Macronutrients: Proteins
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| A few of the different combinations of amino acids to make a protein. |
Next on our list of nutrition we have the macronutrient of protein. Ever wonder how your body can fight off invaders such as bacteria or viruses? We all know that the immune system takes care of that, right? Well, our immune system is the body's army but the individual soldiers could be thought of as developed cells that the body forms out of Proteins. Protein provides a total of 4 cal/gram and is made up of hundreds of different combinations of amino acids. Amino acids are unique because of its composition consisting of nitrogen. Amino acids can be thought about as a brick or building block to a brick house. Usually when one says protein we are using a term that generalizes the different combinations of these amino acids. When looking at an average diet there is a standard protein list including amino acids containing protein building characteristics important to life. This list consists of 20 amino acids and out of these 20, 9 we must consume through our diet, since our body is not able to produce or produce enough of these 9 essentials. The non-essential amino acids, in most cases, our bodies can produce or synthesize.
Here is a list of the amino acids categorized by essential and non-essential characteristics.
When we think about including quality protein to ensure immune function, hormonal balance, recovery, muscle building, and overall health through our diet, we must evaluate the "quality" of the protein we are considering. The best protein our body will absorb is animal protein, but protein is also found in non-animal sources like vegetables, legumes, nuts, and other grains. These other sources are inferior sources of protein when considering the amount of essential amino acids they provide and if we take in account the absorption rate that our body will process. In a vegetarian diet it is important to consume the right amino acids (protein) and this can be accomplished through a diet rich in variety of different legumes and grains like beans, lentils, quinoa, rice, chickpeas, whole grain (wheat), and also including different raw or minimally processed nuts almonds, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, etc. Doing and making aware decisions about what you consume will not only improve physical appearance and health, but you also boost mental function by increasing capacity and improving balance at the hormonal level (hormones=mood; hormones=protein). Get smarter, look, feel better and steer your life with less complications.
