What Is Protein?What is protein? What are good sources of protein? What is it made of and how is it digested?
Proteins are very important for the synthesis of our cellular enzymes, immunoglobulins, antibodies (a class of proteins formed in the body in response to the presence of foreign proteins and other compounds) and lipoproteins in cell membranes. Therefore proteins in our food are the origen of important biochemical substrates within our body. Proteins contain many different amino acids (amino acids are the basic units from which proteins are made). Proteins consist of approximatly twenty two different amino acids. These amino acids are joined in different combinations. Therefore protein in an egg is different to protein in a piece of steak. These different cobinations and sequences in each protein is what makes one animal protein different from the other or one vegetable protein different from the next.
Good Sources of ProteinAnimal Protein versus Vegetable Protein
Protein whether it is egg, steak or soyabean will have different combinations of the twenty two different amino acids, however there is one basic difference between animal and vegetable proteins.
Animal = Primary protein contains all essential amino acids Vegetable = Secondary protein does not contain all the essential amino acids. What Are The Essential Amino Acids? Essential amino acids cannot be manufactured by the body so it has to come from our food. Most of the twenty two amino acids can be made in our body, however there are nine that cannot. They are listed here..........
NB Histadine and Arginine in children There are a few tongue twisters there especially number 6!
So Please be aware that diets of just rice, vegetables and fruit can seriously compromise your protein requirements.
This is why it is always preferred for a person to eat eggs and/or dairy products with a vegetable based diet such as legumes,grains,fruit and vegetables.
Digestion of ProteinOk, so now lets find out just how the digestion of protein happens within our body. Our protein molecule (let's say we are eating a nice juicy slice of chicken) has now been chewed and swallowed and is now in the stomach. First it has been dipped into the hydrochloric acid then the digestive enzyme pepsin does it's work. Breaking down the protein so that we are left with a denatured protein with frayed edges and a couple of pieces which have broken off (these are called peptides). If you can imagine that enzymes are like little pairs of scissors and they come along and cut (pepsin enzyme) the protein at a certain position. Pepsin will only cut the protein molecule at certain sites along the protein chain depending upon the frequency of one or more specific amino acids.
This is the major role of the stomach. It starts off the entire process of protein digestion. We do not digest carbohydrates or fat in our stomach, only protein. Know you know what is protein let's find out about amino acids! What happens once broken down in to Amino Acids? Upon entering the blood vessels from the small intestine, amino acids go to the liver and are transferred through the blood stream to all other tissues and all the other organs of the body. Once amino acids are inside the cell they are either burned for energy or used as building blocks where they are joined to make proteins, hormones, neurotransmitters and other molecules. Pretty amazing!! So there you have it you now know what is protein! Our Exclusive DNAThat Elusive Subject our DNA and the importance of protein.Where does protein synthesis begin? Inside every single cell is a nucleus and we need a blueprint to make protein from each of our twenty two amino acids. We actually need a code which tells us what type of protein to manufacture. Inside each nucleus there is a double stranded molecule called DNA. DNA is actually our inherited blue print. It is found in chromozones and within our chromozones are segments called genes. These genes are actually units that control the manufacture of certain proteins. The whole purpose of DNA is to make proteins! I quote Dr Carol Hungerford from her book Good Health In The 21st Century as one of the best descriptions of DNA that I have found..... " DNA is often referred to as a library, because of the information it contains. Under normal circumstances, the cell makes good use of this library,and is in no doubt about how, when and why its genetic material is read. It has good mechanisms for recognising where one gene ends and another starts,when one gene needs to be turned on, another off. DNA is a library with alot of activity. Books are being pulled off the shelf, consulted,photocopied and replaced all the time. However, there is one special feature about this library. Almost every cell in the organism contains the whole libary, but depending on which cell it is, it only ever uses a small section of it. Thus a liver cell has not only all the instruction books it needs to operate as a liver cell, it also has the books on how to be a nerve cell, a heart cell, a kidney cell,and so on. It just never consults them. At least, that is what we think at this stage of understanding of genetics. (A stem cell, incidentally, is one which is able to consult the whole library. It retains the ability to become any kind of cell. It has not yet become typecast)" Are you feeling amazing yet, are you beginning to understand just how amazing you are?
What Is Protein Top
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The importance of protein is that it can be metabolized and burned for energy and is the substrate(the compound on which an enzyme acts) to form neurotransmitters and hormones.
