There have been lots of fads going around the Internet these days; low carb, high protein, all liquid, but the bottom line is these fad diets
are fads for a reason. Though they do succeed in lowering your weight, they do so in an unhealthy way. Most diets often resulting in lowering an individuals metabolic rate thus making it even more difficult to burn calories and loose weight.


A protein is composed of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. The basic structure of all protein is the amino group and the amino acids
which is a product once protein is broken down. There are 20 types of
Amino acids aka peptides, which are classified as either indispensable or dispensable. There are 9 insensible (essential) peptides which cannot be manufactured by the body. The dispensable (non-essential) peptides consist of 11 peptides that can be manufactured by the body, and 6 of these are considered conditionally indispensable.



Where do humans obtain their indispensable proteins?

The easiest way to obtain an indispensable protein would be by eating animal protein. Animal proteins contain complete proteins which contain all the indispensable (essential amino acids). Vegetarians often have a hard time consuming complete proteins. This is due to the fact that single vegetables contain incomplete proteins. These incomplete proteins are missing some indispensable amino acids. For example, grains are low in lysine; and beans are low in methionine. While both of these vegetables themselves are incomplete, combining these two vegetables creates a complete protein. Another common protein source for vegetarians is through the consumption of soy protein isolate which is usually comparable to animal protein.

How much Protein do I need?
 
Sedentary 0.8 g/kg
Strength, maintenance 1.2-1.4 g/kg
Strength, gain muscle 1.6-1.7 g/kg
Endurance 1.2-1.4 g/kg
Intermittent, high intensity 1.4-1.7 g/kg
Weight-restricted 1.4-1.8 g/kg


Calculate your suggested caloric intake
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