Intro to Proteins
Proteins are structural and growth element of cells in any tissues such as skin, hair, muscles, and blood. They can also act as enzymes or hormones that usually contain Nitrogen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and sometimes Phosphorus and Sulfur. The basic structural unit inside all pro\teins are amino acids which there are only about 20 different kinds. These aminos acid molecules pair up to join together into a chain like shape through peptide linkages and can be composed of 50 to 5,000 amino acids. These peptide linkages are created when the carboxyl group of one amino acid reacts with the amino group of the next in the sequence. Proteins have many jobs that they work to accomplish. They catalyze all of the metabolic reactions, carry out oxygen to our body’s tissue, maintain cell and tissue structure, and protect the body from infection. Technically, proteins come from amino acids being built together, but we can most easily get the proteins we need for our body from food. Proteins can come from either animal or plant sources and either way, you can get the same amount of protein. Animal sources include lean meat, seafoods such as fish, milk, yogurt, cheese, and eggs. The other way of getting protein would be to get it from plant sources which includes any type of soy foods, lentils and beans, nuts, vegetables, nut butter, and grains. Even though you can get an equal amount of protein and nutrition from animal and plant sources, the difference between them is that animal sources are considered “complete” and plants “incomplete”. Plant sources are considered incomplete because of the lack of one or more essential acids.
Proteins are structural and growth element of cells in any tissues such as skin, hair, muscles, and blood. They can also act as enzymes or hormones that usually contain Nitrogen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and sometimes Phosphorus and Sulfur. The basic structural unit inside all pro\teins are amino acids which there are only about 20 different kinds. These aminos acid molecules pair up to join together into a chain like shape through peptide linkages and can be composed of 50 to 5,000 amino acids. These peptide linkages are created when the carboxyl group of one amino acid reacts with the amino group of the next in the sequence. Proteins have many jobs that they work to accomplish. They catalyze all of the metabolic reactions, carry out oxygen to our body’s tissue, maintain cell and tissue structure, and protect the body from infection. Technically, proteins come from amino acids being built together, but we can most easily get the proteins we need for our body from food. Proteins can come from either animal or plant sources and either way, you can get the same amount of protein. Animal sources include lean meat, seafoods such as fish, milk, yogurt, cheese, and eggs. The other way of getting protein would be to get it from plant sources which includes any type of soy foods, lentils and beans, nuts, vegetables, nut butter, and grains. Even though you can get an equal amount of protein and nutrition from animal and plant sources, the difference between them is that animal sources are considered “complete” and plants “incomplete”. Plant sources are considered incomplete because of the lack of one or more essential acids.
Protein Reflection
One thing that I learned about proteins is that even though it is widely known that you get proteins from meat, but really, you can get the exact same amount from food such as eggs and nuts. Without a healthy amount of amino acids from proteins in our diet, our body begins to break down our bodies’ protein such as muscles and organs to get the desired amino acids we need. The recommended amount of proteins that we need in our body all depends on how much we weigh. The RDA is about 0.4 grams of protein for every pound you weigh. Every individual has a different protein intake depending on their daily activities, for example, athletes and growing children may need double the amount of protein that the RDA requires for an average person. Another fact that surprised me was that protein shakes and muscle milk actually don’t meet your protein needs without an unnecessary waste of time and money.