Too Much of a Good Thing Not Enough of Another: A Look at Protein

Protein is an important part of our daily diet. All human beings need it. The Institute of Medicine Recommends adults get a minimum of .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. It is recommended that 10-35% of your required daily calorie intake is made up of protein. Most Americans consume more than enough protein daily, but would benefit from leaner and more varied choices in their protein selections. Protein is found in every body part and our tissues including hair, nails, skin, bones and muscle. It creates the enzymes that fuel several chemical reactions and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen throughout our blood. There are at least 10,000 proteins that make up and maintain us.

Lack of protein can cause many different throughout our body. Some of those include loss of muscle mass weakening of the respiratory system and of the heart. It can cause growth failure and decreased immunity. Protein deficiency can also cause a health condition known as Kwashiorkor a form of protein malnutrition that’s symptoms include anorexia, an enlarged liver, irritability, edema, thinning hair, dermatitis and loss of teeth .

Proteins are created from amino acids, and there are only to ways for our body to create them. They can be made from scratch or by modifying or altering other amino acids. A few essential amino acids can only be gotten from foods, there for high protein food choices certainly play a role in our health and wellbeing .

Protein can be derived from two different food sources, these are animal proteins (meat) and plant proteins (vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts.) What a lot of people don’t know is that these proteins are not creates equal or share the same beneficial properties. Here I will discuss them both...

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... contribute to a lot of our top health problems when eaten or eaten in large amounts. Plant proteins offer a variety of medicinal benefits as well as the benefits as well as the benefit of introduction of many vitamin, fatty acids and antioxidants that our body needs to repair, heal and prevent a lot of our common health concerns .

References

5 reasons you should eat Plant-Based Protein May 16, 2011 www.mindbodygreen.com/ ...

Animal or Vegetable? The truth about protein Mother Nature Network nd www.mnn.com/food

1. Fulkerson, Lee… (2011). Forks over Knives [film]

2. Nutrition for Everyone: basics; Protein|DNPAO|CDC October 4, 2012 www.cdc.gov/nutrition/.../protein.html

3. Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition nd www.ajcn.nutrition.org