Whole Eggs Better Than Egg Whites for Building Muscle

A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that whole eggs, not just egg whites, are better at building muscle! In the study, 10 men were told to participate in a resistance-training workout and then were given a choice of what to eat: egg whites or whole eggs post workout, consisting of 18 grams of protein. The researchers found that the men who ate the whole eggs immediately after resistance training had a greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis compared to just eating egg whites.

Many people believe that discarding the yolk helps to avoid high cholesterol and fat— but that is the furthest thing from the truth. To measure the progress of the study, researchers gave participants infusions of isotope-labeled leucine and phenylalanine, which are amino acids. This enabled researchers to measure the amino acids in the participants’ blood count after ingesting the eggs. They developed eggs for this study that were isotopically labeled with leucine. Then researchers drew blood and also performed muscle biopsies to see how the amino acids from eggs performed in the bloodstream and protein synthesis in muscles after resistance exercise. Muscle building response after working out was 40 percent greater with whole eggs compared to just egg whites.

           

When researchers directly measured protein synthesis in the muscle, they found that eating foods that consisted of nutrient and protein-dense food stimulates muscle anabolism, compared to foods that only consist of protein. The reason why this discovery is important is because when eating whole eggs, you’re not only getting just straight protein, but also other nutrients that may be synergistic with the egg protein for increasing protein synthesis. The study is significant because something in the yolk is boosting the body’s ability to enhance protein synthesis in muscles.

           

The next time you eat eggs, keep the yolk— it’ll give you the extra protein boost compared to just egg whites to enhance recovery, protein synthesis and muscle growth.