Its good Friday, a day of fast, no meat. I’ll still eat my turkey burgers, not because I want to rebel against a belief system, more because protein is a powerful and integral part of my diet.
There is consistent scientific research emerging expressing the need for the general population to increase their protein content. Protein makes up part of every single cell in your body, tendons, ligaments, muscles, organs, deep in the origin, protein is embedded. It is needed for their formation, their growth and their repair and renewal. Along with that protein is needed for all the chemical reactions that occur in the body- in the form of enzymes (tiny structures that speed up chemical reactions). It is required for hormone production and neurotransmitter (nervous system components) function and if needed protein can also be used as fuel. All in all, protein does a lot.
For me I look at protein in terms of two different clients- The client with a neuromuscular therapy issue and the client with a body composition goal.
For the client with a neuromuscular therapy issue, I am assessing protein content with a view towards muscle repair. Basically, there is a balance of protein synthesis (the building work) and protein breakdown (the destructive work) that needs to be maintained for adequate recovery.
The word protein itself is a Greek word meaning ‘Of first Importance’. Protein is most especially importance if a client has an injury that has required muscle immobilisation for repair. In such injuries loss of muscle mass and strength in function can be experienced in as little as five days due to a reduction in basal muscle protein synthesis from lack of stimulation to the muscle. Other research suggests that protein loss can occur as early as 36 hours post injury. So, if protein is needed for growth and repair then it becomes fairly obvious that a lack of protein in the diet will impeded the bodies’ ability to heal. A low protein diet will impair wound healing, impede inflammation (which is needed to a certain threshold) and intensify loss of muscle and tendon mass and function. At best the client will want to eat the baseline recommendations of protein intake per day 1g per 1kg of body weight but higher intakes of 1.6g to 2.2g approximately per kg of body weight may prove beneficial (Tipton, 2015) .
The second client, the client with the body composition goal, 99% of such want to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat percentages and a high protein diet works well for this.
First off, a higher protein diet leads to higher diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). In other words, you need more calories to digest protein than to digest carbs or fat, therefore you are burning calories to break it down, ideal. Along with this eating more protein can decrease your appetite, as protein has a high satiety effect and keeps you feeling full for longer. This is exceptionally beneficially in if you are in a calorie deficient (eating less calories than the body needs, the only scientifically proven method of losing fat). It makes sense if your body is trying to function on less calories then it needs, then it will scream hunger, so if eating a higher protein diet quietens the hunger monster, it would be beneficial that you would do it. Finally, as mentioned earlier there is protein synthesis and protein tissue loss co-occurrence which needs to be balanced, the latter wants to be prevented and maybe even the opposite achieved (increased protein synthesis) during a body composition goal period. To make it simple while cutting fat you want to at least maintain muscle mass (some will try to gain) and the learner you get the harder this becomes. The consensus within the literature is that eating a higher protein diet can prevent this from happening. In terms of this most protein researcher currently advises consuming higher protein in the range of 1.6g–2.7 g per 1 kg of body weight while dieting to offset body protein losses to help preserve muscle mass, to increase energy output and to increase satiety.
There is so much more to consider and delve into when it comes to protein, sources, vegetarian and veganism, timing of protein etc, but for now this Easter weekend consider adding a few chicken eggs to the chocolate egg diet!!
For more information on my nutrition approach check out my website and new food Instagram page nutrition_formulatingfitness
Happy Easter,
Maura
Formulating Fitness 