Blog Side Point - Food - The Basics Part 4 - Protein

The human's building block, protein, is the most talked about major food group among athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Yet, for the average person it is a strange unknown mostly associated with bodybuilder and is known by one of its uses 'muscle building.' Though this complex group is so, so much more than that.

Proteins are, like both fats and carbohydrates a carbon based substance which means they form chains and gain special characteristics. Chemically they are the most interesting of the major food groups, consequently, for everyone who hates chemistry they present a complex nightmare of irrelevant letters and numbers. So lets keep it simple and say they are chains of something known as amino acids. These amino acids come in many different types and create substances that do a variety of jobs in the body:

• Creating and replicating cells (they make up DNA in cells)
• Acting as catalysts (speeding up) in bodily reactions
• Transportation of things (for an example look up Part 2 on Fats and the bit on cholesterol)
• Fuctioning as Anti bodies
• Muscular contraction
• Hormones
• providing energy

So nothing major....well actually if you just take the 1st point they would probably be the most important food group but add together all the other functions to then protein becomes a the leader in the normal function of the human body. Interestingly enough, however, it does not need to dominate our calorie intake for us to get the correct effects of protein  (a point most bodybuilders would do very well to heed). 

The statistics mostly state that for athletess they need between 1.4 and 2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. (Bounty et al., 2011)


The normal, everyday guy or girl of adult age has a protein requirement on average tends to have a protein requirement of 56 (men) and 46 (women) respectively or 0.8g per kg of body weight. (webmd.com, 2012)

Sources of protein come from all over the place but here are a few of the top ones:

Meats of all kinds - Chicken, Pork, Beef etc.
Fish of all kinds (including shell fish) - mackerel, herring, tuna etc.
Soya products - though I don't recommend these to men or training woman as there may be certain negative effects of a oestrogen compound within soya - to be discussed further in future posts.
Eggs
Dairy products - cottage cheese is my favourite of these and it is cheap as...chips!?
Nuts - however their high calorie density means I don't recommend them.
Tofu - not an interesting food but great for the vegetarians among us.
Some beans - beans such as - lupin beans, white beans, cranberries, lentils and black beans

Anyway that list should keep most of you busy for any more specific information message me and I'll hook you up! The fact is that eat enough food and you should get enough protein the issue is what you eat along side that protein but the foods above should be healthy enough when eaten in reasonable quantities.

For the people who do not train then this next bit will be of little to no interest for you but I now want to go on to the issue of supplements. Protein supplements are numerous and vary in their source, their protein quantity and the usefulness. I am not about to write that protein supplements do not have a place because they do. What I want to discuss is where that place is.

From the thousands of protein companies in the market place there are a remarkable amount of similarities in their product content. Most will tend to do Whey (egg) protein as their major form and market it as the purest and most digestible form. Some will have a second brand of, often, casein (milk protein) which is marketed as a slower digesting form of protein for bed times and slow releases throughout the day. Between them they are used to cover the times a person might want to take a protein shake i.e. pre/post training, morning and evening. The protein content remains fairly static as well in the whey proteins. Let's have a look at a few of the largest brands:

Optimum Nutrition: 81g per 100g - Protein (http://www.onacademy.co.uk/gold-standard-100-whey)
USN: 70g per 100g - Protein (http://www.usn.co.uk/product/Protein-Shakes-Meal-Replacements/Whey-Protein-908G/101)
Reflex: 70g per 100g - Protein (http://www.reflex-nutrition.com/instant-whey.html)
PhD: 74g per 100g - Protein (http://www.phd-supplements.com/store/p/10/1/Pharma-Whey-HT+.html)
Maximuscle: 76g per 100g - Protein (http://www.maxishop.com/maximuscle/high-protein/promax#Nutrition)
My Protein: 78.4 per 100g -Protein (http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/impact_whey_protein)

(All proteins based on the basic protein product each brand produces (with flavour and not hydrolysed) - facts correct as of 1pm 3/1/13)

Remember this is only the protein content look at the other ingredients to check you are getting the product you want. However, it seems that each company provides 70-82% protein content with various carbohydrates and fats making up the other percentages.

For a normal person two of these protein shakes will be enough to make up a persons RDA for the day (based on a 35g serving). Assuming a person is not just eating lard or glucose then they will get protein from many other sources. Therefore, for the average joe a protein shake is useless.

However, for athletes this does change. Most accept that an athlete who is constantly working their muscles will need a higher amount of protein than one who doesn't as protein is used in so many body processes. It was discussed earlier that athletes require between 1.4g and 2g of protein per kilo of body weight. However,  a study by Breitbach et al. (2011) denote how collegiate athletes often did not have a clue about what their protein intake should be and the others mostly overestimated what their intake should be. While this does not  have any stand out health effects it may be battering the pockets of many athletes as they are enticed by the clever marketing of many supplement companies. Another study, by Bounty et al. finds that protein powders when consumed in intelligent way by exercising individuals can be 'convenient and, depending on the product, can be cost-efficient as well' (2007: 5) Meaning that for the athletes among us a protein shake or two may be a good idea. This 2007 study also goes on to denote the timings of these proteins should be taken after exercise and potentially the evidence suggests before exercise as well to enable better usage of the protein by the muscles (muscle protein synthesis). Endurance athletes are a more controvesial areain regards to protein of the articles I have read most suggest that protein is at the lower end of the athlete range (1.4-2g) as they have constant muscle break down but not to the same extent as bodybuilders who openly tear their muscles (Carpentier et al., 2012)

Right lets go back to the "normal" people for the home straight. The past few paragraphs have discussed the the uses of protein, the pointless use of too much protein and the effects protein has on exercise for training individuals. Clearly, being without protein can cause huge issues for an individual who constantly eats low amounts of protein. Yet, this is uncommon for most. Therefore, it is more important to be aware of the waste that too high protein intakes cause. 

Overall, it is important to be aware of protein especially if you are a person that participates in regular exercise. However, remember it is the exercise that builds the muscles not the protein. Supplements are an aid to this yet, they can leave a serious hole in the pocket of many a gym user. 

Anyway,

That is about it today!

Have a lovely New Year!

Much Love 

References:

Carpentier, A., et al. (2012) 'Protein turnover, amino acid requirements and recommendations for
athletes and active populations,' Braz J Med Biol Res, Vol. 45, No. 10

Bounty, P., et al. (2007) 'International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise,' J Int Soc Sports Nutr, Vol. 4, No. 8

Ellefsen, S., Ronnestad, B. and Vegge, G. (2012) 'Improved cycling performance with ingestion of hydrolyzed marine protein depends on performance level,' J Int Soc Sports Nutr, Vol. 9, No. 14

WebMD. (2012) Daily Protein Requirements. [online] Availible at: <http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/protein?page=2> [accessed 27/12/12]

 Katch, F., Katch V. and McArdle, W. (2001) Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance, 5th Edn, Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Williams