why we need protein
Proteins are the building blocks of the animal kingdom. The human body assembles and utilises about 50,000 different proteins to form organs, nerves, muscles and flesh.
In order to build muscle, you must have protein.
Muscle is the foundation of every athlete: without a solid muscle base, you will be ineffective in any fitness pursuit.
Muscle also plays an important role in protecting you from diabetes.
The more muscle you have, the more efficiently your body can uptake glucose from your bloodstream.
Vegetarians often claim that animal products shorten life span, but the most cursory look at long-lived ethnic groups proves that this is not the case.
Russians from the Caucasus Mountains an area famous for longevity, eat lots of fatty meat and whole milk products.
Inhabitants of Vilcabamba in Ecuador, also known for their longevity, consume a variety of animal foods including whole milk and fatty pork. On the other hand, the vegetarian inhabitants of southern India have one of the shortest life spans in the world.
Not only is it difficult to obtain adequate protein on a diet devoid of animal products, but such a diet often leads to deficiencies in many important minerals as well.
Our primitive ancestors subsisted on a diet composed largely of meat and fat, augmented with vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts.
Studies of their remains reveal that they had excellent bone structure, heavy musculature and flawless teeth.
Unfortunately around 10,000 years ago agricultural man added milk, grains and legumes to this diet.
These foods allowed him to pursue a more comfortable life style than the hunter gatherer, but at a price.
In his studies of isolated primitive peoples, Dr Weston Price found that those whose diets consisted largely of grains and legumes, while far healthier than modern day grains had nevertheless, more dental cavities than those living on meat and fish.
As a food Protein has a thermogenic effect on the body, in fact Protein has the largest thermogenic effect (30%) meaning for every 100 calories of protein you eat, 30 will be burned just by eating, leaving your body with a net 70 calories.
Thermogenisis is a natural process and is an extremely effective method to lose belly fat and combined with good fats, vegetables and certain fruits such as berries, apples and pears will help ensure that the overall diet is in balance.
In summary, animal products are important sources of bodybuilding elements in the diet.
Furthermore, animal fats supply vitamin A and vitamin D and animal protein is rich in minerals, vitamin B6 and vitamins B12.
Animal protein foods – meat, eggs and milk always come with fat and this is how we should eat them.
Other thermogenic foods foods include fruits and vegetables because non-processed carbohydrates are moderately thermogenic, but fibre is highly thermogenic, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are very thermogenic and therefore need to be consumed often.