If you’re trying to help build muscle by downing eggs after a workout, a new study has some valuable advice: Don’t ditch the yolks. The post-workout muscle building-response in gym rats who consume whole eggs is actually greater than among their peers who only consumed egg whites. After a workout, muscles build protein through what’s called, appropriately enough, protein synthesis. The point of eating eggs is to provide protein to fuel that process; throwing away the yolks was supposed to maximize protein intake, powering protein synthesis in the muscles. But egg yolks also contain protein, as well as other nutrients and food components not found in whites. And according to Nicholas Burd, a University of Illinois professor of kinesiology and community health who led the research, they also seem to provide something that Prime Boosts Official the body’s protein synthesis. "This study suggests that eating protein within its most natural food matrix tends to be Learn more beneficial to our muscles as opposed to getting one’s protein from isolated protein sources," he said in a statement.

To reach that conclusion, researchers monitored ten young men who did one bout of resistance exercise. Afterward, they consumed 18 grams of protein, either from whole eggs or solely from egg whites. They got the same amount of protein, just from slightly different sources. Scientists tracked a pair of important amino acids through participants’ blood and muscles. They even used specially developed eggs to track where amino acids wound up in the body after they were eaten. They found that with either source, whole eggs or egg whites, about the same amount of dietary amino acid showed up in the blood. "In each case," Burd said, "about 60 to 70 percent of the amino acids were available in the blood to build new muscle protein. But that wasn’t the whole story. By directly measuring protein synthesis in the muscle, the saw something else. "We saw that the ingestion of whole eggs immediately after resistance exercise resulted in greater muscle-protein synthesis than the ingestion of egg whites," Burd said. And it wasn’t a small difference-those who’d eaten whole eggs had a 40 percent greater muscle-building response than those who’d only eaten egg whites. The results suggest that consuming isolated protein isn’t as valuable as previously thought, and that there’s good reason to eat the whole egg. The finding has ramifications beyond the gym, too, as Burd points out: "As world population grows, we need cost-effective and sustainable strategies for improving the use of protein in the diet.

Share to save for later! A lot of people decide to incorporate exercise into their routine when they embark on a weight loss journey. We all know that exeate protein, and enough rest between your workouts (to give your body time to recover and to build muscle). Besides, weight training burns a good amount of calories, too. So if you’re looking for ways to boost your metabolism, weightlifting is an excellent idea. And if you combine it with a weight loss meal plan, you will reach your goal even faster. Another awesome benefit of weightlifting is that your bone density will increase with time. If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you might not really feel concerned by this now, but it’s essential for your bone health later in life. Chances are, if you have a desk job, your posture is taking a hit from the many hours that you spend sitting, and that you’re suffering from the occasional episode of back pain. Weightlifting improves the health and strength not only of your muscles, but also of your bones, ligaments, and tendons, which makes you less prone to injury.