Living Young Forever

In today’s hectic  daily pace it is not always easy to eat right. Between soccer practice, music lessons, dance lessons and a myriad of other things to do everyday it is all to often easier to catch a drive through at the closest corner fast food restaurant. Yes it is convenient but there is a healthier way to get you through to the next healthy meal.

With the increased demand for better options for health conscious consumers there has been a steady increase of healthy snacks available. A popular choice these days is the protein bar or whole food bar.With its increased popularity these delicious and healthy snacks no longer taste like dried up lawn clippings even kids love them. The leading brands such as the Cliff Bar, Think Thin, The Organic bar, and the Raw Revolution come in a wide variety of flavors to choose from so there is a healthy choice for everyone.

These healthy on the go snacks are not only good for you they are convenient and an affordable alternative to fast food. After all what price would you put on your health or your kids.

Part II of the protein puzzle-

Whats a gram of protein? So using our model from the last blog  if we need 62 grams of protein per day and we buy our meat lets say in ounces and pounds we need to do a little math again. So now its time to cut to the chase or in this case the Steak.

3 oz of Top Sirloin has ruffly 26 grams of protein a lean beef burger 22 grams so this means that if you ate 3 -1/4  lb lean burger patties in a day you would “meat” your minimum daily protein requirements. So you can fire up the Barbecue or you can ditch some of the saturated fat by using a protein supplement such as a protein smoothie for breakfast or a protein bar for a healthy snack. Either way it is easy to get your daily protein intake.

Part I of the protein puzzle-

As we discussed in our Blog metric conversion confusion the use of the metric system can make things a little challenging for those of us on the standard system of measurement and this is especially true when it comes to figuring out how much daily protein you need in your diet for optimal health.

The ongoing discussion among health professionals on how much protein you actually need each day is still a hot debate with no definitive answer in sight. The most widely excepted model for the minimum daily intake is 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of lean body mass ether by whole food or a protein supplement.  Here we go with the metric system again. Not to mention getting an accurate reading on lean mass. And do not rely on a personal trainer using the body fat caliber method to be even close to accurate, but that’s for another day.

Lets first get this metric thing sorted out. A 180 lb person converts to 81.647 Kilograms and lets say our average person has a 25% body fat, that leaves 61.235 kilograms of lean mass. Using the current theories this person needs a minimum 61 to 62 grams of protein per day to sustain there health. Derived either through whole foods our protein supplements. This of course is not taking into consideration any other factors such as lifestyle, health and genetics.

Next up how do I meet the required amount I need.

How much protein can be absorbed at each meal has been an ongoing topic of conversation among athletes especially body builders for sometime now.  The most definitive answer so far has come from several resources in the scientific community one of which is D. M. Matthews Department of Chemical Pathology, Westminster Medical School, London.

Their research supports similar studies that the body absorbs 90 to 95% of the intake.  In other words if you ate a serving of  chicken containing 20g of protein, on average the body would uptake approximately 18g, 30g=27g, 40g=36g and so on. The source of the protein such as a lean cut of beef vs. say a protein shake does not make a significant difference in absorption.

An important note about this is that just because the body extracts it from the digestion process does not mean it uses all of it. Some of the protein may be excreted if not needed. Just how much your body needs per day or meal is another topic and deserves further discussion.

So regardless of your preference in food chocies you might say when it comes to protein you get what you pay for, well ok all but about 5 to 10% but that is still a bargin in todays economy.

Even though there is much debate from the health community on what form of protein is best. The good news is regardless of your preference if you are in a modern industrialized country you will not lack for resources.

The the most important thing to keep in mind is that what ever your preference is it needs to be a”complete” protein. This why a protein supplement can be a great resource to meet your daily requirements of protein. It is important to know that a Complete Protein is  a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for the bodies dietary needs. These essential amino acids should include the following in adequate ratios histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. The reason they are considered essential is because our body does not produce them. Therefore we need to get them from other sources such as meats, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and milk.  Supplements such as protein shakes or protein bars are also an excellent way to get your daily complete protein and reduce the intake of saturated fats.

An important note to all this is that failure to obtain enough of even 1 of the 10 essential amino acids can have serious health implications and can result in degradation of the body’s proteins. Muscle and other protein structures may be dismantled to obtain the one amino acid that is needed. “Unlike fat and starch, the human body does not store excess amino acids for later use the amino acids must be in the food every day. This is why a supplement containing a full profile of amino acids like a protein shake or protein bar can be very important in getting an adequate amount of  complete protein every day to to maintain healthy muscle tissue.

I still find it amusing after all these years that here in the good old USA we are still saying we are on the “standard” system of measurement. As opposed to our friends in the rest of the world that are using the “metric” system.  Although officially it is true I still ask the question, why does the food labeling  system use grams as a unit of measurement instead of ounces?  The  preparation instructions if needed on the product is not in metric. I am sure that this is a very debatable subject for another time that would spawn everything from conspiracy theories to down right marketing deception.

The problem however is that most Americans grew up with there primary education in standard measurements so a gram for example has very little meaning as to actual volume. With this in mind a beverage label might read 20 grams of sugar  but most people have no idea that what this means is that they are actually consuming approximately 5 teaspoons of sugar. So when was the last time you knowingly put 5 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee or tea?

The point here is that product labeling can be very miss leading because of the conversion factor, making it difficult for consumers that are truly looking for healthy food choices and healthy snacks to make the right decisions based on labeling. Our simple advice is to limit intake of commercially processed foods and go right for the fresh produce section as often as possible. After all I have not seen an apple with a nutritional label on it yet and the scale at the grocery store still reads in good old POUNDS and ONCES.