Delicious Healthy Protein Sources

Various Protein Sources

Protein source variations can be added to any diet to provide essential nutrition to increase physical endurance.  High protein diets have become more popular among the general population as part of any weight loss program. According to the National Library Of Medicine, the protein requirements of the athletic populations have been subject to much scientific debate.  Only recently has the notion of both strength power and endurance athletes require a greater protein consumption than the general population has become generally accepted. Proteins are nitrogen consisting substances that are formed by essential amino acids that serve as a structural component for developing lean muscle mass, skin, hair, blood, and bone. Good protein sources are used to produce hormones, enzymes, and hemoglobin that may boost immunity naturally. Proteins are essential nutrients for the body that serve as the building blocks of bodily tissue and can also serve as a fuel source to enhance physical energy.

There are 9 essential amino acids that humans must obtain from the human diet in order to prevent protein malnutrition resulting in death.  Your body needs 20 different amino acids to function correctly.  Nine of these amino acids are called essential amino acids that must be obtained through the diet. Essential amino acids can be found in a wide variety of protein sources including beef, eggs, turkey, chicken, and dairy products. Each protein source has its own sequence of amino acids. These proteins take different shapes and different functions in the body metabolized into the simplest form of amino acids There are 20 amino acids identified needed for human growth and metabolism processes. Your body needs 20 different kinds of amino acids to function correctly.  These 20 different amino acids combine in different ways to make proteins in your body needed for human growth and metabolism.  The absence of any of these amino acids will compromise the ability of the tissue to grow, be repaired or maintained.

Consuming adequate amounts of protein equally spaced throughout the day can dramatically improve overall health, reducing your appetite levels, and boosting your metabolism to burn off body fat. Dietary protein sources are seen as an animal or vegetarian origin. Animal protein sources provide a complete source of protein containing all essential amino acids whereas vegetable protein sources generally lack one or more of essential amino acid complexes. Animal dietary protein sources provide a complete protein including vitamins and minerals health officials are concerned about the number of saturated fats common in these foods in comparison to vegetable sources.  The body can’t store the protein one needs to meet, any extra is used for energy for the human body or stored as body fat. The amount of protein that the human body requires is dependent on many conditions including overall energy intake, physical activity level and growth of the individual.

An online protein calculator can estimate the daily amount of dietary protein a person requires to remain healthy based on age, gender, height, weight and activity level. The amount of protein a person needs each day varies depending on various factors.  Anywhere from 10 percent to 35 percent of your daily calories should come from protein.  So if your needs are 2,000 calories that is 200-700 calories from protein sources, or 50-175 grams.  The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For example, a person weighing 165 pounds or 75 kilograms should consume 60 grams of protein per day says Mayo Clinic. Healthy protein sources include beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs and dairy. More people are following vegan or vegetarian-based diets while reducing their consumption of animal products more fortified nutritious plant based foods are available. Getting enough protein and essential vitamins and minerals is harder for people who do not eat meat or animal products.

A person must plan in advance to ensure they are consuming enough protein, calcium, B vitamins, and iron, which people on omnivorous diets get from animal products. Some plant based protein sources including quinoa and soybeans are complete protein sources which means they contain 9 essential amino acids that humans need. Others are missing some of these amino acids so eating a varied diet is important for good health. Good plant based foods that have a high protein content per serving is edamame, tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, almonds, spirulina, chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, and beans with brown rice Are among the riches protein sources. 

Cheers!

Patricia Lynn

Photo by Andy Chilton on Unsplash