By Satya Mahapatra
Proteins are made up of linked chain of chemical composition matters (aka amino acids). In all we require twenty types of these matters for our body’s multi functional activities. They fall in three categories – Essential, Semi essential and Non-essentials. The human body is not capable of producing these matters in the system: thus we need to get these from external source – our diet.
Protein does quite a variety of jobs in the body: such as hormonal activities, providing and producing enzyme and antibodies in the immune system. Protein is also part of certain bodily structures and organs – tissue, skin, hair and muscle fiber. Around sixty percent of proteins are stored in the muscle; especially in the interwoven skeletal muscle, body muscle or organ muscle. It serves as a building block for the body structures and is not a source of direct energy.
The standard consumption of Protein is one gram per kg of your body weight. Suppose you are fifty kg then the Protein intake should be fifty grams. If one wants to build muscle mass and are into endurance activity then it should be 1.2 to 1.8 grams per kg of the body weight. If one is into strength training then along with Protein, Carbohydrates have to be consumed in the correct ratio. Normally it is 1:3 during post meal workout. High Protein foods are – Meat, Fish and seafood, Milk and dairy products, Eggs, Legumes, Grain products and Nuts.
