80 percent of the protein in milk (cow’s milk) is casein protein, while the other 20 percent is whey protein.” 

Remember when kids used to drink cow’s milk at every meal?  At every meal they were getting high-quality protein to support growth and development.  On a recent trip, we ate lunch and dinner out many times.  It was so hard to find a restaurant or fast-food establishment that offered milk or yogurt with the meal.  Our hotel did offer milk at breakfast and we went to a local grocery store to buy some cow’s milk yogurt as I wanted to be sure to have some dairy every day for good health.

If you have a relative, friend, or a classmate that is into sports, share this blog with them.  Help them learn what high-quality proteins are.  Many people want to retain their muscle mass as they age.  Drinking real cow’s milk and adding some cow’s milk yogurt to your day are great ways to add some high-quality protein to your day.  And enjoy some eggs.  The American Heart Association now says healthy people can enjoy up to an egg a day and aging adults can enjoy up to 2 eggs a day. 

How can you add some high-quality protein to your day? 

• Enjoy some eggs, a glass of cow’s milk, some cow’s milk yogurt or cheese.
• After a workout, enjoy a glass of milk.  (See: What is best post-exercise, white or chocolate milk? )  
• Instead of the fake creamers in your coffee, add some real milk.  My daughter switched to real milk in her coffee and it adds some good nutrients to her day.
• Most Americans love cheese.  Cheese is a good source of the protein casein, but most of the whey is lost in cheese making.  For those who have trouble digesting the lactose in cow’s milk, cheese is a good choice as most cheese is low in lactose.  Choose Swiss, Blue cheese, gouda, provolone, Brie, Cheddar, Camembert, Muenster or Parmesan for cheese low in lactose.
• Let your kids enjoy some chocolate or strawberry milk.  Yes, some added sugar but also some good protein, calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients.  (See:  Is chocolate milk good for you? )  

Sources:  Movement and Nutrition , Plant protein, protein quality , Bodybuilding dietitians , food , WebMD , protein , whey protein , American Heart Association , cheese   Image sources:  Eggs , Cow’s milk , Yogurt