December 19, 2011
by Michael Colgan, Ph.D. (abstracted from Dr Colgan’s forthcoming book, The Anti-Inflammatory Athlete)
Suck the water out of a lean athlete and you are left with mostly protein. More than half the dry weight of your body is protein, over 100,000 different proteins, each precisely constructed from gene expression. The structure of your brain cells, your organs, and your muscles is pure protein. Even the hemoglobin that carries the oxygen in your blood is protein. The creation of a thought, the blink of an eye, the contraction of a muscle, every move you make, is controlled by thousands of different enzymes – and all enzymes are proteins, every one (1).
Body proteins are temporary. Each is being constantly rebuilt. Some enzymes last only minutes. Your skin is replaced every few weeks. Your blood cells are replaced every three months. Most of your muscle cells are replaced every six months. Yet, unlike carbohydrates and fats, your body has no store for protein (2). Body structure is rebuilt day-by-day, mainly from the proteins you eat, and from recycled amino acids from broken down body structures. To grow an optimum body you need to eat the right proteins every day.
If you eat garbage proteins you will grow a garbage body, no matter how hard you train. If you eat garbage proteins you will grow a pro-inflammatory body, no matter how good the rest of your diet. Any day you eat garbage proteins they build into the structure of your body and you have to operate with them for up to the next six months. With garbage proteins, you cannot construct the champion whose blueprints are residing in your genes.
This is not a book on protein. Nevertheless, because protein is your structure, I will briefly cover requirements for athletes, before I show you how the right protein also helps immensely towards your goal of an anti-inflammatory body. It’s a quick, rugged ride through the science, but, bear with me, it’s well worth the effort. Continue reading →
Source: http://www.isagenixhealth.net/2011/12/protein-requirements-for-athletes/#more-3427