Body Building Macronutrient - Proteins.

Body building Macronutrient - Proteins

Our body is made up of cells, tissues, muscles, bones, skin and blood. The basic and important components required for its formation and function is Proteins. Our body also used proteins to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals.That is why, proteins are said as Building Blocks of the Body.

🌰Compositions:-

Proteins are large molecules composed of carbon, hydogen,oxygen and nitrogen. It also contain sulphur and phosphorus group.Proteins are made up of small units or building blocks known as amino acids.There are 23 amino acids in all and eight of them are called essential amino acids as they cannot be synthesized in the body in the required amount while rest of them (i.e. non-essential amino acids) can be synthesized in the body.

Examples :-

🍅Sources :-

🍆Plant sources

• Legumes :- Black gram, Bengal gram, Green gram, Lentil and Soyabean.
• Pulses :-Black gram dal, Red gram dal, Bengal gram dal,Green gram dal and Lentils.
• Nuts and Oilseeds :-Groundnut, Gingelly seeds, Almonds, Cashewsnuts, Nigerseeds.

🐠Animal sources

• Meat of goat, pork, beef, liver,etc.,
• Fish,
• Poultry specially pastured raised,
• Eggs specially from pastured hens,
• Milk and milk products like cheese, khoa and milk powder, etc.

🍲Functions :-

1)  Body building and Growth - Proteins is the building blocks of our body and is thus needed for growth ,conseption, infancy, childhood and adolescence.

2)  Body cell maintainance - Body cells regularly undergoes wear and tear. Our body also shreads dead cells regularly and new cells grow in place of it. It is the protein that helps in the replacement of old cells.

3)  Regulations of some specific body processes :- 

• Haemoglobin(Blood protein), a chief constituent of red blood cells carries oxygen to the tissues.
• Plasma protein, especially albumin and globulin, plays an important role in regulating osmotic pressure and water balance within the body.
• Enzymes and hormones are made up of proteins which helps to regulate the chemical reactions in our body.

4)  Antibodies are made up of proteins. They are natural defence agent against infections.

5)  Sources of energy :-Apart from body building, proteins also provides fuel to the body. One gram of proteins provides 4 K.cal of energy. It is used as a fuel by the body only when diet contains insufficient amount of  carbohydrates and fats.Thus, it is unwise to use proteins as an energy source, as it is an expensive source as compared to carbohydrates.

The above function shows that protein is an inseperable macronutrient from our daily diet.  The average person needs 1 gram of protein per kg of body weight in a day. Protein requirement increases during pregnancy, in infants, growing child and adolescence period. Proteins plays an important role in an athletes eating plan as it helps to repair and strengthen muscles tissues.

🍇Excess protein intake :-

• High  protein diet can put a strain on your kidneys. People with pre-existing kidney disease should avoid protein.
• Excess of protein consumed is usually stored as fats, while the surplus of amino-acids is excreated out of the body.This can lead to weight gain over times, if you consume too many calories while trying to increase your protein intake.
• It can also lead to bad breathe if carbohydrates intake is restricted.
• High protein diets that restrict carbohydrates are typically low in fiber which can leads to constipation.
• Excess of nitrogen and amino acids are flushed out of our body through fluids and water.This can leave you dehydrated even though you may not feel more thirsty than usual.

🍓Protein Deficiency :- 

Protein deficiency mainly occurs due to the lack of sufficient carbohydrates and fats in the daily diet. It affects the growth specially in children. Loss of weight, fatigue, reduced resistance to infection, changes in skin, hairloss, loss of apetite, delay in recovery from illness are some of the common symptoms seen. Kwashiorkar and Marasmus are very common disease occurs due to deficiency of protein.

🍒Some Proteins - rich Indian recepies :-

https://in.pinterest.com/tarladalal/protein-rich-recipes/

🍑Points to be noted:-

1. Our diet should daily include approax. 50g of protein.
2. Egg is a good source of protein which provides almost all essential proteins.
3. Combination of pulses (e.g. Misal) or Cereals and pulses (e.g.idli) or a small amount of animal protein and veg. protein (e.g. Kheer) should be used to improve the quality (biological value) of protein intakes in the diet.
4. Milk is one of the best food which provides a good balance of protein and carbohydrates in the body.
5. Protein powders can be useful when immediate protein requirement is needed and have no time to have a meal.
6. Diet such as Atkins diet, Caveman or Palae diet are typically high in proteins.

Concluding myself,

Protein is an essential macronutrients required in our daily diet. Its intake should be such that it fulfils daily requirements of an individual along with carbohydrates and fats. This will helps in sparing protein for its chief function of body building. Stronger building blocks of body inturns will strengthen the overall structure of the body and defence mechanism, too.