Protein - What is it?

When people say protein, I think of things like: chicken, beans, tofu (ick!), turkey, fish, meat, eggs, spinach, cheese, cottage cheese - and I’m sure the list goes on. But what is it about these things that make them worthy of the title ‘protein’?

When I simply Google the word, I get this definition:

Any of a group of complex organic macromolecules that contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and usually sulfur and are composed of one or more chains of amino acids. Proteins are fundamental components of all living cells and include many substances, such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies, that are necessary for the proper functioning of an organism. They are essential in the diet of animals for the growth and repair of tissue and can be obtained from foods such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, and legumes.

Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/protein?cat=health

I don’t know about you but that is slightly confusing. In my mind, protein is all about food for muscles.

In laymans terms, the quote is kind of saying this:

Foods are made up of cells and protein is an essential part of every cell. Protein is a group of molecules that contains the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. The cells in our bodies also contain proteins, which is why we need to eat it. Protein is required for growth and repair of tissue.

Because protein is required for growth and tissue repair, this means in order to build bigger muscles, we need to consume sufficient protein. I’m not about to tell you exactly how much protein you need, because I’m not a scientist! But I am going to tell you that protein is absolutely essential. Not just for body building - its essential for life. Someone I know went on a raw foods diet and basically had no protein - or at least a very very small amount. Suddenly she began to feel absolutely horrible - tingling all over and just very very weird. She realised her body was actually eating itself! She wasn’t giving it enough protein so the cells weren’t able to repair and it caused a lot of damage. So - protein must be a component of your every day diet.

I think its common sense that in order to build more muscle (tissue), you need to increase the amount of protein you consume. Just be careful what you’re eating with that protein. For example, animal fats aren’t as good as vegetable fats, so beans are probably better than eggs if you’re trying to avoid that. Do your research!

During the day I like to eat a bit of light protein - so a bit of nuts, and maybe some cottage cheese - and then at the end of the day I like a bit more protein - meat and cheese and beans etc.

So with that newfound information, I’m going to go replenish my cells with some protein so that they can repair and grow and help my muscles grow!

Tagged as: enzymes, muscle growth, protein