The Biological Values of various foods
Biological Value refers to a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from the food that is eaten. It is an indication of how easily the protein is broken down in the body into a useable form. So basically the higher the Biological Value (BV) the better. Here is a list of a selection of foods, and there respective BV:
Whey Protein: 100
Whole bean: 96
Whole Soy Bean: 96
Chicken egg: 94
Soybean milk: 91
Cow milk: 90
Cheese: 84
Rice: 83
Defatted soy flour: 81
Fish: 76
Beef: 74.3
Immature bean: 65
Full-fat soy flour: 64
Soybean curd (tofu): 64
Whole wheat: 64
White flour: 41
As well as the BV, you also need to tak e in to consideration the amount of fat, and type of fat in the food. For example, most fish have quite a lot of fat, or oil in them, however, this is not as bad for you as beef fat. If you are trying to lose weight then you need to be eating leaner types of protein, such as lean chicken, fish, skimmed milk and whey protein, eating foods like beef and cheese only in small amounts. If you are in a bulking phase then it isn't as important, and you can eat more of the fattier protein sources.
Overall, you need a good mixture of foods in order to have a healthy diet, and although whey protein has the highest BV, it should only be used as a suppliment. You also need to get the correct amount of protein whilst you are training. Eating correctly is a massive part of getting the gains that you are looking for whilst you are training.