The importance of a good protein intake

As an athlete you know how important it is to take in the right amount of proteins each day. In general, the daily protein need for those who regularly work out, is about 1g for every kg of body weight. This daily amount increases for those who train at higher intensities. That is why it’s so important to include a source of protein in every meal, whether it comes from vegetables or animals.

I wholeheartedly recommend eggs, a natural source of protein with the highest biological values. The biological value of a food item is a parameter that represents the ratio between protein taken in and protein effectively absorbed and used. For eggs this value is 100.  And what about cholesterol? First of all, it has been demonstrated that eating eggs does not increase the level of cholesterol in the blood. Eggs have even been given the go ahead by cardiologists. Secondly, we’ll talk about cholesterol in some other articles.

The different kinds of eggs by type of breeding

Be careful however, because not all eggs are equal. I am referring to how they are prepared (I’m sure you already know that a fried egg is less healthy than a boiled egg), in particular the origin of the product: free-range against caged.  Seen from the outside, caged chicken eggs and those of chickens that are allowed to roam freely don’t show any differences, but their nutritional value can vary, a lot even.

Think about it: the life of a caged animal is anything but nice: immobilized for almost all its life the poor chicken is stuffed with liquid food based on flour and held under forced ventilation. A life that is surely not very healthy and is very stressful. The free range chicken, however, besides having mixed feed at their disposal they also have access to complete kernels of corn, sorghum and other cereals and plants found in the fields where they are left to forage and peck.

Apart from ethical considerations, the consequences of this way of life are also seen at the physiological level. The stress of the caged chicken leads to the production of an egg with arachidonic acid which is a precursor of a family of pro-inflammatory molecules, prostaglandins.

Simply said, when we eat the products of a stressed animal we favor the start of an inflammatory state in our body.

This is completely different with the eggs of free range chickens: thanks to the healthier life and better food, they contain anti-inflammatory substances such as the famous omega-3.

So, don’t hold back on the eggs: you can eat them every day but eat only quality eggs!

Round, or better oval, greetings from your
Tatiana Gaudimonte- info@loveyourbody.ch