Protein minimum and protein optimum in sports

The food of a person performing active training in sports clubs at least a couple of times a week, should contain a sufficient number of proteins. During intense physical exertion, this nutritional component is necessary for normal operation and recovery of muscle tissue. Therefore, the protein minimum and protein optimum in sports are some of the key concepts that must be taken into account for the proper composition of the diet.

The protein minimum is the minimum amount of protein that helps maintain nitrogen equilibrium in the body (nitrogen is a very important element for all living things, as it is part of all amino acids and proteins). It was found that during fasting for 8-10 days a constant amount of protein is split in the body - approximately 23.2 grams (for a person with a mass of 70 kg). However, this does not mean that the intake of the same amount of protein from the food will completely satisfy the needs of our body in this component of nutrition, especially when doing sports. The protein minimum is only able to maintain the basic physiological processes at the proper level, and even for a very short time.

The protein optimum is the amount of protein in the food that completely satisfies the human needs for nitrogen compounds and thereby provides the necessary components for the muscles that recover after exercise, maintains high efficiency of the organism, contributes to the formation of a sufficient level of resistance to infectious diseases. The protein optimum for the organism of an adult woman is about 90 - 100 grams of protein per day, and with regular intensive sports, this can significantly increase - up to 130 - 140 grams per day and even more. It is believed that to perform a protein optimum per day when performing physical exercises for each kilogram of body weight, an average intake of 1.5 grams of protein and more is required. However, even in the most intensive training regimes in sports, the amount of protein should not exceed 2 to 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. If you attend sports sections or fitness clubs with a purely health goal, then the optimal protein content in your diet should be considered as its amount, which ensures the intake of 1.5 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

However, compliance with the protein minimum and the protein optimum in sports is not the only condition for adequate nutrition, which provides recovery processes in the body after active training. The fact is that food proteins can differ significantly in their nutritional value. For example, proteins of animal origin are optimal for the human body in terms of their amino acid composition. They contain all the essential amino acids necessary for growth and rapid recovery of muscle tissue performance in sports. Proteins contained in plant foods contain a very small amount of some essential amino acids or are characterized by the total absence of some of them. Therefore, when practicing sports, the optimal diet will be meat and dairy products, eggs and fish.

Thus, on the basis of taking into account the values ​​of the protein minimum and the protein optimum, one should try to provide your body with components that are extremely necessary for sports.