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2 The other twelve can be manufactured within the body or, to continue our construction metaphor, they are made “on-site.” At different ages, we need different amounts of amino acids for optimal functioning. These essential amino acids must come from our diets. Of the twenty amino acids needed for proper construction, eight are called essential amino acids for adults, nine for children, since the body cannot synthesize or make these for itself: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine (which becomes cystine), phenylalanine (which becomes tyrosine), threonine, tryptophan, and valine. These “raw materials” so to speak must all be present to build the body properly if they are not, the body, like a building made with shoddy materials, will not stand up over time. However, there is one important limitation-some of those amino acids are only available in food. The body has the ability to make its own “building blocks” out of whatever amino acids are on hand. When we eat foods that are sources of protein, such as meat, milk, cheese, eggs, beans or peas, the digestive system first breaks down the food proteins into their amino acids, and after they are absorbed into the blood, enzymes in the body recombine them into certain sequences to produce the proteins suited to the body’s special needs, such as making red blood cells or building muscles. These twenty combine together in hundreds of intricate chemical patterns to create a variety of complex protein structures. 1 There are twenty different amino acids that are important to the body. Proteins, our most complex substances, are made up of varying combinations of nitrogen-containing amino acids. To be short of protein is to be lacking in the very substance of life. Protein is needed to “carry” fat and cholesterol throughout the body.The chromosomes, which pass on our characteristics to our children, include protein in their structure.Proteins in combination with a substance called sterols form hormones, which regulate the delicate chemical changes that constantly take place within the body.When fat and carbohydrates are insufficient, proteins produce the energy we need for life.In the form of enzymes, proteins digest our food, synthesize essential substances, and break down waste products for elimination.Proteins help carry the oxygen that reddens our blood.Our heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and lungs are built of tissue made of proteins. We are literally made of protein from our bones to our muscles, arteries and veins, skin, hair, and fingernails.The one that stands before all others is protein, or proteins, since there is not one but hundreds of kinds of protein. The human body in its complexity needs dozens of nutritive substances. Protein is the basic nutrient and plays an essential role in carrying cholesterol and preventing heart disease. Here are some of the facts about proteins: protein is essential to a healthy heart and a healthy body animal sources of protein including eggs are “better” for you nutritionally since they contain all of the essential amino acids as with most nutrients and vitamins, both too much and too little protein have detrimental effects on the body and, protein cannot be “stocked” up like fat but must be eaten daily. And furthermore, protein is made up of a variety of substances, with the result that not all protein sources are equal in value. Protein is, of course, an important building block in the body, but it is not the only building block.
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Protein is in the spotlight these days, with articles touting diets high in protein and advertisements for protein powders in the media. ?️ Print post All Proteins Are Not the Same
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