Eggs are one of the main staples in many bodybuilders’ diets. Not only are possibly the best source of natural protein with a high biological value (88% of the protein being absorbed and utilised by the body). They are also a lean source with little fat – though the yolk does contain some meaning that you may prefer to do away with the delicious yolk. This is actually a mistake however as only when combined together do they contain all 22 amino acids essential for building muscle. The truly extreme bodybuilders sometimes go one step further and eat the actual egg shells too. Hey, it’s your throat…
Of course for muscle building you’ll be advised to eat them raw which means they contain more essential nutrients and protein. Don’t worry too much about Salmonella, while that may sound like awful advice, it does come from sound statistics. Just one in every 30,000 eggs produced each year is likely to be infected with salmonella, which is equal to a loooow .003%. That’s a pretty low percentage, hardly like eating puffer fish. Furthermore, most of the infected eggs cases will be from battery hens, and free-range eggs that have been tested for salmonella are incredibly safe. For some people that might still seem a bit close for comfort, but even then you should realise that most cases of salmonella are mild and can be treated with antibiotics and only very few are serious. So stop whining; Rocky does it and surely that should be enough reason! (Although Rocky also chases chickens around and you should not do that – it’s kind of cruel.)
Though technically better however, for me though, eggs are only a close second as protein sources with tuna coming in at umber one. Eggs are high in cholestrol and so to eat a lot of them might not be the best ever for your heart and blood pressure, especially if you already have problems in that area. Secondly they don’t have all the other advantages of tuna which also has a lot of antioxidants, omega three and fish oil while egg white is mostly just water with a bit of protein. Cooking eggs also wastes some of the protein, and while eggs are normally a versatile food source there’s not that much you can do with raw egg whites (tuna meanwhile is versatile and delicious). Hence I present you with you something that you can do with your eggs while keeping them almost raw.
A quick recipe: Carbonara – Old Style
Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish that was designed to make use of limited amounts of food. Today though it’s a delicious meal that’s been evolved to include cream, cheese, bacon and all sorts of other tempting but not particularly healthy things (you should come round and try mine some time it’s heavenly – angel dust in a dish). Originally though it was simply one raw egg cracked over the pasta with the idea being that the pasta would be hot enough to semi-cook the egg. For muscle building this is a great recipe – high in protein and carbs and low in fat. It should still eliminate any traces of salmonella too meaning it’s safe for even the most cautious.
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