What do protein do to your body and do the human body really need proteins?
Protein and all you need to know about proteins
Protein plays a major role in the making of muscles and maintains tissues in your body. You can take protein from animal and legumes source. Protein is a macronutrient which helps in providing energy and calories to the body. They are much needed to live a healthy life.
Protein and all you need to know about proteins – Importance of Protein
Every cell requires protein in a fixed proportion. You can assume the importance of protein in human life. The existence of hair and nails are just because of protein. They also do other activities such as making enzymes, muscles, skin, blood etc.
Proteins just like other macronutrients are required in a fixed proportion. We need to add proper protein diet.
Protein and all you need to know about proteins – Types of protein
Proteins are of two types: Complete and Incomplete protein. Our body require the correct amount of proteins, to maintain a healthy body.
- Complete protein: We need to know what is complete and incomplete protein exactly? All the proteins are made of approximately 20 blocks of amino acids which are essential. The complete protein has those 9 essential blocks that the body can’t make on its own. We can get complete protein from animal sources.
- Incomplete protein: The protein which lacks one or more than one essential blocks is known as incomplete protein. We can take incomplete protein from nuts, fruits, and vegetables. We need both the protein for our body every day because our body doesn’t store protein just like fats.
Protein and all you need to know about proteins – Foods rich in Protein
As our body doesn’t store protein so we need a fresh supply of protein every day. Protein is very important for our body that’s why we should add protein to the everyday diet.
Following are a list of protein-rich food that will help you maintain your protein level.
- Seafood: Seafood is a good source of energy as it is high in protein and low in fats.
- White meat: If you want to take a huge amount of protein, white meat is the best option. If you want to eat dark meat, you should remove the upper layer because it has fats.
- Dairy Products: You can take also take calcium and Vitamin D3 along with protein from dairy products. Low-fat dairy products should be used to get a benefit.
- Egg: An egg is a good source of protein. If you are a healthy adult, you can add an egg to your breakfast to get enough protein.
- Beans: Beans are full of proteins. They not only cover protein level but also you won’t feel hunger for many hours.
Protein and all you need to know about proteins – Food that contains low proteins
If you don’t want to add protein to your diet, the following are a list of food you can add to your menu.
- Fruits: Apples, grapefruit, bananas, peaches, and such other fruits contain low proteins.
- Vegetables: Leafy greens, tomatoes etc are good if you want low proteins.
- Grains: You can add rice, pasta, barley to your diet to avoid protein.
It might surprices you to know that intake of protein helps you a lot to lose your weight. You will know this by reading the following benefits of proteins:
- You won’t feel hungry for long: If you take proteins in the morning, you will feel hungry maybe in the evening. Protein makes the process of digestion slower which helps you not to eat other food and this in turns help you in your weight loss. You can take beans and you will notice it yourself.
- It needs more energy than normal: Our body needs a thermal effect to digest the food and protein has that energy. When we eat protein, that energy is utilized to burn the calories which help in your weight loss.
Because, even too much or very less intake of any component of the body will make you sick. It is required to take them in the right amount. See what happens when you take too much of the protein;
- Bad breath: If you aren’t taking carbohydrates and you depend only on protein intake, this will only give you a bad breath. When you take proteins, the body starts ketosis which generates chemicals that causes a bad smell.
- Constipation: High protein diets are typically low in fibers which cause constipation. To avoid this, drink a lot of water and add more fibers to your diet.
- Diarrhea: If you eat too much protein-rich food which lacks fiber, it may cause diarrhea. Drink a lot of water to avoid diarrhea.
- Dehydration: It will cause dehydration because when you eat protein-rich food, it will flush out the water. If you are taking too much protein, you should increase your water intake.
Protein and all you need to know about proteins – Conclusion
Protein is very good for health if it is taken in the right proportion. If excessive protein is taken, it will cause more problems such as constipation, kidney damage, dehydration, diarrhea etc. If taken in the fixed amount, it will keep you healthy.
Additional Resources:
BodyBuilding Pro. 2012. Accessed: October 23, 2018.
Also, read about Carbohydrate All you need to know