SFH BLOG: PROTEIN: THE BIG PICTURE

Protein is a part of the plant and animal kingdom and is found in all plants and animals.  Proteins are composed of amino acids and all proteins must be broken down to amino acids to be absorbed from our G.I. tract.

What is an ideal protein source?

• An ideal Protein source needs to be rich in protein! Not all sources are dense in real protein.
• An ideal protein needs to disperse easily in water.
• An ideal protein needs to have high bioavailability to be absorbed quickly as amino acids. (This is very important)

The source of protein should come from “clean” farms: no antibiotics, no hormones, grass fed, free range no insecticides (if a plant source), not genetically modified (if a plant, eliminates soy in general), contain no gluten (eliminates many plant sources).

When these factors are considered, whey protein is the best source of quick release protein, followed by egg white protein, followed by certain plant proteins.  Soy protein should be avoided as virtually all soy is derived from genetically modified plants.  Genetic modification caused the synthesis of unnatural proteins which can lead to food allergies and disease associated allergies.  Because virtually all soy has some genetically modified product, one should avoid all soy based supplements and all foods that have soy in them (a much larger challenge). 

Why should a protein supplement be quick release?

• Quick release means that the protein is very digestible and will be absorbed as amino acids quickly.  Exercise induces inflammation and is stressful. This causes the release of TNF alpha, Interleukins such as IL6, also CRP and cortisol.  All of these factors induce muscle breakdown and inflammation induces (protein catabolism).  Amino acids are essential to force the equilibrium from catabolism to anabolic muscle building. 

• Food containing protein such as lean meat is about 80% protein.  Whey protein varies from 80 to > 90% protein.  Protein from lean meat is a form of slow release protein and is essential to nutrition every day.  If we assume that about 35 to 40% of a daily calorie intake of 2000 calories should be protein then not less that 700 calories should come from protein. At 4 cal/gram, 700 calories equals 175 grams of protein or about 1 to 1.5 grams of protein/lb of body weight.  We believe that 20% to 40% of this protein should come from quick release sources such as whey or 30 to 70 grams (one to three 30 grams servings of whey protein), depending on your training goals.  Slow release protein should come from a combination of lean meat sources and vegetables (extra slow release protein complex with fiber) not casein based protein.

The Bottom Line:

All protein is not the same. You have to be careful what you put in your body. READ LABELS! Make sure your protein is coming from a grass fed source, and is FREE of hormones, antibiotics, soy, and gluten.