Understanding Proteins
To understand proteins, we first must look at the carbohydrate (CHO). So what is a carbohydrate? A Carbohydrate is made up of three molecules carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The plant life around us uses carbon dioxide from our atmosphere for food (it seems strange we are taxed for producing carbon dioxide when it is the the primary source of food for plants), combined with water and energised by sunlight, it creates two types of sugars molecule, ribose ( a 5 sided carbon molecule called pentose) and glucose (a 6 sided carbon molecule called hexose). Science calls these two sugar molecules, carbon backbones, plants/vegetables use these sugar molecules or carbon backbones combined with nitrogen to create a long chain of amino acids, these are joined together by peptide bonds, that make up all proteins.
Surprisingly there are only 20 amino acids that make up the proteins for all living things. Out of the 20 amino acids our bodies are capable of reproducing all but 8, these eight amino acids as adults we cannot produce are called, essential amino acids which must come from our diet. Babies cannot produce an extra amino acid called taurine, this comes from mother’s milk.
The 8 Essential amino acids
Tryptophan, lysine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, threonine, leucine, phenylalanine and isoleucine.
Let’s look at some scientific facts and see if we can’t dispel a few myths, first Will take care of the myths. A protein myth that has become very popular is that animal protein is far superior to plant protein, other myths state that plant protein is incomplete and plant proteins offer inadequate protein intake. Both of these myths are incorrect information that has been well promoted by Industry sources who benefit financially by promoting this sort of incorrect information.
Let’s first have a look at the first myth, “animal protein is far superior to plants protein” Virtually all the peer-reviewed studies have shown animal proteins are particularly damaging to the body, especially the bones, the sulphur in the animal protein gets converted to an acid, as the body attempts to neutralise this acid the result is, the calcium in our bones is leached out, causing weak and brittle bones (osteoporosis) as well as a higher risk of kidney stones.
Interesting to note, that many bodybuilders when striving for strength, without realising it are causing weakness. If a person is consuming too much animal protein such as many bodybuilders do in the form of protein drinks and shakes that are usually dairy derived protein, such as whey or casein protein in hopes to gaining extra muscle, they are doing more harm than good.
Once the body has used the amount of protein it needs for rebuild and repair purposes the rest is stripped of its nitrogen and sulphur and converted into carbohydrates, to be burned off as fuel, urinated and excreted as the body attempts to balance itself out. Our bodies are constantly striving for balance. This imbalance within the body creates spikes in glucose levels, which is not checked can cause insulin problems pre-diabetes and then finally onto full-blown diabetes
There is evidence to show the link between animal protein and disease, here are a few examples.
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Stroke
Prostate cancer in men
Breast cancer in women
Alzheimer’s and dementia
Prion diseases
Kidney disease
Fact, animal protein is not good for the human body, especially when consumed in large amounts. Animals (herbivores) such as horses, cows, elephants and hippos etc, and humans naturally only consume animal protein when they are infants, the protein that comes from the mother’s milk promotes fast growth in infant mammals.
It’s no wonder that animal protein consumed by adults promotes abnormal growth such as cancer. A few years ago there was a scandal within the meat industry as they were feeding cows to cows this created abnormal growth within the cows that abnormal growth is called a prion, a prion is an aggressive self-replicating protein which attacks the brain. The result was mad cow disease (BSE). One of the prion diseases that affect humans is known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
The best protein the health
Without a doubt, the best protein for health is plant-based proteins such as leafy greens, lentils, hempseed, spirulina, quinoa, amaranth, peas and beans as well as vegetables such as broccoli, sprouts are a high source of good quality usable protein. Plant-based protein does not cause the adverse effect that animal protein has shown to have.
The second myth is that plant proteins are incomplete or inadequate, this again is false. Plant proteins have the full range of amino acids to make them a whole protein, our bodies are designed to consume plant material. Proteins derived from plants have the built-in phosphates, so do not cause the access acid production of animal protein, without this excess acid production the calcium stays where it’s supposed to, strengthening the bones. We have been sold the idea that cow’s milk is a good source of protein and promotes strong bones. The evidence shows that this information is false and milk consumption should be very carefully considered.
Dr Greger – British Journal of Nutrition confirms in his report that our bodies are capable of creating protein, in fact, 90 g of protein a comes from the inner lining of the intestinal tract which comes away every 24 hours to be broken down into the separate amino acids and reused in combination with the food we eat. This is being the case we don’t need to eat that much protein to receive the optimal amounts to keep the body functioning well.
How much protein, is too much?
According to Dr Milton Mills, it doesn’t matter whether a person does a lot of exercises or no exercise their level of protein intake shouldn’t change. A key factor in protein consumption, is our bodies cannot store protein, so it is essential to get first good quality protein, secondly the correct amount of protein the body. Bearing in mind we already have 90g of protein from our intestinal lining so besides we only need between 0.5 and 0.8 g per kg of body weight per day.
If you are on a restricted-calorie diet and feel like you need to up your protein or maybe you have been in an accident or you’ve been sick, your body may require more protein. One of the best sources of protein is pea protein, this will not build up the acid in your body and will not leach out calcium from your bones or create kidney stones as a result.
So what does our body use proteins for?
The human body is pretty much made of protein, muscles, skin, cartilage, to the hairs on your big toe, and what makes the difference is simply a different configuration of amino acids to make the different protein derived body part, and remember there are only 20 amino acids that makeup all the different body parts.
Proteins are used for many tasks in the body this includes tissue building, neurotransmitters and hormones, energy metabolism and in some cases even a sort of taxi service where the haemoglobin (the red stuff in our blood) delivers oxygen throughout the body.
I’m sure you can see how important it is to have a balanced and varied diet consuming the right types of protein if certain ingredients are missing out the diet the result is a poorly constructed out of balance body.