How much protein does chicken have?

Javier Colomer 9 min. of reading Proteins Leave a comment

How much protein does chicken have? If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, then this is the article for you…

A diet of chicken, more chicken and rice, the classic bodybuilder diet… We’re sure that by now the relationship between chicken and weight loss or muscle gain diets is one that you’re very familiar with. The question is, why is chicken so heavily used as a source of protein?

Index

1 White meat
2 How much protein is actually found in chicken meat?
3 Nutritional value of chicken
4 Aminogram of chicken
5 Chicken protein vs. ramified amino acid supplements
6 Bored of eating chicken?
7 Cook chicken in olive oil
8 Related articles

White meat

Chicken meat is commonly used in High-protein diets

Chicken is a source of this type of white meat protein, as is poultry, together with rabbit. It’s a meat which is very low in fat, which allows us to make use of a source of lean protein.

The difference when compared to red meat, is exactly as its name suggests when it refers to the colour: red meat contains a higher content of myoglobin, the name given to the cells that move oxygen to our tissue through the circulatory system.

Another point worth mentioning is the low cholesterol content of these meats when compared with red meats, in addition to being very low in calories, for this reason they feature very frequently in weight-control diets.

Chicken meat is very quick and easy to prepare: if you cook grilled fillets ,with a dash of olive oil, a mix of a few spices, turn it over to ensure both sides cook through, and in 5 mins you’ll have it ready to eat!

How much protein is actually found in chicken meat?

Looking at the previous table, we can see that chicken breast contains 23g of complete protein for every 100g when raw. It’s important to highlight this fact, as many people still get confused about values and amounts stated in diets.

Chicken forms part of a group of foods that provide us with around 20-25% protein per portion

Protein from high quality chicken contains the full spectrum of amino acids, including a great dose of essential acids. It’s a “clean” source, and almost everyone likesit. As a rule of thumb, quantities are given weighing the raw food product before cooking.

Why? Well, it’s simple. If we opt to boil chicken, the meat will lose water, and if we had 250g of recently butchered chicken breast, once out of the cooking pot, it will have lost water, leaving us with a very different nutritional value. Furthermore, people often use different amounts of water when cooking or longer cooking times…

Nutritional value of chicken

We’re going to use chicken breast meat in order to obtain amounts in terms of both nutritional value and amino acids, considering that in general, this is the most commonly eaten piece of chicken in fitness diets.

Nutritional Information
Calories	110 kcals
Proteins	23 g
Carbohydrates	0 g
Fat	1 g
of wich saturated	0 g
Cholesterol	58 mg
Sodium	65 mg

nutritional values per 100g of chicken breast*

*Source: http://nutritiondata.self.com

Aminogram of chicken

Content found in 100g of chicken is:: BCAAs 4096mg, and almost 3500mg of glutamine

The value in EAAs (Essential Amino Acids) is notably high, at 9575mg in every portion. In other words, eating chicken frequently guarantees that you get an extraordinary dose of essential elements that contribute to the repair of tissue and of course, muscle growth.

Essential Amino Acids

Leucine	1732 mg
Isoleucine	1219 mg
Valine	1145 mg
Lysine	1962 mg
Metionine	639 mg
Phenylalanine	916 mg
Histidine	717 mg
Threonine	975 mg
Tryptophan	270 mg

Essential amino acid amounts per 100g

Non-essential amino acids

Alanine	1260 mg
Aspartic Acid	2058 mg
Glutamic Acid	3458 mg
Serina	794 mg
Arginine	1393 mg
Tyrosine	779 mg
Cysteine	296 mg
Glycine	1134 mg
Proline	949 mg

Amount of non-essential amino acids per 100g

It goes without saying that they play an important role in weight loss diet, allowing the maintaining of muscle mass

Chicken protein vs. ramified amino acid supplements

This supplement is among the most popular sports supplements and is used by a high number of sportspeople and/or athletes. In this case, we would go for Evobcaas 2.0 by SportSeries.

Per serving of Evobcaas 2.0 (1 dispenser containing 11g) you obtain 7200mg of BCAAs and 2500mg of glutamine.

We see the potential provided at times by this type of product, and as I usually recommend, they are very feasibly introduced into a diet as an excellent nutritional strategy at the most adequate times which are generally before during and/or post-training

Bored of eating chicken?

Of one the worst parts of the most “standard” diets used for weight loss is the very low following they achieve, due mainly to their lack of “culinary style” or diversity.

In nearly all of these diets boiled chicken is the recommendation. That feels ok for once or twice a week. but, what about forever?

I don’t really think that’s true or coherent, considering how many different ways chicken can be cooked to provide more variety and stop the boredom.

It all comes down to two things:

Food preparation time
Creativity when cooking (where you end up being an expert in the kitchen)

When you look at it that way, there are two different ways of doing things when it comes to diets in the fitness world, principally distinguishing between amateur or professional bodybuilders and those who are just fans of the gym. They are:

The “ABC”
Flexible diet” or IIFYM

A much more recent addition to the diet world, the IIFYM or Macros diet can be summed up as a diet that doesn’t ask you to watch what you eat in terms of what the exact nature of your foods is , provided that you complete the stated requirements for daily protein, fats and carbohydrates.

It sounds very appealing; but it can definitely throw some hurdles your way. Are all calories the same?, Is it the same if I consume 100kcals that come from sugar as it is if I eat chicken??, Does it take the glycemic index into account?… All of these pitfalls and doubts are resolved in the articles that go by the same names.

Chicken Roll vs Chicken with Rice: IIFYM vs ABC…

The other kind of diet is more restricted and involves choosing foods within a certain, closed group. And it really is the case if you choose this diet. We’re talking about the typical “chicken and rice” But, why is this diet still so widely used? .

The answer is a no-brainer: because it works.

Like everything in life, you will always come across people who are more motivated to follow something strictly to the letter due to their own personal motivations, making a diet key to their lifestyle. It is obvious that being extremely strict is not always necessary, at least “off-season”. Some would say that it’s more important to keep an open mind nutritionally speaking as long as we focus on general healthy eating habits

It goes without saying that if you are competing in a heavy competition , all of these flexible attitudes take second place.

Cook chicken in olive oil

Returning to the subject of the previous paragraph, simply adding a new spice or combining them could help you to give your dishes a different flavour every time.

Another tip if you only want to cook grilled chicken is to start varying the oils you use. I promise you guys that if you change up that olive oil for coconut oil, you’ll get a great, unconventional flavour.