Protein 101

Protein is an essential nutrient that we acquire from our food it is the building blocks of the human body and without it, we can not build repair or maintain our basic bodily functions.

From an athletes perspective protein is vital to training as they are in a constant state of breaking down and building back up from training.

Protein also has many other functions in the body such as,

Proteins provide building materials – amino acids – for the growth and repair of body tissues.

Proteins form vital parts of most body structures, such as skin, nails, hair, membranes, muscles, teeth, bones, organs, ligaments and tendons.

Proteins facilitate numerous chemical reactions in the body; all enzymes are proteins.

Some proteins act as chemical messengers, regulating body processes; not all hormones are proteins.

Proteins assist the body in maintaining its resistance to disease by acting against foreign disease-causing substances.

Proteins help regulate the quantity of fluids in body compartments.

Proteins act as buffers, to maintain the normal acid and base concentrations in body fluids.

Proteins move the required nutrients and other substances into and out of cells and around the body.

Protein can be used to provide calories (4 calories per gram) to help meet the body’s energy needs.

How much protein we need as always a massive debate but we have found that if you look at getting 1.6-2g of protein per kg of bodyweight you can’t go far wrong.

We can also take this a little further and say the lean you are the closer you would go to the 2g per kg of bodyweight mark and the more body fat you are carrying the more you would look to the 1.6g per kg of bodyweight mark.

Here are some protein sources and their protein content per 100g