Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Powerful Protein!!



 Protein is an essential nutrient whose name comes from the Greek word protos, which means “first.” To visualize a molecule of protein close your eyes and see a very long chain, rather like a chain of sausage links. The links in the chains are amino acids, commonly known as the building blocks of protein. In addition to carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, amino acids contain a nitrogen (amino) group. The amino group is essential for assembling specialized proteins in your body.

 The human body is chock-full of protein. Proteins are present in the outer and inner membranes of every living cell. Here’s where else protein makes an appearance:
·         Your hair, your nails and the outer layers of your skin are made of the protein Keratin. Keratin is a scleroprotein, or a protein resistant to digestive enzymes. So, if you bite your nails, you can’t digest them.
·         Muscle tissue contains myosin, actin, myoglobin and a number of other proteins.
·         Bone has plenty of protein. The outer part of bone is hardened with minerals such as calcium, but the basic, rubbery inner structure is protein; and bone marrow, the soft material inside the bone, also contains protein.
·         Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein compound that carries oxygen throughout the body. Plasma, the clear fluid in blood, contains fat and protein particles known as lipoproteins, which ferry cholesterol around and out of the body.

 Your body uses proteins to build new cells, maintain tissues, and synthesize new proteins that make it possible for you to perform basic bodily functions.  About half the dietary protein that you consume each day goes into making enzymes - the specialized worker proteins that do specific jobs such as digesting food and assembling or dividing molecules to make new cells and chemical substances. To perform these functions, enzymes often need specific vitamins and minerals.  Your ability to see, think, hear, and move – in fact, to do just about everything that you consider part of a healthy life – requires you nerve cells to send messages back and forth to each other and to other specialized kinds of cells, such as muscle cells. Sending these messages requires chemicals called neurotransmitters. Making neurotransmitters requires… guess what – Proteins.  Finally, proteins play an important part in the creation of every new cell and every new individual. Your chromosomes consist of nucleoprotein, which are substances made of amino acids and nucleic acids. And the nucleic acids carry the genetic codes.

 The cells in your digestive tract can absorb only a single amino acid or very small chains of two or three amino acids called peptides. So proteins from food are broken into their component amino acids by digestive enzymes – which are, of course, specialized proteins. The other enzymes in your body cells build new proteins by reassembling the amino acids into specific compounds that your body needs to function. This process is called Protein Synthesis.  The carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that are left over after protein synthesis is complete are converted to glucose and used for energy. The nitrogen residue (ammonia) isn’t used for energy. It’s processed by the liver, which converts the ammonia to urea. Most of the urea produced by the liver is excreted through the kidneys in urine; very small amounts are sloughed off in skin, hair, and nails.

 Every day, you reuse more proteins than you get from the food you eat, so you need a continuous supply to maintain your protein status. If your diet does not contain sufficient amounts of proteins, you start digesting the proteins in your body, including the proteins in your muscle and – in extreme cases – your heart muscle.
As you grow older, you synthesize new proteins less efficiently, so your muscle mass (protein tissue) diminishes while your fat content stays the same or rises. This change is why some people erroneously believe that muscle “turns to fat” in old age. Of course, you still use protein to build new tissue, including hair, skin and nails, which continue to grow until you crossover into The Great Beyond.  The first sign of protein deficiency is likely to be weak muscles.  A protein deficiency may also show up in your blood. Red blood cells live for only 120 days so protein is needed to produce new ones. People who do not get enough protein may become anemic; having fewer red blood cells than they need. Protein deficiency may also show up as fluid retention (the big belly on a starving child), hair loss, and muscle wasting caused by the body’s attempt to protect itself by digesting the proteins in its own muscle tissue.

 Here are some great protein food sources to include in your daily nutrition plan: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, milk, beans, peas, nuts, grains, vegetables and even some fruits.


 Want to learn more about protein and how much you need on a daily basis? Stop by 4x Nutrition and talk to a Certified Sport Nutritionist. Not only can we customize a nutrition plan that will include the amount of protein needed to meet your fitness/nutrition goals, but we’ll also introduce you to some great tasting protein powders which will help you stay on track. Whether it’s vanilla, chocolate, orange creamsicle, cookies-n-cream, banana, strawberry, peanut butter or caramel latte, chances are we have a protein flavor that will have you coming back for more.

Here’s to your health,

Missy
4x Nutrition, Certified Sport Nutritionist

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