How To Enjoy Health And Vitality With The Right Quality and Quantity Of Protein
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Posted On :
Feb-09-2011
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Article Word Count :
566
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Although protein is often recognized, especially by fitness-minded people, as an important macronutrient essential to a healthy and active life, ignorance about how much to eat and the best sources to get it from is the cause of disease. Fortunately, it is a simple matter to eat the right amount of protein based on age, sex, and activity level and to avoid getting protein from poor food choices.
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Although many people realize the value of protein as an invaluable aspect of a healthy diet—especially those who are into bodybuilding, fitness, or athletics—there is often some confusion about the best dietary sources for it.
Protein is popular with those who desire excellent health and vitality because it is an important factor in every cell of the human body. Without enough protein, hair and nails are brittle, because they are mainly made of protein. Without enough protein, a great workout is followed by sore muscles that never appear to heal because protein is essential to building and repairing the micro-lesions in the muscle tissues caused by vigorous exercise. In fact, protein is essential to more than just looking and feeling good. It is a building block, indispensable to the proper formation or functioning of blood, skin, cartilage, muscles, and bones.
Protein is more than a nutrient; it is, in fact, classified as a macronutrient, a nutrient essential to life, and one that the body needs in large amounts. By contrast, the body only needs a small amount of each vitamin and each mineral to thrive. However, unlike other macronutrients, like fats and carbohydrates, the body cannot store protein and continuously needs to be replenished with a fresh supply.
The importance of protein makes many people assume that you can’t get enough of it. However, there is such a thing as too much protein and poor quality protein.
How To Meet Your Daily Protein Requirements
Protein alone will not build muscle, but protein with exercise will. Those who exercise strenuously and regularly need more protein to repair damaged muscles. After muscles are repaired by protein, they are built a little stronger than before, the body anticipating the need to add some extra size to deal with the stress of exercise.
Estimates of exactly how much protein the body needs depends on the needs of the body.
Here are some examples:
1. The average man who lives an active life will do well with three servings of protein a day. This usually equates to seven ounces. Teenage boys will do well on the same.
2. A competitive bodybuilder, or someone who trains like one, will benefit with a pound of protein per pound of bodyweight. There is some debate about this amongst nutritionists, but, competitive bodybuilders who take in less find that it takes longer for them to recover from their workouts and build impressive mass.
3. Young children, those between the ages of 2 to 6, older people, and most sedentary women, will do well with two daily servings. This equates to about five ounces.
4. Older children, teenage girls, and women who are active need about six ounces.
How To Choose High Quality Protein Sources
All protein sources are not the same. Meats that have been treated with hormones and steroids, which are the kind sold in the butcher aisles of grocery stores, have been linked to cardiovascular disease, mainly due to the high-fat content that comes with these meats. The only thing worse than these meats are those that are highly processed like deli meats, sausages, and hot dogs that have been associated to cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Recommended protein sources are free-range meats and organic nuts and vegetables like fish, poultry, beans, nuts, soy, legumes, and whole wheat grains.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_How To Enjoy Health And Vitality With The Right Quality and Quantity Of Protein _52048.aspx
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Author Resource :
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Keywords :
right quality, protein sources, protein requirements, , body needs, protein,
Category :
Health and Fitness
:
Nutrition
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