Exercise Health Fitness

Archive for the ‘Protein and Exercise’ Category

Protein is very important for muscle growth.  Proteins are made up of what are known as Amino Acids.  There are 20 different types of amino acids and each amino acid is similar in chemical make-up in that they all have the same backbone which is a carbon atom with an amine group which contains nitrogen.  Our bodies are capable of making some amino acids but there are some that we cannot produce and they are known as essential amino acids.

Essential Amino Acids:

• Histidine
• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Theronine
• Tryptophan (found in turkey and causes drowsiness)
• Valine

Amino Acids Important in Nutrition:

• Alanine
• Arginine
• Asparagine
• Aspartic acid
• Cysteine
• Glutamic Acid
• Glutamine
• Glycine
• Proline
• Serine
• Tyrosine

Proteins are divided into either working proteins such as enzymes, antibodies and hormones or structural proteins such as tendons, ligaments, scars, teeth or nails.  The amino acids link together into long strands which coil and fold creating a huge variety of different proteins.

Will eating extra protein make muscle grow larger?  No, simply consuming more protein will not cause muscles to grow.  Weight lifting will trigger muscles to grow and then having sufficient protein will help aid the process of muscle growth.

When someone has an infection extra protein is needed in order to enchance immune fuctions.

All Protein is Not Created Equally

Some proteins digest easier than others and therefore are of higher quality.  Protein from animals the most easily absorbed and digested with legumes in close second.  The amino acids from grains and other plants are of lesser quality.  Protein quality mostly depends on the essential amino acids.  If you are missing one essential amino acid but have plenty of all the other amino acids, the work cannot go on until you have the missing amino acid and because your body can’t produce it, all work is stopped until you consume it.  Making sure your diet is rich in essential amino acids is very important for your health.  When you exercise you need to consume more protein than the recommended 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.  So what foods have the best protein?  Eggs whites, tuna fish, ground beef, chicken and fat-free milk.  They would all score a 100 on the PDCAAS (protein-digestibility-corrected amino acid score) scale.

A person fitness levels will affect how much protein their bodies use.  Someone who exercises often will need more protein to help rebuild any muscles used to ensure the good health of the person.  Whey protein powder is made up of readily digestable amino acids to help recover muscles quickly.  Women protein and exercise also go hand in hand as we will cover in a future article here on Exercise Health Fitness.