Posted on Friday, August 17, 2012 by Aurora Geib
For certain people, getting protein is serious business. Bodybuilders wanting that perfect Arnold Schwarzenegger build, vegetarians looking for that perfect source of protein or health buffs searching for the best kind of protein to ensure their health.
Chemically speaking, a protein is composed of amino acids covalently bonded through peptide bonds to form a chain. It has a number of functions within and out of the cells such as structural roles, acting as catalyst, transporting ferry ions and molecules across membranes and hormones.
Nutritionally, protein is a macronutrient which assists in building up and repairing muscles and bones. It is the building block of life and the body needs it to repair and maintain itself. Every cell in the body including body fluids contains protein with the exception of the bile and urine. Human growth and development especially during pregnancy require protein to be successful.
ScienceDaily.com, an online resource of new scientific discoveries, recently revealed that it is protein and not sugar that keeps us thin and awake. Scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered that wakefulness and energy expenditures actually relied on orexin cells. These cells secrete a substance that stimulates the brain. When these cells malfunction, sleep disorders set in. Orexin cells also influence our energy levels. When scientists studied what nutrient orexin cells responded to, they discovered that proteins stimulate the orexin cells more than any other nutrient. They further discovered that while glucose blocks the action of orexin cells, amino acids, when they interfered, negated the effect of glucose.
In a 2005 study, it was settled that elevating protein intake helps reduce body weight faster than limiting carbohydrate consumption. This practically explains what we have already observed: protein-rich meals make people more alert than sugar-rich meals.
What happens if we have a protein deficiency?
Seeing how important protein is, not getting enough can have deleterious effects. The following are the adverse effect of not getting enough protein:
• Protein deficiency increases susceptibility to dental carries (http://jdr.sagepub.com/content/74/8/1444.abstract)
• Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) whose severe form is kwashiorkor, a condition characterized by degeneration of the liver, anemia with the most obvious external condition being inflammation of the skin (http://www.biog1105-1106.org/demos/105/unit6/media/kwashiorkor.pdf)
• Marasmus, a condition characterized by muscle wasting and reduced body fat levels, which increases the risk of infection
• Impaired mental health
• Oedema
• Organ failure
• Wasting and shrinkage of muscle tissues
(http://www.freefitnesstips.co.uk/protein-deficiency.html)
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036844_protein_amino_acids_bodybuilders.html#ixzz23oYIB6Cl