In conditions of complete rest and lack of food per day, we naturally lose at least 30 g of protein. With any activity - even more. This loss must be constantly replenished. If this does not happen, the body uses its own "resources": it begins to disassemble the most accessible proteins of muscles, liver and blood plasma into its constituent parts. Therefore, when determining the body's protein requirements, it is said about the "protein minimum" - its daily rate below which there is a risk for life, and the "protein optimum" - the amount of protein that is necessary for health. However, excessive protein intake may result in fat tissue growth. Amino acids, which are not included in the process of energy production, are deposited in the form of lipids. To "build" a beautiful body, strength training alone is not enough. It is necessary that your body regularly receives a sufficient amount of protein.
How much to hang in grams?
Let's talk at once that the 30 g is the pure protein, not the weight of the product (in 100 g of chicken meat, for example, contains 20-22 g of protein, and in 100 g of fish - 15-20 g). And this figure is rather arbitrary. In fact, the needs of the body largely depend on many different factors: sex, age, body weight, living conditions, health status and lifestyle. Breast, for example, as a percentage of the protein body mass, requires three times more than an adult, a teenager doubles, the elderly 20% more than a 30-year-old, living in a hot climate less than residents of cold regions. The need for proteins for the body, nutrients increases after injuries and illnesses, in those who regularly engage in manual labor and / or sports. And in the latter case, it will be determined by the duration and intensity of training. If a woman needs, on average, 0.80 g of protein per kilogram of body weight, then with regular moderate exercise fitness - 1.5 g per 1 kg of body weight, and with intensive - up to 2.5 g per 1 kg of body weight. The proportion of protein in the daily diet of a healthy middle-aged man should account for -12% of the total number of calories. For a person engaged in sports - 13-15%. And for those who want to build muscle, from 18 to 25%, but for a short period.
Right choice
It is desirable to type your "norm" with biologically complete proteins. They contain such essential amino acids as valine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine and others. The organism itself can not synthesize them, unfortunately. As a rule, these are proteins of animal origin, which, by the way, are assimilated optimally: from dairy products and eggs - completely, and almost entirely from meat, poultry, as well as fish and liver. All vegetable proteins are more or less defective. The exception is except that soybeans, but in it there is not enough lysine and threonine, and the attitude to it among nutritionists is ambiguous. The craze for soybean as a unique source of vegetable protein has brought negative results to Europeans. Soy is not a traditional product for us, and our enzymatic system is not adapted to it. Therefore, very often there are different forms of allergy. In addition, the protein from soy, as well as from other cereals, is poorly digested.
And finally, this culture is allowed for gene modification. " To balance the diet for proteins, vegetarians and especially vegans, it is desirable to know the amino acid composition of the foods they consume: all cereal crops contain little lysine; in maize, beans and nuts, tryptophan is not enough; in oatmeal and lentil, methionine. In addition, it should be remembered that plant proteins are not fully digested. Therefore, firstly, your diet should be diversified to the maximum, combining vegetable food with the animal, and secondly, there are protein-containing vegetables in sufficient quantities. The biological value of protein is determined by the method of preparation. When heat-treated meat, in particular, it reduces the content of an important element for humans - lysine.
Additives do not need
To quickly strengthen the muscles, many novice athletes are tempted to take protein supplements. They are produced in the form of various cocktails, "bars", powders ... Also, additional foods enriched with proteins are produced. But you should treat them with caution. As a rule, these are synthetic products of industrial production containing non-food additives: preservatives, flavors, disintegrating agents, sweeteners. Protein supplements are produced most often on the basis of dairy and soy protein, sometimes egg. The use of such supplements instead of natural products limits the choice of protein sources. And, besides, why there is a powder based on milk or eggs with the addition of chemistry, when these products are available in kind? The biological value of a protein depends not only on its origin, but also on the quality of the source itself. The more, for example, in meat of connective fibers, the lower the biological value of its proteins.
Divide and combine
To ensure that the proteins are well mastered, it is important to observe several more rules. First, do not eat the whole day's portion at once, in one sitting, and distribute it between several meals. The gastrointestinal tract is simply not able to digest more than 30 grams of protein per time. Enzymes can not cope with so many. Secondly, combine them with vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Proved: this is how proteins are best digested. Consumed separately, they accelerate the process of destruction of the body's own proteins, and in combination with carbohydrates, on the contrary, this process inhibits. And, finally, if you increase the protein intake, you need to increase and water consumption too. Otherwise, dehydration may occur, since nitrogen molecules will not be removed from the body and will begin to attract liquid to them from the tissues.