What is Protein?

The Importance of Protein in Weight Loss



The amount of quality protein in your diet is the single most important factor that influences your metabolic rate, favorably influencing weight loss. Quality protein also helps you sustain muscle during weight loss, improve muscle fitness, improve immunity, improve antioxidant function, build HDL Cholesterol, and enhance insulin and leptin function – all of which contribute toward optimal weight management efforts over time.

OK, lets get technical for a moment: Proteins are very important molecules in our cells. They are involved in virtually all cell functions. Each protein within the body has a specific role. Some proteins are involved in structural support, while others are involved in bodily movement, or in defense against germs. Proteins vary in structure as well as function. They are constructed from a set of 20 amino acids and have distinct three-dimensional shapes. Below is a list of a few types of proteins and their functions:

Protein Functions:

Antibodies - are specialized proteins involved in defending the body from antigens (foreign invaders). One way antibodies destroy antigens is by immobilizing them so that they can be destroyed by white blood cells. 
Contractile Proteins - are responsible for movement. Examples include actin and myosin. These proteins are involved in muscle contraction and movement. 
Enzymes - are proteins that facilitate biochemical reactions. They are often referred to as catalysts because they speed up chemical reactions. Examples include the enzymes lactase and pepsin. Lactase breaks down the sugar lactose found in milk. Pepsin is a digestive enzyme that works in the stomach to break down proteins in food. 
Hormonal Proteins - are messenger proteins which help to coordinate certain bodily activities. Examples include insulin, oxytocin, and somatotropin. Insulin regulates glucose metabolism by controlling the blood-sugar concentration. Oxytocin stimulates contractions in females during childbirth. Somatotropin is a growth hormone that stimulates protein production in muscle cells. 
 Structural Proteins - are fibrous and stringy and provide support. Examples include keratin, collagen, and elastin. Keratins strengthen protective coverings such as hair, quills, feathers, horns, and beaks. Collagens and elastin provide support for connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments. 
Storage Proteins - store amino acids. Examples include ovalbumin and casein. Ovalbumin is found in egg whites and casein is a milk-based protein. 
Transport Proteins - are carrier proteins which move molecules from one place to another around the body. Examples include hemoglobin and cytochromes. Hemoglobin transports oxygen through the blood. Cytochromes operate in the electron transport chain as electron carrier proteins.

 Summary
Proteins serve various functions in the body. The structure of a protein determines its function. For example, collagen has a super-coiled helical shape. It is long, stringy, strong, and resembles a rope. This structure is great for providing support. Hemoglobin on the other hand, is a globular protein that is folded and compact. Its spherical shape is useful for maneuvering through blood vessels.

How Protein Helps in Weight Loss

   In order to benefit from high protein for weight loss, the amount of carbohydrates must be reduced. This is because carbohydrates are easy-to-use fuels.  When you eat fewer carcohydrates you encourage your body to break down stored fat. You prevent your body from converting muscle protein to fuel (blood sugar) by eating higher protein, thus preserving muscle mass.
   Breakfast is the most important meal of the day to incorporate high quality proteins. Protein in the morning wakes up your liver and gives it something to do. Your liver is the metabolic factory of your body. A high-protein breakfast can increase your metabolic rate by thirty percent for as long as twelve hours, that’s the calorie-burning equivalents of a three to five mile jog. Fats and carbohydrates are easy for your liver to use, thus only increasing liver metabolism by four percent. Protein must be taken apart and re-assembled for use elsewhere in your body, keeping your metabolism higher, longer. This dynamic effect of protein has recently been shown to be the key in supporting your natural ability to burn fat at a faster rate when consuming a diet higher in protein.
   Protein is made up of various amino acids. In terms of weight loss, scientists are finding that the most important amino acids are the branch chain amino acids, especially leucine. If you get your protein intake high enough, especially in proteins that are rich in leucine, a number of very interesting things happen that can activate a sluggish metabolism and result in weight loss.

How Protein Increases Metabolism

   During weight loss our bodies can easily lose muscle mass (and bone for that matter). The protein Leucine has a direct signaling effect on muscle that prevents muscle loss during weight loss. This means that on a high-protein diet, the weight that is lost is mostly fat, not muscle. Whereas on a high-carbohydrate weight-loss diet, much more muscle is lost. Leucine directly communicates to insulin, instructing it to work efficiently in muscle. This not only helps preserve your muscle mass, it helps your muscles use glucose as fuel, in turn supporting healthy insulin function. 
   This high-protein, leucine-rich diet invariably lowers blood levels of triglycerides, which allows the protein Leptin to get into your brain easier so that you feel full on fewer calories.  Once leptin gets into your brain correctly, then leptin resistance is reduced, and your metabolism gets a go signal.  Protein is especially helpful in improving your brain’s feeling of food satisfaction 
   A higher-protein diet also has a natural diuretic effect. Individuals with extra weight are often sluggish and holding extra water. This not only makes their blood pressure go up, as their heart tries to push harder to move the stagnation, the extra water in connective tissues directly gets in the way of fat burning. When you eat a higher protein diet  an important blood protein called albumin will increase. As albumin increases, through osmotic force, it draws water back out of your connective tissues, thus helping you get rid of fluid retention. If you have too much inflammation, then your kidneys may leak albumin into your urine, provoking fluid retention, weight problems, and significant cardiovascular risk.

How Much Protein Do I Need for Weight Loss?

A significant body of scientific evidence indicates that protein levels far higher than our government’s suggested levels of intake are optimal for weight loss, as long as you simultaneously decrease carbohydrate intake. A minimal target amount is three-fourths of your ideal body weight in grams of protein per day, ranging up to three-fourths of your actual weight in grams of protein per day. 
    For example, if you should weigh 160 pounds and you do weigh 200 pounds, then your goal for protein intake is in the range of 120 to 150 grams of protein per day. Since each gram of protein is four calories, this means 480 to 600 calories per day from protein. This is around thirty percent of your calories from protein (based on a 2000 calorie diet).
    How ever you chose to calculate it the most important thing to know is that you liver can only process 30 grams of protein in a three hour period during normal activity. So it is important to divide your requirement to fit into that rule. During exorcise need to up that substantially. The best way to accomplish this is to consume your requred protein intake as you should through out the day, and add 35 to your work out as follows; 20 minutes before your work out take in 15 grams of high quality protein and post work out take in another 20 grams.

The simple fact of the matter is: when you increase quality protein intake over the basic amount needed for nitrogen balance, then the branch chain amino acids like leucine, which are metabolized in your muscles (not in your liver as are other amino acids), directly and favorably benefit muscle function and health – including enhanced calorie burning by muscle that clearly supports healthy weight loss





Thank you.
John Cardinal

Copyright Healthy Weight Loss for Life 2012


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