What Is Protein?
Protein is the second most abundant substance in the human body, about 70% of your body is made up of water, leaving 20% being protein and the rest makes up 10%.
The reason why protein makes up the second largest portion of your body is because protein is the building blocks of each and every one of your cells. And remember that cells are the building blocks of all the tissues and organs in your body. Think of all the millions of cells in your body- Each one of them is made up of protein. Bottom line is that protein is vital to life.
Why It Is Important
Functions of Protein
- Build and repair tissue
- Create important hormones (e.g. insulin)
- Create enzymes which help you digest the food you eat (e.g. lactase)
- Form the basis of immune cells (e.g. antibodies)
- Makes up our messenger cells (e.g. growth hormone)
- Building blocks of transport cells (e.g. ferritin for iron)
Protein Rich Foods
- Animal based foods like lean meats, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs.
- Milk and dairy products
- Plant based or vegetarian proteins like legumes, soya and high protein grains.
Fish
Fish is a low fat high quality of protein. There are two main categories of fish, white fish (e.g. hake, haddock, cod and basa) and oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, trout, pilchards and sardines).
Both types of fish are sources of high biological value protein meaning they contain all 9 essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are ones that your body is unable to produce on its own and so we must take it in through our diet.
Red Meat
The world cancer research fund recommends that you should limit your red meat intake to less than 500g cooked meat per week (these include meats like beef, lamb pork and goat) as there is strong evidence to show that eating more than this can increase your risk for bowel cancer.
When talking about processed meats, the evidence shows that even eating a small amount on a regular basis can significantly increase your risk for bowel and stomach cancer risk. This is why we advise to avoid eating processed meats all together.
There is a world-wide shift towards eating more plant-based proteins which can potentially be beneficial for one’s health as well as be more sustainable for the planet. Plant-based protein foods can provide more fibre and less saturated fat than other types of protein foods.
Plant Based Protein
- Legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas
- High protein pseudo-cereal like quinoa (quinoa is not actually a grain, like rice, but it is what we call a pseudo-cereal. It is actually a seed but is eaten like a grain. This is why it is so much higher in protein to your regular grains/ cereals)
- And lastly there are a number of soya protein products such as edamame beans (which are young, raw soyabeans, more mature soya beans, tofu (which is soya bean curd, soya protein (which is usually used to create vegetarian food products) and lastly tempeh (which is a fermented soya product).
Protein and Exercise
Many recreational athletes are under the false impression that protein is the most important nutrient when it comes to exercise. Whilst it is very important, what is important to remember is that carbohydrate containing foods are vital for before exercise (especially endurance type exercise that lasts more than 90 minutes) and to consume a protein rich food or supplement after exercise.
Carbohydrates are known to be protein sparing. The carbohydrates will be used to fuel the activity (thus provide the body with energy) and the protein is then available for repair and recover of any damage.
It is a false assumption that more protein will equate to bigger muscles, the type of exercise together with appropriate nutrition will determine this for example weight lifting.
The protein eaten after exercise helps to repair these microtears and thus assist with muscle growth.
A sedentary lifestyle is not conducive to increased muscle mass and if you simply increase your protein intake you will most likely gain fat mass rather than muscle mass.
It is essential to try get majority of your nutrients from food rather than from supplementation. Supplements should be exactly that, supplementary to a good diet.
In a healthy individual, sufficient quantities and variety of food will provide you with adequate amounts of both macro and micronutrients.
Food is more beneficial that supplements because the nutrients found in food work synergistically together to provide health benefits. Overuse of supplements may result in nutrient toxicity (especially fat soluble vitamins).
How Much Protein Should We Be Eating
The recommended protein intake for adults is 0.75g protein per kg body weight per day; for example 56g/day and 45g/day for men and women of average body weights (75kg and 60kg respectively).
It’s very important that when you calculate your protein needs, that you don’t use your actual body weight (as this may lead to an excessive protein calculation for overweight individuals), but rather that you use your ideal body weight.