Best Meats(protein) for building muscle mass!

By: MuscleSports.net

Getting high quality protein daily is essential to building solid lean muscle mass!

I was talking proteins with someone the other day and it occurred to me after our discussion that allot of people still don't understand how to put their meals plans together so that the protein they are getting is the best one for the purposes hey want hem for. In this article I am going to try and get you to the point that you see protein consumption as energy and nutrients first so you can make good choices on the sources you chose. Lets go!!!!

Top 5 Meat Proteins for building Muscle Mass:

(All portions are based off of portions equalling 200 kilo-calories)

Atlantic Cod (about a 4 once cooked portion) 43.44g Protein
Bison Meat (Lean Only) (about a 6.5 once cooked portion): 39.5g Protein
Tilapia (about a 5.5 once cooked portion): 41.2g Protein
Turkey Breast (about a 5.0 once cooked portion): 42.8g Protein
Chicken Breast (about a 6.5 once cooked portion): 41.7g Protein
Extra Info:
Before you go out and chow down on those fast food burger lets look at some LEAN ground beef:
Extra Lean Ground Beef (about a 2.8 once cooked portion): 20.1g Protein
That's a small ass patty because the fat content is pretty high, so skip the fast food stops!

Other Protein to consider:

Elk Steaks
Albacore Tuna (the Fish not canned)
Wild Caught Alaska Salmon

What to consider:

Protein Density: This is measured Calories to Grams, better put how much protein is packed into the least amount of calorie energy or fuel of sustenance. This may sound very scientific but you can think of it like this, if you ingest 20 grams of a protein how many calories is that in energy. The closer you get to a one on one basis the higher the nutritional density. That means if I can get 50 gram of protein and only have to digest 50 calories there is very little chance those calories will be stored as bodyfat. Now don't get it flipped that this is all you need to consider because is just one metric to finding the best muscle building meat proteins. It's very, very important but again it's just 1!

Nutrient Density Of Proteins:

Nutrient Density of Red Meats: Red meat is a nutrient dense food providing important amounts of protein, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that are the most common nutrient shortages in the world, including vitamin A, iron, and zinc. Beef is high in iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

Nutrient Density of Poultry: Chicken meat, in fact, contains a higher amount of vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B1, B3 and B5. Beef, by contrast, is much richer in folate and vitamin B12. Both chicken and meat provide equal amounts of vitamin B2 and vitamin D, and contain no vitamin C. Chicken is high in magnesium, copper, and phosphorus.

Nutrient Density of Fish: Seafood is the healthiest protein as it is an incredibly nutrient-dense food. The low fat, high protein content makes seafood healthier than meat. Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.

World Comparisons:

Fish dinners were more likely to include potatoes and carrots than red meat dinners, whereas red meat dinners more often contained bread, tomato sauce, pasta, and cheeses. Red meat dinners will contain more energy nutrient and iron. The higher percentages of energy (E%) from fat, saturated fat, and mono-unsaturated fat; and a lower E% from protein and polyunsaturated fat than fish dinners. Fish dinners contained more vitamin D, ß-carotene, and folate than red meat dinners. Similar differences were found when comparing whole-day intakes of the same nutrients on days with red meat versus fish dinners.

Seafood and chicken are considered healthy protein sources. But while both chicken and fish are high in protein and low in carbs, seafood may offer additional health benefits (calcium, iron, selenium, omega-3 acids, and numerous other minerals) with its mineral and vitamin composition. Overall, we can safely say that seafood tends to have slightly higher nutrient benefits than chicken.

The other main difference lies in their tastes and variety of choices. A bland taste characterizes chicken, so most recipes include plenty of seasonings and sauces. With seafood you get a richer variety of choices and not all taste the same but all do provide a similar nutrient profile.

What is the best Protein?

In conclusion, we have to chose fish as our #1 choice of lean mass proteins. That is not to say Bison, Turkey, and chicken don't have there place. EAting fish all the time will tend to make you a little quicker to tire so getting that extra hit of fat from Bison, Turkey and Chicken help with energy levels along with hormonal regulation. Mix it up but try always to keep the fat intake to a level of 10% of daily calories.

Tags: Athlete Nutrition Protein Whole Foods