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What Everyone Should Know about Protein!

Posted By: Josh Morgan on 01/18/2012

The Basics of Protein

Posted By: Joshua Morgan on 01/15/2012

The Basics of Protein

Protein comes from the Greek word meaning “the first”. This is meant to signify its primary role in human nutrition. While you can survive for long periods of time without carbs and or fat, a long-term lack of protein can lead to a loss of body tissue (muscle and organ protein) *atrophy* , function, and eventually death.

Dietary proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. There are about 20. Eight of these are considered essential. One of the primary distinctions between protein and carbs/fats is that only protein contains dietary nitrogen. Since humans can’t make nitrogen from the air like plants, we have to obtain it from the diet. And that nitrogen is found in the individual amino acids that make up whole food proteins. Keep in mind that carbs and fat cannot be made into amino acids.

The primary role of protein is structural (= protein is used to build). Many hormones are made of protein (IGF-1 & HGH mainly), your organs, muscles, skin, and hair all contain protein. Keep in mind that there is no true storage form for protein. There is some protein that makes up your muscles and organs. But this isn’t a true storage form like carbs and fats as breaking down body protein is a bad thing. Protien=4 cals/gram Most protein is derived from red meant, chicken, fish, milk, cheese, eggs…basically animal products.

Food into metabolism...

DIGESTION

Digestion first starts in the stomach with the help of hydrochloric acid. Then the amino acids are metabolized in the liver and then released into the bloodstream. A portion of the ingested protein will escape digestion. Your heart, muscle, hair, skin, etc. is made up of protein. And these tissues are in a constant state of breakdown and repair (called resynthesis). During this breaking down, some amino acids are lost.

This is the basic needing for having to replace amino acids in the diet. If they are not replaced, the gradual loss of protein tissue will result in death. Protein by itself has a digestion time of about 5-6 hours…more if you consume other macronutrients with it.

So just how does one determine if a protein is a good source? 

Digestibility: Before a protein can be used in the body, it has to be digested and absorbed into the blood stream for use in the body. Proteins vary in their digestibility, so a protein that is poorly digested will be a poor source.

Quality: This is the measure of how well or poorly a protein is used in the body. The AA (amino acid) profile tends to be the biggest indicator of quality. AAs are the building blocks of protein. There are 18-22 amino acids (give or take two depending on whom you talk to). Each one is found in differing proportions in the different food proteins sources and this will affect how it is used in the body.

BIOLOGICAL VALUE (AVAILABILITY):  BV is how available the protein we are consuming is available for our body to use. Let’s say you consume 100 grams of protein. Then 10 grams comes out the other side. We’d say that we only used 90 grams out of the 100. So that protein source would be given a BV rating of 90%. This means that 90% of the amount that we consumed was used. Some proteins have a higher BV rating than others. Animal sources are going to be the highest (90% +) and soy and rice are going to be the lowest (65-75%). So keep in mind that for every gram of protein you consume, you’ll use more of the animal sources than the vegetarian sources. This is why vegetarians often need to consume more protein to ensure that they’re consuming adequate protein.

REQUIREMENTS

The easiest way to ensure you’re getting enough protein is to simply consume 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Nutritional scientists have differing amounts for sedentary individuals vs strength athletes vs long endurance athletes and etc that is usually so many grams per kg of weight. It’s so much easier just to have 1 gram per pound of bodyweight and be done with it.

BCAAs

Branch Chain Amino Acids are leucine, isoleucine, and valine. While the other amino acids are metabolized in the liver, BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle. BCAAs are specific to muscle and are often called muscle food. BCAAs must be obtained from the diet. These three AAs are responsible for the repair, maintaining, and building of muscle tissue.

Article courtesy of Josh Morgan Fitness Trainer at Fitness Together Yukon, OK!