protein -something we all should know about

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Protein

YOUR body is largely made of protein: your skin, muscles, internal

organs, nails, hair, brain, and even the base of your bones.

Like the muscles, hair which lacks elasticity and resiliency and

perhaps breaks or refuses to take a permanent will often change to

healthy hair after a few weeks of improved nutrition. Nails which

break, peel, or crack can likewise change when the diet is improved.

 

Another cause of fatigue, particularly common among women and

children, is anemia, or lack of red corpuscles, which are made

almost wholly of protein. Without adequate protein anemia quickly

results and persists until the nutrition is made normal. Anemia,

however, can result from any number of nutritional inadequacies.

If protein is abundantly supplied and the diet is otherwise

adequate, we can expect high resistance to diseases and infections.

Experimental work has shown that when a low-protein diet is replaced

by one high in adequate proteins, the antibody production is

increased a hundredfold within a single week.

 

When all parts of the body are maintained by the absorption and

utilization of adequate food, health and youthfulness are likewise

maintained. Conversely, you grow old on the days your diet is

inadequate. Since your body structure is largely protein, an

undersupply can bring about aging with depressing speed

 

Proteins from brewers' yeast, certain nuts, soybeans, cottonseed,

and the germ of cereals are complete proteins. The proteins of peas,

lentils, navy and lima beans, cereals and flour with the germ

removed lack some of the essential amino acids; they are therefore

incomplete and cannot support life alone

The greatest hindrance to good health in this respect is ignorance.

Many surveys of thousands of persons having enough money to eat as

they choose have shown that about 60 per cent get far less protein

than is adequate

 

 

Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. There are

about 20 different amino acids, eight of which must be present in

the diet. These are the essential amino acids. Unlike animal

proteins, plant proteins may not contain all the essential amino

acids in the necessary proportions. However, a varied vegetarian

diet means a mixture of proteins are consumed, the amino acids in

one protein compensating for the deficiencies of another.

 

The eight essential amino acids required by humans are: leucine,

isoleucine, valine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine,

tryptophan, and lysine. For children, histidine is also considered

to be an essential amino acid.

Good sources of protein for vegetarians include nuts and seeds,

pulses, soya products (tofu, soya milk and textured soya protein

such as soya mince), cereals (wheat, oats, and rice), free-range

eggs and some dairy products (milk, cheese and yoghurt

 

Many plant proteins are low in one of the essential amino acids. For

instance, grains tend to be short of lysine whilst pulses are short

of methionine. This does not mean that vegetarians or vegans go

short on essential amino acids. Combining plant proteins, such as a

grain with a pulse, leads to a high quality protein which is just as

good, and in some cases better, than protein from animal foods. Soya

is a high quality protein on its own which can be regarded as equal

to meat protein.

Increased protein needs during pregnancy and breast feeding are

usually met simply by the extra calories from more food. Because

infants and children are growing they require more protein than

adults (proportional to their body weight).

 

Muscles are built from protein. Unlike fat cells for fat and muscle

or liver for glucose, there is no place in the body to store

protein. We need to consume enough protein to allow our muscles to

be healthy and perform work

When people start consuming too much protein (over 2.0 g/kg/day),

the extra protein can become a stressful stimulus for the kidney.

This is even more of a concern as we get older and our organs are

less efficient and effective. However many people do not even get

anywhere like this amount in my experience.

 

According to Adele Davis book your breakfast can be a very big

influence on how you feel throughout your day.

 

Studies show that children who have a good breakfast do better in

school. When all this is known it beggars belief that some parents

who allow their children to skip breakfast, that is bordering on

neglect and in the future that point may be a factor in the

consideration of whether parents are indeed fit parents. I would not

be surprised to see in the future legal action taken against parents

on this point.

 

It doesn't take much further thought to know that adults will feel

better and perform better at work as well. Whether you work at home,

on the farm, at the office, at school, or on the road, it is not a

good idea to skip breakfast.

If you were in the army skipping breakfast would mean you would be

on a charge as this was considered to be a serious offence.

 

If we skip breakfast, we are likely to become tired when our brains

and bodies run low on fuel. By mid-morning, a lot of us grab a cup

of coffee, or wolf down a sugary candy bar to wake up again. This

might work for a few minutes, but by lunch time we are hungry,

crabby, and perhaps our mood might make us a little more prone to

making unhealthy choices at lunch. Eating a good breakfast sets the

tone for the rest of the day.

 

Blood sugar seems to be the key here , and low blood sugar can cause

it seems ,craving for sweets ,growling of the intestines, leading to

exhaustion headaches, weakness, wobbliness, palpitations of the

heart may be noticeable, the legs may suddenly give way, nausea may

also be present.

 

The cells of the nerves of the brain can produce their energy it

seems only from sugar even, when sugar is decreased only slightly

thinking becomes slowed and confused and nerves become tense. The

person whose blood sugar falls below normal becomes more irritable

grouchy moody depressed and uncooperative blackouts and fainting may

also occur.

 

According to Adele Davis book, Many studies have been done on

breakfast and blood sugar

 

People who eat breakfast are significantly less likely to be obese

and diabetic than those who usually don't, researchers reported

today at the American Heart Association's 43rd Annual Conference on

Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

 

Our results suggest that breakfast may really be the most important

meal of the day, " says Mark A. Pereira, Ph.D., a research associate

at Children's Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard

Medical School. " It appears that breakfast may play an important

role in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular

disease. "

 

The reason is that one's blood sugar stays up at optimum levels

throughout the day only when enough protein is eaten at breakfast.

What is " enough " ? In Adelle's judgment, an average-size person

should have about 60 grams of protein a day, and about 1/3rd of that

at breakfast. That's at least 20 grams.

That's rather difficult to do! An 8-ounce cup of milk is 8 grams. An

egg is 6 grams. Two eggs and 8 oz of milk is thus 20 grams. A half

cup of nonfat cottage cheese is 19 grams. Egg whites are 3 grams

each, so you figure!

 

Studies similar to these have been conducted in many universities.

The results have been consistently the same: well-being and the

level of efficiency experienced during the hours after meals depend

upon the amount of protein eaten.

 

The meals which produced a real zest for living also contained some

fat and a certain amount of carbohydrate. " (p. 23, paperback

version).

She warns of the dangers of too much fat and carbohydrate, but

consistently recommends that small amounts of both be eaten together

at meals.

 

The meal furnishing 55 grams of protein sustained a high level of

energy and a high metabolism for six hours afterward.

 

IN other studies efficiency for three hours was obtained only when a

meal was eaten containing 22gramms or more of protein.

Children do not learn well unless nutrition is obtained and much

money is wasted.

Irritability caused from low blood sugar is a factor in divorces.

 

Car accidents can obviously also occur from low blood sugar as

thinking is slower. Low blood sugar driving may be as serious as

drunken driving.

 

 

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council

recommends the following amounts of protein, in grams, daily:

 

Children

Adults

 

Under 12 Years Over 12 Years

Men -- 70

1-3 -- 40 Girls 13-15 -- 80

Women -- 60

4-6 -- 50 Girls 16-20 -- 75

Pregnancy -- 85

7-9 -- 60 Boys 13-15 -- 85

Lactation -- 100

10-12 -- 70 Boys 16-20 -- 100

 

 

These figures, , are generally considered to be too low. If you wish

to maintain your attractiveness, vigor, and youthfulness as long as

is humanly possible, it is probably wise to eat considerably more

protein than the Board recommends and/or to count only the grams of

adequate protein you eat. Whenever the diet has been deficient in

protein for some time, an intake of 150 grams or more daily is

probably advisable for a month or more. Such large amounts are also

needed in the treatment of various disease conditions.

 

 

Sources of proteins, Amounts, Completeness

(com=complete, inc=incomplete), Grams of Proteins

soybean flour, low fat 1 cup

com.

60

cottonseed flour 1 cup

com.

60

white flour 1 cup

inc.

8 to 12

wheat germ 1/2 cup

com

24

brewers' yeast, powdered 1/2 cup

com

50

powdered skim milk 1 cup

inc

60 to 70

egg

1

com

6

milk, whole or skim, buttermilk 1 qt.

com

32 to 35

milk, whole or skim ½ litre

com

15

cottage cheese 1/2 cup

com

20

American or Swiss cheese 2 slices

com

10 to 12

soybeans, cooked 1/2 cup

com

20

peanut butter 2 tbsp

inc

9

cooked cereals 3/4 cup

inc

10 to 18

prepared cereals 1 cup

inc

1 to 3

navy or lima beans 1 cup

inc

6 to 8

macaroni, noodles, rice 3/4 cup

inc

3 to 4

Meat, fish, fowl boned or with little bone or fat** 1/4 pound 1

serving com 18 to 22

meat, fish, fowl with moderate bone and/or fat *** 1/4

pound 15 to 18

meat, fish, fowl with much bone and/or fat **** 1/4

pound 10 to 15

yoghurt I

pot

6-8 grams

vegi burgers soya based

1

8

vegi sausage soya based

1

6-8

some bread always brown 1

slice

5- 6

 

Thousands of persons think they get adequate protein from one egg at

breakfast and meat for dinner; their actual intake may be 26 grams

or less, although their requirement is perhaps many times that

amount. Since a quart of milk supplies 32 to 35 grams of protein,

one usually finds that the person who drinks a quart daily has a

fairly adequate protein intake, whereas the person who avoids milk

is almost invariably deficient.

 

Here is a fairly good starter breakfast wise

2 vegi burgers 1 yogurt 2 slices of brown wholemeal bread gets

you around 32 gramms

 

 

So look on the labels for the protein content, every parent should

study nutrition, as good parents will want the best for their

children as parents you are forming habits in your children then of

course form good habits.

phil