Protein Information

Protein is, besides water, the most important component of the human body.  Muscle, enzymes, hormones, skin, hair, everything is protein.  But, it cannot be stacked inside the body.  Just because of that, we need to supply our bodies continously with proteins.

When we do not have enough protein in our nutrition, our bodies start to consume its own proteins, resulting in loss of muscle protein, performance and sense of well being.  It is clear that supplying the body with protein in time is very important for athletes.

Function
The essential function of protein in nutrition is the delivery of amino acids for the construction of new body protein and muscle.

Composition
Protein is composed of twenty different amino acids. There are eight essential amino acids (these are the amino acids that the body cannot product itself and that need to absorbed through our nutrition) and twelve non-essential amino acids (these amino acids, the body can produce itself).

Action
During digestion the body divides the food proteins into separate amino acids.  These are then transported in the bloodstream and are reconstructed into body proteins.

Why protein concentrates?
We get most of our protein out of animal products such as meat, fish, milk and eggs.  A negative thing about animal prtein is that it also contains unwanted waste products like purines (waste product of the degeneration of body proteins), cholesterol and fats.  Vegetal proteins tend to have a lower biological value.

Protein concentrates are very convenient, have a high biological value and contain almost no fat, no purines and no cholesterol.

Biological value (quality of food protein) results from the percentage of essential amino acids and their absorption in the body.  It is important that all eight essential amino acids are present in the right proportion.  The maximum biological value is 100%.  This means that 100% of the supplied quantity of protein can be transferred into body protein.  By mixing different protein sources (for example egg protein powder and milk protein powder) we can obtain very high biological values. 

How much protein does an athlete need?
The daily amount of protein needed is 0.8g per kg bodyweight, for non-active people.  It is evident that the need for protein increases with intensive activity.  This is a result of increased metabolism and the protein breakdown caused by increased energy needs.

An average athlete needs about 1.5g protein per kg of bodyweight per day.  The protein requirement for a professional athlete can rise to 2.5g of protein per kg per day.  An athlete of 80kg may need 160-200g of protein a day, meaning they would need to eat 800-1000g of meat.  This would also involve consuming lots of purines, cholesterol and fat - making protein concentrates a good alternative for athletes and bodybuilders.