Your protein needs

What are proteins?

Proteins, together with carbohydrates and fats, are one of the three macronutrients that our body needs optimal health for; They are among the essential nutrients for man and serve as "bricks" to build the body on a cellular level. Proteins contribute to guaranteeing essential functions such as blood coagulation, the balance of fluids, the production of hormones and enzymes, vision, and the repair of cells.  Proteins are similar to carbohydrates and lipids due to the fact that each molecule contains carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms. Compared to these, the main difference is that the proteins also contain nitrogen, which composes about 16% of the molecule, together with sulfur, fierphorous and iron. The four elements of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen are combined in a number of different structures called amino acids. Each amino acid has an amino group (NH2) and an acid group (COOH), with a different combination of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and in some cases of sulfur.

What are their functions?

Proteins are decisive molecules in the regulation of human metabolism. The muscle, connective tissue, blood coagulation factors, blood transport proteins, lipoproteins, visual pigments and protein matrix inside the bones are used to form to form. They are also used to maintain the balance of body fluids with the production of albumin and globulin. Without sufficient proteins in the bloodstream, edema would develop quickly. The immune system is also composed of proteins. Antibodies are proteins. Without sufficient proteins in the diet, the cells necessary to allow the immune system to function correctly, causing a potential drop in the immune response will be missing. Food proteins can also be used as a source of energy. If a diet does not contain quite carbohydrates to provide the necessary glucose, proteins can be used to synthesize glucose. This process is called gluconueogenesis. While the protein is not normally considered an important source of energy when the diet is balanced, it can become it when carbohydrates are not available or in a state of fasting. The expensive process of gluconeogenesis causes much of the loss of muscle mass that occurs in the Intia.

Protein needs in sport.

The athlete's protein needs is perhaps the most discussed question, and with discordant theories, which have always split the ideologies on the food approach of sportsmen and preparers.

Proteins act as basic material for the deposition of other muscle mass which, especially in the absence of a sufficient share of essential amino acids, could be strongly limited. While it has now been demonstrated and clarified that in the middle adult the protein needs of the vegetarian can be easily satisfied without resorting to particular precautions (such as the now overcome idea of ​​the complementation of cereals and legumes), there is still a strong confusion linked to the needs of the sportsman , omnivorous or vegetarian who is.

There is no undisputed approach and uniquely demonstrated regarding the protein quota but current biochemical knowledge can suggest how to satisfy protein needs, avoiding surplus or insufficiency. Often it refers to protein needs as an independent index linked to the type of physical activity; It is considered that an average individual should introduce 0.8 g/kg of body weight of proteins, a needs that can increase up to 1.8 g/kg in power athletes. In reality, the big mistake lies in underestimating, in this context, the caloric needs that represent the first index to be considered.

How to calculate this needs?

Starting from the caloric share calculated on the basis of the athlete's real needs, the protein share should be calculated according to the proportions now established by the numerous epidemiological studies. Thus 12-15% of proteins, compared to the overall calorie share, will provide for a quantity of proteins directly proportional to the caloric share. In this way it will not be incurred in the risk of caloric overload (in the case of protein calculation and caloric balance in relation to this), or renal overload (in case of protein calculation and independent calorie balance with increase in the percentage of protein). Protein hiring above 2g/kg per day have not been demonstrated favorable for muscle deposition and have been connected to loss of bone calcium, kidney dysfunctions and cardiovascular problems.

Although the share of essential amino acids introduced with the diet has recently been connected to the genesis of some tumors, in the sportsman it represents a point of regulation of protein synthesis in response to catabolic hormonal stimuli. All plant foods tend to have a lowest essential amino acids of animal food. Precisely for this reason, especially in case of very high needs, it will be useful for the vegetarian sportsman to use particularly rich protein sources, such as soy preparations, which do not present amino acid deficiencies and allow regular promotion of protein synthesis. While the promotion of muscle deposition can be counterproductive in the endurance athlete, which for this should never exceed 1.4 g of proteins on kg of body weight, in power it is also maximized through the use of specific amino acids widely studied for their ergogenic and anabolic capacity in the skeletal muscle. These amino acids are called branched for their alifatic lateral chain (Val, Ile, Leu) and are part of the essential ones because they cannot be synthesized by our body. In the cultural, their intake often takes place in the form of supplements or foods such as milk, egg white, milk serum or casein extracts. In the case of vegans, the only relevant source of branched amino acids is soy in the form of degraded thermoplastic proteins or soy protein extracts (isolated soy proteins). Notoriously these proteins, as far as they do not present deficiencies from the point of view of the amino acid framework, have a limited efficiency of use of nitrogen and a limited digestibility. Recent studies on the supplementation of branched amino acids have revealed that the effect of these amino acids could actually be exclusive to the prerogative of the leucine alone. In this case, the best source for omnivores could be the milk serum while for vegans it would be enough to reach the altitude of at least 3-4g of leucine per meal and, where not reached, providing through specific supplements (its oxidation is particularly high during physical activity of endurance). The excessive intake of branched amino acids compared to the needs, could worsen the performance between the resistance athletes due to the increase in muscle mass. The most common sources in the vegetarian diet can be sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, tofu and pumpkin seeds.

Often the importance of the failure to achieve the caloric share and its catabolic effect on the body's proteins is often underestimated. As is true that plasma proteins levels give us a clear signal of the nutritional adequacy of an individual, in the vegetarian athlete and above all vegan it is easy that the scarcity of dense foods can affect the tendency of these individuals to the failure to achieve muscle potential . As in adolescence, in the sports requirement the caloric needs must be satisfied with sufficiently concentrated foods (soy proteins, pea flours and hemp, wheat germ and dried fruit, rice proteins), which are at the same time rich in the necessary proteins . Let's not forget that these foods are rich in calories and proteins but poor in micro elements and that for this reason they must not fully replace entire foods. Even if the timing of carbohydrates is of fundamental importance for a good performance and a good recovery, the caloric share of a professional sportsman can be easily underestimated. A 68 kg resistance athlete can need 3600 kcal with 120g of proteins (~ 13%, 1.8g/kg); A 91 kg power athlete may need 4800 kcal with 160g of proteins (~ 13%, 1.8g/kg); Each with a physical training of 4 hours a day (at the bottom of the next article, an example of a vegetarian food plan for each) is shown).

Our advice, whether you are athletes or that you want to take a healthy and balanced food path, is always to contact a nutritionist biologist, a doctor or a specialist.