What is Protein?
Protein is a macro nutrient that is essential to building muscle mass. Protein is chemically composed of amino acids, an organic compound. These amino acids then link together, forming longer chains, which then eventually turn into complex structures. Of the 20 amino acids, 9 are essential, meaning we need to eat them in our diets (Levinson, Randy, 2014). Each gram of protein contains 4. The Dietary Reference Intake for protein is 0.8 - 1 grams per kilogram of body weight (Watford, M. & Wu, G., 2011).
Types of Protein
The most common types of protein available include:
- Eggs
- Meats including poultry, beef and pork
- Milk
- Fish (tuna, salmon, tilapia, etc.)
- Quinoa
- Beans & Legumes (chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, etc.)
- Nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc.)
Protein & Exercise
Protein essentially works as building blocks for not just your muscles, but for a lot of other essential body parts. As you exercise, you are effectively tearing down and breaking muscle fibers apart. (Atherson, P. & Smith, K., 2012)Thus needing more protein to repair itself. As your muscles are breaking down and repairing itself, they are being reinforced and becoming stronger. When looking to build muscle, protein should make up 10 to 35 percent of total calories consumed for adults. After working out consuming 20 grams of protein is recommended for muscle recovery (Moore et al, 2009).
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References
Moore, D. R., Robinson, M. J., Fry, J. L., Tang, J. E., Glover, E. I., Wilkinson, S. B., Prior, T., Tarnopolsky, M. A., & Phillips, S. M. (2009). Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men. 89(1), 161–168. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2008.26401
Witard, O., & Ball, D. (2018). The interaction between nutrition and exercise for promoting health and performance. 77(1), 1-3.
Atherton, P., & Smith, K. (2012). Muscle protein synthesis in response to nutrition and exercise. Journal of Physiology, 590(5), 1049-1057.
Randy Levinson. (2014). Nutrition: Dietary protein and lifespan. Nature Medicine, 20(4), 349.
Watford, M., & Wu, G. (2011). Protein. Advances in Nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2(1), 62-63.