protein sources?

[seppuku]

Im desperately hoping someone out there can help me with this. Ive got nothing like enough protein in my diet and im pretty sure thats killing any benefit from lifting weights, my body doesnt have the means to put muscle on atm.

The only reliable source for protein im sure of is steak, but im broke at the moment and cant get any. If anyone would give a list of protein rich foods that would be priceless, a link to a suitable place would be a very good alternative.

I hope someone's got time to answer this, Jon
Thanks

[treelizard]

Any kind of meat is good, I prefer fish for obvious health reasons, when I'm low on cash I'll go with canned tuna fish, eggs are inexpensive as well. Cheese, milk and beans are good too but nothing beats dead animal protein. Get the cuts that are on sale.

http://www.intense-workout.com/protein_diet.html

http://heartspring.net/list_of_high_protein_foods.html

[Sagacious Lu]

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a staple in my diet because they're low in fat and have a ton of protein. Peanuts have a lot too, just don't over do it with them because they have a lot of fat too.

[The Munster]

Tuna is a great cheap source of protein. $.50-$.65 for 1 can = 33ish g of protein.
Eggs. $1.85 ish for 18 large eggs. Thats 108-126g of protein.

Hamburger. Get 85% lean ground beef. Brown as usual in skillet and then strain immediately in hot water through a metal strainer. All the liquified fat runs right off. You're left with very lean ground beef. You can add this to soups, omeletes, salads, etc.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs when bought in bulk (Sams/Costco) can be found for just under to just over $2/lb.

Cottage cheese. Couple bucks for a large container.

And of course protein shakes if you get your stuff wholesale (www.dpsnutrition.com; www.muscleshoppe.com) or have it custom mixed (www.trueprotein.com).

[treelizard]

I forgot to add that you should eat red meat in addition to just fish and chicken--iron is important, too. There are 3.9 mg of iron in a 3 oz serving of lean ground beef, but around 1 mg or less in a 3 oz serving of chicken or fish. Beans, spinach, eggs and fruit are also good sources--but red meat is a good way to get protein AND iron. (Mmmm, buffalo... and I just found a butcher that sells venison, YUM!) You need 15 mg of iron a day according to the RDA.

[muaythaiguy15]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bioplex/100whey.html

lots of powder for cheap. Milk, Tuna, and Eggs are cheapest. Steak is expensive. Also tofu is good if you can stomach it.

[blitz]

Tuna/Grilled Fish/Canned Crab/Boneless skinless chicken breast/Turkey. Those all have low fat high protien.

[seppuku]

Thanks for that people. i think ill stay away from protein shakes and the like, but im going to end up eating more chicken and may even learn to stomach fish. Tofu could be fun... and ill stick with eating steak anytime i can get hold of it. Really useful links above, especial thanks to tree-lizard for the rather extensive list.

Appreciate that people. Cheers

[shaolin-warrior]

Im desperately hoping someone out there can help me with this. Ive got nothing like enough protein in my diet and im pretty sure thats killing any benefit from lifting weights, my body doesnt have the means to put muscle on atm.

The only reliable source for protein im sure of is steak, but im broke at the moment and cant get any. If anyone would give a list of protein rich foods that would be priceless, a link to a suitable place would be a very good alternative.

I hope someone's got time to answer this, Jon
Thanks

Hope this helps:
Not all protiens are created equal. all protiens contain amino acids. The essential building blocks of muscle tissue. To make all the the protiens that your body needs, you require 22 different amino acids. Nine are essential, wich means that you cannot synthesize or make them in your body and must obtain them from the foods that you eat.The rest are non-essential if you don't get them in your food, you can manufacture them yourself from fats, carbohydrates, and other amino acids.
ESSENTIAL AMINO'S-------------- NON ESSENTIAL AMINO'S
Hystadine ----------------------- Alanine
Isoleucine----------------------- Arginine
Leucine-------------------------Aspartic Acid
Lysine--------------------------Cystine
Methionine--------------------- Glutamic Acid
Phenlyalanine------------------ Glycine
Threonine----------------------Hydroxyproline
Tryptophan---------------------Serine
Valine--------------------------Proline
--------------------------=---Tyrosine

Because an animals body is similar to ours, it's protiens contain similar combinations of amino acids. Thats why nutritionists call protiens from foods of animal origin - meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products - high quality protiens. The protiens from plants - grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes(beans), nuts, and seads - often have limited amounts of some amino acids, wich means their nutritional content is not as high as animal protiens.
The basic standard against wich you measure the value of protiens in food is the egg. Nutrition scientists have arbitrarily given the egg a biological value of 100%, meaning that it is the most useful to the human body. Other foods that have proportionately more protien may not be as valuable as the egg because their protiens are not complete, wich means they lack ample amounts of amino one or more amino essential amino acids.

FOOD-------------- PROTIEN CONTENT-------AMINO ACID SCORE
EGG----------------------33----------------------100%
FISH---------------------61----------------------100
BEEF---------------------29----------------------100
MILK(COW) WHOLE--------33---------------------100
SOY BEANS---------------29---------------------100
DRY BEANS----------------22---------------------75
RICE----------------------7---------------------62-66
CORN---------------------7-----------------------47
WHEAT-------------------13----------------------50
WHITE FLOUR-------------12----------------------36

Another way to describe the quality of protiens is to say that they are either complete or incomplete. A complete protien is one that contains ample amounts of all the essential amino acids; an incomplete protien does not. However, you can combine incomplete or limited protiens to form a complete protien.

THIS FOOD-------------COMPLIMENTS-----------EXAMPLES
Whole Grains----------------Beans----------------Rice and beans
Dairy products------------Whole grains-----------Cheese sandwich,
-------------------------------------------------pasta with cheese
-------------------------------------------------pancakes (wheat, milk,
-------------------------------------------------egg batter.
beans-------------------- nuts, seeds------------chili with caraway
--------------------------------------------------seeds
Dairy-----------------------beans----------------Chili beans with cheese
dairy---------------------nuts and seeds---------yogurt with chopped nuts

I hope this helps you with your workout goals , let me know if you need any more information.

[treelizard]

soy is not good for you

I just wanted to say thumbs down on tofu, soy milk or any of that crap (any unfermented soy food, so anything other than miso or tempeh or tamari). It's not good for you.

For more info:

http://www.mercola.com/2005/feb/26/soy_myths.htm

http://www.thewholesoystory.com/index.php

http://www.westonaprice.org/index.html

I could write a lot more on this but I think the above links cover it. Stick to animal proteins, don't eat the white stuff. My $.02.

[The Munster]

I agree with treelizard. Soy is bad for you, despite the healthful claims by food manufacturers.

Animal proteins are best. Animal proteins are what we as a species have been eating since we've been around. Stick with them as your main source of protein intake.

[Art of Soccer]

I drink around 3 gallons of whole milk per week @ $3.75 a gallon.
I'm costing more then my car on gasoline.

Milk from the cow, put thru a cheese cloth is golden... but it's a little too sweet for my tastes... I wish we still had cows. Then I wouldn't have to buy store bought.

[muaythaiguy15]

I drink a lot of milk too, but Im a very tall slim kinda guy. Theres a lot of fat in milk.

[treelizard]

This article here disses protein supplements... Haven't made up my mind yet, but everything else here seems pretty spot on...

http://www.ptonthenet.com/articleprint.aspx?ArticleID=2157&m=13260

[seppuku]

Thanks again here. This is far more detail than Id hoped for, so many thanks.

Good points there Shaolin, i know about the chemical structure of proteins but hadnt made the connection to different sources of protein with varying amino acid proportions being of different levele of use to people.

To-fu is not good for you? First ive heard of that but thanks for saying. Any objections to Quorn?
Cheers