Protein: Also important for energy, weight loss and sleep!

From: Natural News

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PROTEIN

by: Aurora Geib

(NaturalNews) For certain people, getting protein is serious business. Bodybuilders wanting that perfect Arnold Schwarzenegger build, vegetarians looking for that perfect source of protein or health buffs searching for the best kind of protein to ensure their health.

Chemically speaking, a protein is composed of amino acids covalently bonded through peptide bonds to form a chain. It has a number of functions within and out of the cells such as structural roles, acting as catalyst, transporting ferry ions and molecules across membranes and hormones.
(http://www.vivo.colostate.edu)

Nutritionally, protein is a macronutrient which assists in building up and repairing muscles and bones. It is the building block of life and the body needs it to repair and maintain itself. Every cell in the body including body fluids contains protein with the exception of the bile and urine. Human growth and development especially during pregnancy require protein to be successful.

ScienceDaily.com, an online resource of new scientific discoveries, recently revealed that it is protein and not sugar that keeps us thin and awake. Scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered that wakefulness and energy expenditures actually relied on orexin cells. These cells secrete a substance that stimulates the brain. When these cells malfunction, sleep disorders set in. Orexin cells also influence our energy levels. When scientists studied what nutrient orexin cells responded to, they discovered that proteins stimulate the orexin cells more than any other nutrient. They further discovered that while glucose blocks the action of orexin cells, amino acids, when they interfered, negated the effect of glucose.

In a 2005 study, it was settled that elevating protein intake helps reduce body weight faster than limiting carbohydrate consumption.

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