Top 10 Best Sources of Protein

To be serious about gaining muscle mass, one must eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For the average person (especially he average american), this can be difficult, as their diet consists of mostly grains, fruits, and vegetables and relaively small amouts of meat. While fruits and vegetables are very imporant to a healthy diet, these two food groups offer virually no dietary protein. To get this extra protein in your diet, you should eat more meat and dairy, with an emphasis on the foods in this list. These following 10 food are specifically chosen for their high protein content and ranked based on protein content and value (as well as biological value for one item in this list).

10. Pork

Kicking of the list is a wonderful tasting meat, pork. While pork can be unhealthy (bacon and ground pork), it can alo be a fairly low fat food that is high in protein. In a 3 oz. portion of tenderloin pork, there are 22g of protein and only 3g of fat.

9. Cottage Cheese

For many bodybuilders, cottage cheese is an integral part of their low carb, high protein diet. In particular, cottage cheese contains larget amounts of casein protein, which is a slow digesting protein that suppresses protein breakdown. With 14g of protein, 6 carbs and 1g of fat per 4 ounces, cottage cheese is an excellent and fairly cheap source of protein.

8. Salmon

Coming in as #8 in this countdown one of my personal favorite foods, salmon. Grill it, smoke it, broil it, whatever, it all tastes great. And with 22g of protein and 4g of healthy fats per 3 ounces, you just can’t go wrong.

7. Canned Mackerel

Mackerel, yet another fish, also makes its way onto this list. While it has similar nutritional value as salmon, this fish comes in just ahead of salmon because it is cheaper. Per serving, canned mackerel has 5g of fat and 23g of protein.

6. Mahi-Mahi

The third (but not final) fish in this list is one of the best tasting foods I’ve ever had, Mahi-Mahi. Unlike salmon and mackerel, mahi-mahi is a very muscular fish. As a result, it is extremely low in fat and high in protein, but unfortunately also high in mercury (fish store mercury in their muscles). In a 3 oz serving of mahi-mahi, here are 20g of protein and 1g of fat.

5. Beef

While beef gets a bad rap as a fatty food, in reality it can be a good, cheap source of protein. A 3 oz serving of 95% lean ground beef contains 25g of protein and 6g of fat. In addition, ground beef can actually be rinsed, which can reduce fat content by as much as 50%, meaning that you may be able to get away with the cheaper varieties of beef.

4. Chicken

Coming in at #3 in the countdown is chicken, an awesome tasting, reasonably priced meat. You can easily grill it or even prepare it on a stove top in a pan with a little olive oil. Per 3 oz serving, chicken contains 26g of protein and only 3g of fat.

3. Whole Eggs

Even though egg whites seem to get all the hype, whole eggs contain more vitamins and minerals, are more versitile, and quite frankly taste better. Even though whole eggs contain some fat, ultimately this is not really a bad thing, as you need fat in your diet. Per egg there are 7g of protein and 4g of fat.

2. Tuna

The fourth and final fish (and ultimately conventional food) in this list is tuna, another muscular fish. Because of this, tuna contains high levels of mercury as well as lots of protein. Fortunately, the cheaper variety of tuna, light/white tuna, contains reasonable amounts of mercury (and it costs like 50 cents a can!). In a can of light tuna, there are 42g of protein and only 2g of fat. But while tuna is the most cost efficient and protein dense food item on this list, it only comes in at #2 because of one simple concept: biological value.

1. Whey Protein

For bodybuilders, the holy grail of protein is whey protein. While a typical scoop of whey protein powder may contain only 24g of protein, its the quality of this protein that makes whey so great. First of all, whey is a complete protein, meaning that it contains all the essential amino acids. But more importantly, whey has the highest biological value of any protein, meaning that it contains an extremely high amount of usable amino acids. In addition, whey protein can be digested extremely fast, meaning that it makes a great post-workout snack. For a great deal on the brand of whey protein I personally use, click here.

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