I have never done this. In fact, the yolk contains no less proteins than the protein, as well as most of the vitamins and minerals. If you're looking to limit the amount of fat in your diet, I recommend that you cut out other foods, but don't throw out what is in many ways the best part of an egg (the yolk does contain cholesterol, so if you have a cholesterol problem, it's best to take advice. with a doctor).

If you look at the list, you can see that in products such as rice, beans and potatoes contain much less healthy protein than eggs or fish. The reason is that they contain too few of the essential amino acids required for complete protein digestion. However, you can combine multiple sources of this low quality (incomplete) protein to get a high quality protein. Some foods lack certain amino acids found in other foods; combining them together, you get everything you need.

Eating an incomplete protein is like playing baseball with eighteen players, five of whom are pitchers and three are receivers. It doesn't matter that there are eighteen players in total, as both teams are incomplete.

The need to assemble a complete "team" of amino acids means that even a small addition of certain foods to your diet leads to a completely different result. To continue the baseball analogy, let's say you have 72 players, but none of them can play first base. Let's say you recruit nine additional players who play well at first base. Now, instead of a large group of athletes who can't do anything, you get nine complete baseball teams ready to compete. The same thing happens when you add other amino acids to the incomplete sets of amino acids necessary for effective muscle building.

Combining partial proteins is very beneficial because you typically eat foods that are relatively low in fat and therefore lower in calories than many known complete protein sources. When you're trying to maximize muscle mass while keeping body fat low, this can be a huge benefit. (You can also get fat-free protein by taking protein supplements, which we'll talk about in more detail later.)

Because every source of incomplete protein is deficient in certain amino acids, you need to be very careful when combining foods to get a complete protein. Diet for a Small Planet by Francis Moore Lapie (Ballantyne Books, 1974) recommends the following combinations:

Grains and seeds

- Wholemeal bread with seeds.

- Bread with sesame paste or with sunflower seed paste.

- Rice with sesame.

Grains and dairy products

- Porridge with milk (now you understand why this food is often recommended for breakfast).

- Pasta with cheese or milk (yeah... spaghetti with parmesan).

- Bread with cheese or milk (traditional lunch in many European countries).

Grains and legumes

- Rice and beans (one of the world's staples, especially in countries where animal protein is rare or difficult to obtain).

- Wheat bread with stewed beans.

- Corn and soy or wheat and soy bread.

- Bean soup with bread.

If you want to find out which of the eight essential amino acids is missing in this product, you can refer to a special guide, but this is not particularly necessary. Just memorize the food groups listed here and you'll be able to maximize your protein intake.

Of course, all knowledge about the nature of protein and what foods to eat to get protein means very little if you do not know how much protein you need. We will discuss this issue in detail in the next chapter.

Protein Supplements

Building muscle requires not only intense training, but also protein - up to 1 gram per pound of weight for some people. But as you may find, it can sometimes be difficult to get enough protein without the corresponding amount of fat. Protein supplements are the solution. Not only is this an effective way to increase your protein intake without any fats, but it's also just a convenience since meal frequency is important in a bodybuilder's diet.

Now in stores you can see an amazing variety of protein supplements. Unlike years past, many of today's supplements are more like desserts than high-protein foods for bodybuilders. Plus, they're more than just canned or plastic-wrapped protein—modern supplements contain vitamins and minerals, as well as carbohydrates. Selecting supplements that suit your taste and body requirements is an essential element of your diet.

There are several considerations to help you make the right choice from the huge range of nutritional supplements. Firstly, read the label carefully. Some supplements contain varying amounts of carbs along with protein, and while carbs help convert dietary protein into muscle protein, excess carbs create extra calories that make it harder to burn fat. Therefore, counting the amount of carbohydrates included in a protein supplement is essential if you want to maintain a balance of macronutrients in your body.

Secondly, pure protein supplements taken separately from other foods or additional carbohydrates are absorbed less efficiently. Studies show that in order for protein to be used by the body more for the synthesis of new proteins than for energy, it must be consumed in combination with additional calories, especially those found in carbohydrates. This may not matter much if you are on a low calorie diet and want a significant portion of your dietary protein to be converted into muscle energy, but if your goal is to maximize muscle building, you should definitely combine carbohydrates with protein supplements (unless they already contain carbohydrates) or take these supplements at the same time as regular meals.

Third, there are three different types of proteins commonly used in protein supplements: milk proteins (whey, milk protein concentrate, caseinate), egg whites, and soy proteins. All of these are considered high-quality proteins, and while scientific studies don't show one source of protein is any better than others for muscle growth, milk or egg-derived protein supplements are the most popular among bodybuilders. But soy protein has benefits that milk and egg proteins don't. Soy protein has recently received widespread medical attention because it lowers serum cholesterol levels in some people. Therefore, for people with high cholesterol levels, soy protein may be the best choice.

Finally, remember that protein supplements should not be the only source of dietary protein. A balanced diet that includes different types of foods is an important aspect of bodybuilding.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are the main and most readily available sources of energy for the body. All carbohydrates are varieties of sugars, complex molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They are produced by plants during photosynthesis (using solar energy) or animals (glycogen). But when I talk about sugars, I don't mean the table sugar you put in your coffee or breakfast cereal. The main categories of carbohydrates are listed below:

Monosaccharides

- Glucose (found in the circulatory system).

- Fructose (fruit sugar).

- Galactose (a kind of milk sugar).

Oligosaccharides

- Sucrose (table sugar).

- Lactose (milk sugar).

- Maltose (malt sugar).

Polysaccharides

- Vegetable polysaccharides (starch and cellulose).

- Animal polysaccharides (glycogen).

The metabolic rate of carbohydrates is measured by the so-called glycemic index. A high glycemic index means that polysaccharides are processed quickly; a low glycemic index means a slower metabolism. The term "glycemic index" has replaced the terms we used at the time I competed: simple and complex carbohydrates. What we used to call simple carbs are now called high glycemic carbs (fruits, refined sugar) and complex carbs are low glycemic carbs (starch, cellulose). Carbohydrates with a low glycemic index give up their energy for quite a long time and, therefore, are processed with a certain delay.

By the way, you often have to look in the reference book to find out the glycemic index of certain foods. For example, ice cream has a relatively low glycemic index due to its high fat content. The rice served in Chinese restaurants (when the rice grains stick together well) has a surprisingly high glycemic index, unlike brown or wild rice.

As I said before, carbohydrates are the most readily available source of energy for the body. After digestion, they are converted into glucose, which circulates in the circulatory system and serves as "fuel" for muscle contraction, and glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscles for further use. A good supply of carbohydrates is essential for any serious bodybuilder for a number of reasons:

1. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. Carbohydrates, which are stored in the muscles as glycogen, allow you to engage in intense strength training.

2. Muscle size increases when the body stores glycogen and water in individual muscle cells.

3. Carbohydrates in the body have a “sparing” effect on protein, preventing excessive processing of proteins into clean energy. In the following, we will dwell on this important aspect in more detail.

4. Glucose is the main source of energy that ensures the functioning of the brain; its deficiency causes dramatic mood swings and can lead to a weakening of mental abilities.

Carbohydrates play such an important role as "fuel" for intense training because most exercise is anaerobic, meaning the muscles are subjected to short bursts of intense exertion that exceed the body's ability to supply sufficient oxygen. But the structure of carbohydrates is such that they can release energy in short periods of time in the absence of oxygen. So when you are doing a series of exercises with heavy weights or running a hundred-meter sprint, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for efforts.

Carbohydrate Supplements

Intense training creates a need in the body to restore glycogen stores, as well as amino acids. It's important to save enough carbs after your workout, otherwise your body will start using amino acids instead of carbs for energy. The "window" of carbohydrate recovery, that is, the period during which the body experiences a very