In order to answer these questions, you should first learn a bit about what exactly protein is made of, its basic functions, and why your body needs it to look stellar in a swimsuit. So here’s the basic rundown of what you need to know about protein in order to get the results you want before summer hits.

First and foremost, what exactly is protein and what is its function in the body?

Protein, one of the basic energy sources (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) is essentially the “building block” of tissue in your body. It provides the necessary components in your body to build new tissue, repair broken down tissue, and is essential for growth. It must be supplied to your body throughout the day in order to preserve your lean body mass. If you’re an athlete or physical activity is present in your daily routine, then it is important to make sure that your body receives sufficient (and precise!) amounts of protein….which leads me to question #2:

How much protein do I need and what happens if I take too much?

Just like every other component of fitness, protein intake depends on the person’s individual stats. A 5’2”, 120 lb. female is going to need a lot less protein than a 6’4” 275 lb. male (obviously), but the ratio to determine the right amounts of protein is the same. For adequate protein intake for an athletic person, the requirement is about 1.5-2.5 grams/kilogram of ideal body weight. (This is about twice the recommended daily amount for the average person – but remember, you’re trying to gain muscle for that summer beach body!) Be conscious of the effects of too much protein in your diet though – excess protein will either be converted to fat and can increase toxic blood ammonia, or is broken down and used as energy in the liver. Not enough protein in the diet can also cause your body to “eat away” at the muscle tissue you currently have, so make sure your levels of protein are sufficient for your body statistics.

So, now that you know what protein does and you’ve determined your intake, let’s talk protein supplements. There’s plenty of supplement companies out there with tons of different ingredients, so what you really need to know is the difference between the types of proteins in supplements and when you should supplement them into your diet.

The three most common types of protein used in supplements are whey, casein and egg.

Whey tends to be the most popular source of protein in the bodybuilding world because of its rapid absorption properties which lead to more protein synthesis in the body than casein or egg. So if your goal is to gain muscle mass, then supplementing your diet with a whey protein supplement within 45 minutes of finishing a workout is going to be the most beneficial in helping you reach your mass gaining goals.
Moving on to the next type of protein – casein.

Casein has a much slower absorption into the blood stream, so it isn’t the best source for optimizing protein synthesis, but it is very beneficial when it comes to suppressing the breakdown of muscle tissue. The slow release of amino acids into your blood stream that is provided by casein protein spares the most muscle tissue, so it’s best to take casein protein at night rather than early in the morning or post workout like whey protein.

The last type of protein supplement that I would recommend would be egg protein. This type seems to be the most expensive, and with good reason. Egg protein is the most body soluble type of protein as well as the highest quality. Its PER is 3.92 while whey is between 3.6-3.9 and casein comes in at 2.86 (PER stands for Protein Efficiency Ratio, which is used to determine the quality of protein). The PER rating basically states that for every one gram of protein eaten, x amount of grams of body weight are gained.

There are a lot of supplements out there, and you can most certainly find whey, casein and egg proteins sold separately, but a lot of companies also like to mix the proteins together in a blend in order to improve the quality of the proteins. This mixing basically just allows the protein supplements to boost their PER value to mimic the more expensive sources, but also makes it easier to add the protein into your diet at the proper times throughout the day, which is very important. Optimum Nutrition has great lines of whey, casein and egg proteins, as well as soy protein and even a natural whey protein. They have also come out with a blend that utilizes 10 types of proteins (yeah, a lot I know!) to really cover the bases when it comes to making sure you are consuming the right types of proteins at the right times throughout the day.

Now that you’re informed on the facts about protein, get to work in the gym and get that body ready for summer!

Bodybuilding.com Wallpaper of the Week!

Bodybuilding.com Wallpaper of the Week