Amino Acids
(Protein)

Nutrition facts you should know for
the continuing health of your body.

Eat from the right sources of protein
to avoid taxing your kidneys and liver.

What is protein?

When we talk about protein ... meat, eggs, cheese, muscles all come to mind. There are many myths that surround protein ... let's look at some of them.

Protein is made out of nitrogen-containing molecules called amino acids.  They are the basic building material for all living cells.  Every cell in our body needs protein to stay alive.  Proteins are necessary for tissue repair and constructing new tissues to replace dead cells. 

Your muscles, hair, nails, skin and eyes are made of proteins.  So are the cells that make up all the organs in your body system - nerves, lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, brain and your sex glands.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. When you consume protein, it is broken down into various amino acids and transported throughout your body through your blood.  Your cells then pick and choose the amino acids that they need to construct new body tissues, blood cells, enzymes, hormones, etc.

There are 25 different amino acids that piece together to make various proteins for different use, like letters of the alphabet, each serving its own purpose.  Of these, 8 are essential amino acids that are like the vowels.  Just as you cannot form words without the vowels, you cannot build complete proteins without these essential amino acids.

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The amino acid family

For a protein food source to be complete, it must contain the eight essential amino acids. From these the rest of the amino acids can be made.  Non-essential doesn't mean that you don't need them.  It just means that your body can manufacture them.  Whereas essential means that your body cannot manufacture them and you have to obtain it from your diet.

Recognizing protein deficiency

If you feel tired most of the time, there is also a possibility that you are lacking usable protein in your diet.  Some other symptoms:

• Having puffy eyes in the morning

• Swollen ankles from water retention (edema)

• Brittle and weak nails - nails are made of protein, not calcium as most people seem to think

• Hair thinning

• Premature aging (looking haggard)

• Cuts/wounds that take a long time to heal

• Lethargy

• Slow growth (in children)

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Protein Quality

The common myth is that you should obtain 15% of your total calories from protein, but what kind of protein?  The best foods to eat for protein are not necessarily those that are highest in protein, but the quality of protein you take is very important. 

For example, a breast-fed baby receive only about 1% of his total calories from his mother's milk but can double his birth weight in a matter of months.  This is because the protein from a mother's milk is of high quality and can be easily assimilated.

Animal products, though high in protein, are also very high in saturated fats.  Moreover, modern farming methods leave much to be desired in the quality of the meat that is full of antibiotics, growth hormones, diseases and pesticides.

How much protein?

Some weight loss programs recommend very high protein diets that contain between 100 and 200 grams of proteins a day.  This is way too high and can be dangerous to health.

Protein produces breakdown products that give extra work to your kidneys and liver.  If your kidneys are healthy and your protein intake is moderate, no problem.  But if you have even a mild kidney problem and ate high protein, especially from meat, it adds stress to the kidneys and worsen their condition.

Meat protein are acidic and causes the blood to be acidic, a perfect environment for bacteria to breed and diseases to spark.  Marked acid load to the kidneys also increases the risk for kidney stones formation.  When the blood is acidic, calcium (an alkalizing agent) is required to neutralize the pH in the blood.  This causes calcium imbalance and increases the risk for bone loss.

Different "experts" give different numbers to the amount of protein required.  Basically, how much protein you need depends on your body weight, your body fat and your physical activity.

For sedentary individuals, you need one gram of protein for every kilogram (2.2 lbs) of your ideal body weight.  Then add another 20 grams and that should be enough to meet your daily requirement.  If physically active, undergoing some stress, sickness, pregnant, nursing mothers, and children - add up to 40 grams a day to the body weight requirement.

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Good sources of protein