Why Protein is so IMPORTANT???

In the third instalment on macro-nutrients, let's discuss the most important macro in our diets and myths around PROTEINS.

By the time you finish reading this article, I am sure everybody shall start looking at protein in his/her diet.

In this small article, we shall learn about - 

• What are proteins?
• Why they are so Important(Functions and uses of proteins)?
• Protein digestion and quality.
• Sources of protein.
• Myths surrounding protein.

What are Proteins???

Proteins are the building blocks of out body as rightly told in our school books. Just like carbohydrates are made up of glucose, Fats are made up of fatty acids, similarly proteins are made up of amino acids.

Amino acids are simple organic compounds containing a carboxyl group(-COOH) and an amino group (NH2).

Calorific value - One gram of protein releases 4 kcals of energy.

Why it is so important???

Proteins are one of the most important requirements of our body. Some of the functions and uses are - 

1. Anabolism - Proteins play a very crucial role in growth, repair and recovery of our body. It plays a crucial role in metabolism of our body especially Anabolism(building/growth).
2.       Enzymatic Functions - All enzymes are primarily proteins. As discussed in my previous articles also, enzymes are catalysts which enables/speeds up a particular reaction/process like pancreatic lipase is an enzyme which helps in digestion of lipids/fats. Without this enzyme digestion of fats is impossible and this enzyme is a PROTEIN.
3. Hormonal Functions - Hormones play a very crucial role in various bodily processes e.g. Insulin help in regulating blood sugar. Some proteins are hormones. Hence, proteins are as crucial as food for our body. Imagine what happens in the absence of insulin, growth hormone or ghrelin(hunger hormone).
4. Structural Importance - Some proteins act as basic structural component of a tissue. They provide stability and rigidity to a particular tissue e.g. Elastin(protein) in cartilage(your nose and ears are made of cartilage only), Collagen(protein) in your bones and Keratin in your hair and nails. How beautiful a person would look without nose or ears in the absence of protein?
5. pH Balance - Protein helps in maintaining the pH balance of your body which in simple terms means it helps in preventing your body from turning too acidic or too alkaline.
6. Fluid Balance - Proteins help in maintaining the fluid inside and outside cells e.g. albumin and globulin helps in maintaining the intra and extracellular fluid.
7.       Immunity - n times of Covid-19, everybody is consuming Kaada, geloy and what not to increase the fighting capacity of our body which is called immunity(body’s defence system). Proteins help in the formation of antibodies which then fights infection in our body.
8. Transporter Proteins - In my last article ‘Fat is not bad’ I had mentioned that cholesterol is transported to various body parts through special proteins known as lipoproteins. Similarly a lot of other proteins help in transportation of nutrients in our body.
9. Storage Proteins - Proteins also helps in storage of micro-nutrients e.g. Ferritin(protein) stores iron.

I believe the above mentioned functions/uses of protein are enough for everybody to start introspecting and change their diets immediately.

Protein Digestion and Quality

Whole protein cannot get absorbed by intestine cells and they are broken down in to small chains of amino acids called peptides.

The Process of breakdown of proteins is called proteolysis.

The digestion of protein begins in stomach in the presence of hydrochloric acid(HCL) and pepsin(enzyme) by breaking down peptide bonds in to simpler amino acids. Further breakdown happens in the small intestine in the presence of pancreatic enzymes. The amino acids then passes from intestine in to blood stream with the help of sodium and potassium.

The amino acids are now used for various purposes and rest is converted either in to energy or gets out of the system through Urea cycle.

Quality - How good a protein is can be measured by a simple measure called 'Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER)'. It is defined by the weight gained in grams by consuming similar quantity of protein. PER for eggs is 4.5, milk protein is 3 and rice protein is 2.2.

Sources

The excellent sources of protein are Fish, Eggs, Legumes like kidney beans, chickpeas, Chicken, Soya chunks, and dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, paneer etc. Before consuming one can easily check the quantity of protein in a particular food item.

Myths Surrounding Proteins

1. Only muscle building - Most people think that protein is necessary only for muscle building. This myth has been busted in the above section of ‘function of protein’.
2. Weight loss - Most people think that cutting protein from diet will help them in losing weight. On the contrary, Increasing protein helps in weight loss although proper proportion as well calorie intake has to be maintained.
3. Kidney Diseases - This is one is the most popular and is given as an advice to people who consume protein powder in the form of shakes. However, hundreds of researches have been done on this and not even a single research has proved that protein consumption leads to kidney diseases.
4. Vegetarian diet - Most people think it is impossible to consume enough protein on a veg diet. For this let me share an example – a 70 kg male adult needs approx 90gms of protein daily and 100 gms soya chunks have 52 gm protein, 100gm paneer has 18 gm protein. 50 gms of peanuts have 12 gm protein.

Conclusion

Indian diet is predominantly carbohydrates driver consuming wheat, rice, breads, potatoes and that is the reason we have one of the highest number of diabetes and hyper-tension patients. Consumption of enough protein and leading a healthy lifestyle is the only path to fitness. My simple suggestion to everyone is to stand on the weighing scale and start consuming protein at least equal to your weight in grams like a 80 kg male consuming 80gm protein.

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Stay healthy stay fit!!!!