Protein

In my lifetime, the areas where I have seen the most frauds making a good living are televangelists and those in the field of diet and nutrition. The following post comes after reading an article by a self described sports nutritionist, "Dr." Graham. He advocates eating an 80-20-10 diet. By this he means, 80% of our food should come from carbohydrates, while the other 10%'s come from fats and proteins.
As I have said before, it's a nutritional Babylon out there. Fad diets and eating styles are passing as the way to go despite the fact that they are not backed up by any proof of their claims. People are telling me this is the way I should eat but there are no people who have lived long vigorous lives on their diet, AND, I have to watch and make sure I don't develop a B-12 deficiency from this way of eating.
There is a science involved to our bodies,what its needs,how it utilizes the foods it takes in, etc. If you don't nourish your body right, it doesn't grow or  repair itself. And let me add this, our bodies can tolerate most anything you feed it for quite some time before the deficiencies and problems arise from a particular diet. Also, for some reason, our need for protein has been downplayed in favor of carbohydrates by many of the new nutritional experts. This is contrary to the fundamentals of nutrition and physiology.What follows is a little of what I call Nutrition 101--The Necessity of Protein.


"Proteins are often called the building blocks of the body. Protein consists of combinations of structures called amino acids that combine in various ways to make muscles, bone, tendons, skin, hair, and other tissues. They serve other functions as well including nutrient transportation and enzyme production. In fact, over 10,000 different proteins are in the body."



And a little more in regards to protein below:

Protein is one of the three macronutrients found in food; the other two are fats and carbohydrates. Protein accounts for 20 percent of our body weight, but why do we need protein in our diet, and what foods are healthy sources of protein?
Why Do We Need protein? Protein is important to many physiological functions in the body, and is a vital component of body tissues, enzymes, and immune cells. It helps to:

• Keep the immune system functioning properly
• Maintain healthy skin, hair and nails
• Help the body produce enzymes                     Proteins are complex molecules made up of amino acids. These amino acids link together in specific numbers and unique combinations to make each different protein. Therefore protein is an essential component of the diet, because it provides the amino acids that the body needs to synthesize its own proteins. Proteins also interact with nutrients by binding with them and carrying certain vitamins and minerals including iron, copper, calcium, Vitamin A, and vitamin D. As a result, inadequate protein intake may impair the function of these nutrients. Recent studies suggest that protein makes a meal more satiating, which in turn could help people maintain a healthy weight. A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that increasing protein from 15% to 30% of total calories, and reducing fat from 35% to 20% of calories - resulted in sustained weight loss [1]. What Are Healthy Sources of protein? A wide variety of foods contain protein, including meat, fish, dairy, whole grains, nuts, seeds, eggs, beans and vegetables. How healthy a protein-rich food is typically depends on what else it contains. For example:   
• Fish is an excellent source of protein, however, most fish is loaded with harmful contaminants like mercury, so should be eaten in moderation.
  
• Meat is one of the main sources of protein in many peoples' diets.
  
• Eggs are also abundant in protein.
  
• Plants such as beans and nuts provide a good source of both protein and fiber.

Some foods contain all of the essential amino acids that the body needs; these are called complete proteins. There are other foods, however that provide some or none of the essential amino acids, and are referred to as incomplete proteins. Eggs, dairy foods, meat, fish and poultry are typically considered to be complete proteins. Vegetarians or vegans often do not have a source of complete protein in their diets, but can easily obtain all of the essential amino acids by eating a variety of beans, grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.

It's well worth the read. There are things that we sometimes think we know, but in reality we don't know as much as we thought.

Long work day ---8 hours lifting--walking--stretching after. Exhausted.

How was your day?