The One Food That Builds Muscle and Burns Fat

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The One Food That Builds Muscle and Burns Fat

13 March 2010 5 Comments

Do you want to know the one food that has all you need to build lean muscle and burn bodyfat? Oh yeah, and it tastes great AND is easy to prepare!

Your mother always told you to “eat your breakfast,” it’s the most important meal of the day!” Well, your Mom was right… again.

Just think of the word Break-Fast for a minute. You are breaking the fast of going all night without eating and get this… eating breakfast is a daily habit for the people who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years.

If you skip breakfast you end up replacing calories during the day with mindless nibbling, binging at lunch and dinner, and you are setting yourself up for failure from the start.

Stay away from white breads and bagels if you want to avoid the mid-morning carb coma and reach for some perfect protein… the egg.

The egg is a complete protein food because egg protein has all nine of the essential amino acids (as well as all nine of the non-essential amino acids). Egg protein is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition!

And, despite what Joe bodybuilder at your gym might tell you, eat the WHOLE egg. It contains half the protein and all the essential fats, vitamins and minerals…and no they won’t drive your cholesterol sky high.

Nutrient	White	Yolk	% Total in White	% Total in Yolk
Protein	3.6 g	2.7g	57%	43%
Fat	0.05g	4.5g	1%	99%
Calcium	2.3 mg	21.9 mg	9.5%	90.5%
Magnesium	3.6 mg	0.85 mg	80.8%	19.2%
Iron	0.03 mg	0.4 mg	6.2%	93.8%
Phosphorus	5 mg	66.3 mg	7%	93%
Potassium	53.8 mg	18.5 mg	74.4%	25.6%
Sodium	54.8 mg	8.2 mg	87%	13%
Zinc	0.01 mg	0.4 mg	0.2%	99.8%
Copper	0.008 mg	0.013 mg	38%	62%
Manganese	0.004 mg	0.009 mg	30.8%	69.2%
Selenium	6.6 mcg	9.5 mcg	41%	59%
Thiamin	0.01 mg	0.03 mg	3.2%	96.8%
Riboflavin	0.145 mg	0.09 mg	61.7%	48.3%
Niacin	0.035 mg	0.004 mg	89.7%	9.3%
Pantothenic acid.	0.63 mg	0.51 mg	11%	89%
B6	0.002 mg	0.059 mg	3.3%	96.7%
Folate	1.3 mcg	24.8 mcg	5%	95%
B12	0.03 mcg	0.331 mcg	8.3%	91.7%
Vitamin A	0 IU	245 IU	0%	100%
Vitamin E	0 mg	0.684 mg	0%	100%
Vitamin D	0 IU	18.3 IU	0%	100%
Vitamin K	0 IU	0.119 IU	0%	100%
DHA and AA	0	94 mg	0%	100%
Carotenoids	0 mcg	21 mcg	0%	100%

*Data taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15.

If that’s not enough to convince you to go yolk, eggs are also great the morning after a few too many as egg yolks also contain large amounts of cysteine, which breaks down the toxin acetaldehyde, one of the culprits behind a hangover…

Starting off the day with a good source of protein and healthy fat will help you build fat burning muscle, give you sustained energy and keep you full longer.

Left – free range; right – mass market

Reach for the omega 3 enriched eggs as they are a better choice for the healthy fats as the hens are fed flaxseed; free range eggs from your local farmers market are even better again, as they are of much higher nutritional quality than eggs from confinement chickens.

Just ask your kids to draw and color an egg, and they will reach for the yellow crayon. We all know egg yolks as yellow in color, but take a look at the difference in color of the yolks in mass market eggs compared to free range eggs. The free range egg is on the left. You are getting really healthy eggs if the yolk is bright orange.

So here is a quick 5 minute breakfast recipe for Jamaican Scrambled Eggs that is good for your taste buds and even better for your body…Now get cracking!

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Author: Sean Barker

Sean Barker is a busy dad who finds time for family, fitness and fun. He likes pumping iron as well as producing it, as a heavy equipment operator in the iron ore mines. He is ALSO a nationally certified personal trainer who writes for Fit Parent and Inside Fitness magazines and is the author of The Dad Fitness System at www.DadFitness.com. Sean also has a Dad Fitness Blog with tips, thoughts, and humor on being a fit dad at DadFitnessBlog.com.

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