PROTEIN: MUSCLE BUILDER AND METABOLISM

PROTEIN: THE ESSENTIAL BUILDING MATERIAL FOR THE BODY

What happens to all the new cells that your body produces? Where do all of these new cells come from, you might wonder? It goes without saying that the answer is: from your food—specifically, protein foods.

Proteins provide a variety of functions in your body. They perform a variety of functions, including enzymes, hormones, antibodies, and nutrient transporters. In addition to their structural duties, proteins serve as the raw building material for body cells, similar to how bricks serve as the basic construction material for a house. Skin, hair, nails, bones, connective tissue, and, of course, muscle are all constituted of protein, as are other body components such as tendons and ligaments.

Protein is the most prevalent material in your body, second only to water, accounting for around 15 percent of your total weight. The fact that your skeletal muscles contain 65 percent of all the protein in your body is of particular relevance to those who desire to improve their physical appearance.

AMINO ACIDS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF PROTEIN

Amino acids are the smallest units of a protein and are the building blocks of all proteins. Similar to how glycogen is generated by the joining of glucose molecules, proteins are formed by the joining of a large number of amino acid molecules.

Unlike other construction materials, bricks are a versatile building material that can be used to construct a virtually endless variety of buildings, such as a whole house made of bricks, a brick wall, a brick road, and a brick chimney.

Individual amino acids are "cement" together with peptide bonds in a variety of configurations by your body to form muscle tissue and other body proteins in a similar fashion. There are a total of 20 amino acids that the human body needs for growth. It is possible to construct tens of thousands of distinct protein molecules from just these 20 amino acids.

Each protein is constructed by assembling individual amino acids into diverse configurations through the use of covalent bonds. Protein chains with 156 amino acids, for example, make up growth hormone. Myosin is a muscle protein that is generated by the linking of 4,500 amino acid units together.

WHY PROTEIN IS ESSENTIAL TO ANY DIET

A complete protein is a food that contains all of the essential and non-essential amino acids in the precise ratios and levels required by your body for growth. All of the essential amino acids must be present at the same time in order for your body to create lean muscle.

Any non-essential amino acids that are in limited supply can be synthesized by your liver, but if an essential amino acid is lacking, your body will have to break down its own proteins in order to obtain the amino acid.

Proteins are unable to be kept in any meaningful quantity. There is just a very small and temporary amino acid pool in the blood and tissues, which accounts for only around 1 percent of the total protein in your body's composition.

Complete proteins must be consumed on a daily basis, ideally with each meal, in order to maintain the optimal environment for muscle growth and to prevent muscle breakdown from occurring. Protein has the greatest thermic effect of any of the macronutrients, followed by carbohydrates and fat.

The process of digesting and absorbing the protein might consume up to 30% of the calories consumed.

Considering that carbs have a thermic effect of only ten percent or less, substituting protein for a portion of your carbohydrate calories gives you a metabolic benefit.

Even more so than low-biological-value proteins such as beans or wheat, high-quality complete proteins such as chicken, cattle, fish, eggs, and dairy products help to improve this advantage even more.

According to one study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, when individuals obtained the majority of their protein from meat rather than soy, they burnt an additional 2 percent more calories.