Day Four: After water, we are protein.
Earlier we learned that water is the main chemical in our bodies. Coming in number two is protein. The word protein actually means “first substance” due to the fact that the first food fuel we ever consumed was our mother’s milk. Milk is the only food specifically designed to sustain mammalian life and therefore human life. Milk has two protein groups:
Whey - which is the complete protein that makes milk so essential to life and;
Casein - which is used for manufacturing cheese and other milk by-products.
One of the problems you can have in understanding protein is that there is so much information out there on protein, most of it contradictory, most of it wrong. It’s time that you had the truth about protein; just the facts and nothing but the facts.
To start, you need to understand that the word “protein” covers a lot of ground. There are literally thousands of different proteins, ranging from high end proteins that are actually “live” to low end proteins like Elmer’s Glue.
Assuming a decent dietary source, protein is the nutritional key for those of you interested in improving your health, losing excess body fat or adding lean, well-shaped muscle. In order to make these improvements, you need sufficient protein intake to fuel the changes.
Normally our diets are very high in carbohydrates and fats. It is a bit of an oversimplification, but think of it in the following way: when you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar immediately raises. This causes your pancreas to secrete the hormone insulin that removes the sugar from the blood and stores it as fat. Conversely, when you eat proteins your blood sugar levels remain low. This causes the pancreas to secrete glucagon. Glucagon travels to the fat cells and extracts fat to be burned as energy.
As important as protein is, oddly, as we indicated earlier, there is no nutrient more misunderstood. Protein is simply a group of different amino acids bonded together. Different types of proteins are comprised of different amounts of individual amino acids. This is important, depending on what goal you are trying to achieve with protein use. There are a variety of protein sources available to people. There are proteins from whole foods such as meats, grains and vegetables. There are also single free form amino acids. There are soy proteins, egg proteins, casein and various forms of whey protein.
Let's examine in general terms some of the more popular protein sources.
1. Protein from whole foods such as meats, grains and vegetables. Whole food sources are acceptable because they are widely available and they taste good. On the negative side, however, whole food proteins normally spoil quickly and may contain risky microorganisms that can make you sick. Additionally, food proteins normally have high levels of fats or carbohydrates and are highly fibrous, therefore more difficult to digest. Further, depending on the specific food source, they may cause allergies.
Most importantly, however, whole food proteins when cooked can lose their health altering potency.
2. Single Free Form Amino Acids. Single free form amino acids are manufactured through fermentation by microorganisms in large biological chambers. These can be manufactured as pharmaceutical grade pure injectibles or as food grade products. As food products, amino acids are very costly, taste terrible, have poor mixability, high digestive irritability and are absorbed relatively slowly.
3. Soy Protein. There is so much information being peddled by marketing companies regarding soy protein being the best source of protein for women. This is due to the fact that soy is a BIG business in the US. And soy manufacturers actually have lobbyists on the payroll helping to create the big lie. There is no other way to state the facts other than to say that calling soy the best, most complete protein for women is totally inaccurate as it is missing a highly critical amino acid, methionine. Facts are facts and there is no way to dispute this fact.
Additionally, soy is an estrogenic substance. While there were studies published earlier in time demonstrating estrogenic nutrient’s value for heart disease prevention, etc., there are an equal number of studies showing that taking estrogenic substances may not affect heart disease even a little bit and, in fact, carry with them significant risks to the consumer.
4. Egg Protein. Twenty odd years ago, Hal Katz formed a nutritional brand called Nature’s Best and he went on a mission to convince people of the superior value of egg protein and various protein’s PER ratings. The PER rating died around 1991 along with the notion that egg protein was superior for making anything other than meringue pies.
5. Casein. There was a time when whey was considered an annoying by-product of making various cheeses from casein. Today we understand that casein protein has nowhere the nutritional value of whey and may actually be damaging for a number of reasons including it being a possible carcinogenic.
6. Whey Proteins. There are a variety of whey proteins available in the market today. There is no need to get into deep detail on them other than to mention that the most relevant classification of whey is whether it is denatured or non-denatured.
Denatured whey means damaged whey. In the manufacturing process a majority of whey proteins are subjected to heat, alkali or acid causing their structure to unfold. During this process, some of whey’s original properties, especially its biological activity, are diminished or eliminated. These destructive manufacturing processes exist simply to reduce the cost of processing protein. They are negative, nutritional value robbing short cuts – plain and simple.
Non Denatured whey means never damaged. The whey protein is naturally occurring and is never altered by heat, chemicals, enzyme action or processing. Non denatured proteins are also referred to as Native Proteins.
The best, most complete protein available for anyone wishing to repair their body or stimulate their health is Non Denatured Whey or Native Whey. There can be no disputing that fact. Tomorrow we will discover the incredible benefits that Native Whey can provide for your health and fitness as well as how to use it to get maximal benefits.
