On The Move with Leslie
01 November 2001GET INTO PROTEIN – THE BEST KINDHigh level health requires adequate protein. Few people get it. The word protein itself comes from the Greek proto meaning first - of first quality. Protein was named for the powerful sea God, Proteus, who had the ability to change shape to suit any occasion. This is exactly what eating the right kind of protein in the right balance will do for your body. The trouble is, very few people – including some who are considered the "experts" in nutrition – know much about what kind of protein works and what doesn’t. So bear with me while we look at this remarkable macronutrient. What you learn may not only transform the way you look and feel but your whole experience of power and energy on a mental, emotional and spiritual level too. The single most important biomarker of aging – measurement by which an expert in physiology determines, not your chronological but rather your biological age, is your lean body mass to fat ratio. Your body is made up of two basic components – lean body weight which encompasses muscle tissue together with bones, nerves, tendons, circulatory system, ligaments, skin and all your organs and fat. Lean body weight is also referred to as lean body mass. Your lean body mass demands oxygen. It uses nutrients from your food, it thinks and feels. It moves, grows and repairs itself. Wild animals, like Paleolithic man, had a very high percentage of lean body mass to fat. This is what gave him his ease of movement, stamina, and his firm, sleek body. That is what gives wild animals and young, healthy human beings their vitality and power. And - this is stunning news - the key to aliveness in any body, no matter what its age - as well as to burning excess fat and keeping in away forever - lies in increasing your lean body mass – more specifically, that part of it which is muscle. For your muscle is the engine which turns food calories into energy. Muscle tissue also burns fat and creates an experience of ongoing simple joy in whatever you may be doing. Muscle supplies life energy for you to think, to move and to feel. The power of the horse, the rhythmical gait of the wolf, able to run on and on with ease, the wild playfulness of the dolphin, all these depend on good strong muscle. So does your ability as a human being to experience passion and excitement in your life. A good lean body mass to fat ratio helps prevent the decline in hormones which limit sexual drive and the intensity of orgasm as people get older. Enhance the quality of your muscle and you enhance the vitality of your whole body. Every molecule of muscle in your body is made from the proteins you eat. Protein is a kind of umbrella term used to describe the 22 biological compounds, called amino acids. Because your body has the ability to synthesize 13 of these amino acids, those 8 remaining are generally considered essential proteins. This is why we are told that we must obtain them from dietary sources. The 8 essential amino acids, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine are those amino acids which we are told we must eat each day, either by taking animal source foods all of which contain them or, by mixing together vegetable foods, each of which contributes some of the essential amino acids, so the entire spectrum of essential amino acids are present in our bodies to be able to build new proteins. When it comes to babies and animals, 2 more amino acids, arginine and histidine, are also considered essential. Having said all this, it is time to lay aside the notion of essential and non-essential amino acids. For, although your body does indeed have the capacity to turn nonessential amino acids into essential amino acids, it can do so only if there is sufficient quantity of the specific amino acids needed. High quality proteins – the kind of proteins you need to grow a lean, powerful body are found in foods which offer not only the essential amino acids but good quantities of the rest as well. The saying in the computer world "garbage in, garbage out" is absolutely true when applied to protein foods. For your body cannot build a strong immune system, blood, skin and muscle if you are not supplying it with proteins of the very highest biological value. Most books and government guidelines about protein are like dinosaurs. The Protein Equivalency Ratio (PER) and the Net Protein Utilization Index (NPU) officially quoted in articles about protein quality are based on an obsolete science which depends on how much protein you eat rather than the amount of protein that you absorb. Nutritional expert in sports medicine, biochemist Michael Colgan, puts it rather well. He says, "relying on the obsolete science of the amount of protein consumed, rather than the amount of protein absorbed, they are about as accurate at assessing human needs as the Victorian practice of Phrenology (feeling the bumps on your skull)". The reason these measurements are still around, by the way, is that the meat marketing industry keeps pushing them as a way of trying to convince people that meat is a high quality source of protein and we should eat more of it. The only real measure of protein quality worth paying attention to what is known as Biological Value (BV). This measure determines the amount of protein that is actually retained within your body per gram of protein you absorb. The BV measurement was developed a long time ago when eggs were still believed to be the highest biologically assimilable protein in the world and were therefore rated at 100%. Within the last 20 years, thanks to some pretty remarkable developments in food technology - the unusual kind of food technology which actually produces foods that enhance health instead of exploiting it – a number of microfiltered whey products and whey peptide blends have appeared on the market with biological values higher than a whole egg. The development of microfiltered whey proteins has rendered the whole concept of BV percentages meaningless. However, the biological value measurements still work. Considering the biological value of a whole egg as still 100 the BV of meat is around 76 with fish and poultry nearby, then the biological value of lactalbumin would be 104 and the biological value of the microfiltered whey protein powders varies from 110 – 159. It may surprise you to see that meat and fish, which we’ve always been told are the top quality proteins – are rated much lower on the biological value scale than many other protein sources. There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, the biological value of proteins when it comes to meat, fish and other common foods, is measured from these foods after they have been cooked. When proteins are heated, some of their amino acids become so de-natured - changed in their molecular structure - as to render them useless since the digestive enzymes in the gut have difficulty processing them onwards. A few amino acids can even be destroyed by cooking. Grill a steak at 239º Fahrenheit, and the amino acids cystine and lysine are lost. Glutamine, one of the important amino acids in the prevention of arthritis and the regulation of appetite, can also be destroyed by heat. There is evidence that cooked milk proteins as well as cooked meat, poultry, and egg proteins can chemically bind with vital nutrients too, making them unavailable for use by the body in building the new protein molecules it needs. Most of the meat, game, small insects and animals that Paleolithic men ate came in their natural uncooked form. This means the biological value of those proteins was much higher – probably close to the BV of microfiltered whey protein - than are the animal sources of protein we eat now. This kind of protein is available as a powder which you can mix with a handful of berries perhaps or a grated apple to make a smoothie for breakfast or as a meal replacement. I use it when I travel, carrying around a little container of the stuff which I mix with water to make a drink that is highly sustaining and supportive on long haul flights for instance. My favorite brand is Solgar’s Whey-to-Go either in chocolate or vanilla since I don’t care for their other two flavors. (See Resources section of my web site). Here are a few of my favorite recipes to get you started. Let me have some of yours:
QUICK SHAKE Serves 1 If you like chocolate, this is one of the fastest recipes I know for breakfast. I use it often. You can also make it with vanilla flavored powder or any other flavored whey. WHAT YOU NEED 1-4 scoops of mircrofiltered whey protein or
whey protein isolate powder – enough scoops to yield 20-30 grams of protein HERE’S HOW Pour all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
VANILLA NUTMEG SMOOTHIE Serves 1 This breakfast in an instant is based on the traditional egg-nog that people used to drink at Christmas. In fact the egg is optional, you can make it with or without. If you decide to put the egg in - I like to do this because it gives more flavor - make sure your egg is free-range or organic. You don’t want to mess around with battery laid eggs eaten raw. There is always the danger of salmonella. WHAT YOU NEED 200 ml of cold filtered or spring water HERE’S HOW Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend vigorously until combined. Be careful not to blend more than 20 seconds, however, since this can change the nature of the microfiltered whey protein. Sprinkle a little extra grated nutmeg on top and serve immediately.
BERRY BLISS SMOOTHIE Serves 1 WHAT YOU NEED 50 grams of fresh or frozen raspberries, strawberries,
blackberries, loganberries or a mixture HERE’S HOW Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well but not more than 20 seconds. You can add more or less water if you want a slightly thicker or thinner shake. Serve immediately.
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