Page 34 - Fall2011

Protein is Here’s what protein contributes: These twenty combine together in hundreds of
intricate chemical patterns to create a variety of
needed to • We are literally made of protein from our complex protein structures. When we eat foods
“carry” fat bones to our muscles, arteries and veins, that are sources of protein, such as meat, milk,
and skin, hair, and fingernails. Our heart, brain, cheese, eggs, beans or peas, the digestive system
cholesterol liver, kidneys, and lungs are built of tissue first breaks down the food proteins into their
amino acids, and after they are absorbed into the
made of proteins.
throughout • Proteins help carry the oxygen that reddens blood, enzymes in the body recombine them into
the body. our blood. certain sequences to produce the proteins suited
• In the form of enzymes, proteins digest our to the body’s special needs, such as making red
food, synthesize essential substances, and blood cells or building muscles.
break down waste products for elimination. The body has the ability to make its own
• When fat and carbohydrates are insufficient, “building blocks” out of whatever amino acids
proteins produce the energy we need for life. are on hand. However, there is one important
• Proteins in combination with a substance limitation—some of those amino acids are only
called sterols form hormones, which regu- available in food. These “raw materials” so
late the delicate chemical changes that con- to speak must all be present to build the body
stantly take place within the body. properly; if they are not, the body, like a building
• The chromosomes, which pass on our char- made with shoddy materials, will not stand up
acteristics to our children, include protein in over time.
their structure. Of the twenty amino acids needed for proper
• Protein is needed to “carry” fat and choles- construction, eight are called essential amino
terol throughout the body. acids for adults, nine for children, since the
body cannot synthesize or make these for itself:
To be short of protein is to be lacking in the histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine
very substance of life. (which becomes cystine), phenylalanine (which
becomes tyrosine), threonine, tryptophan,
PrOTeIns are BuIldIng BlOcks and valine. These essential amino acids must
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Proteins, our most complex substances, are come from our diets. The other twelve can be
made up of varying combinations of nitrogen- manufactured within the body or, to continue our
containing amino acids. There are twenty dif- construction metaphor, they are made “on-site.”
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ferent amino acids that are important to the body. at different ages, we need different amounts of

FiGURE 1: Recommended daily Allowance (RdA) of the Essential Amino Acids
in terms of mg/kg of weight (2.2 pounds/kg)
Amino Acid infants children Adolescent Adolescent Adults
(1-3 years) Girls Boys (19 years
(14-18 years) (14-18 years) and above)

1. Histidine 32 21 14 15 14
2. isoleucine 43 28 19 21 19
3. Leucine 93 63 44 47 42
4. Lysine 89 58 40 43 38
5. methionine g cysteine 43 28 19 21 19
6. Phenylalanine g tyrosine 84 54 35 38 33
7. Threonine 49 32 21 22 20
8. Tryptophan 13 8 5 6 5
9. Valine 58 37 24 27 24

34 Wise Traditions FALL 2011 FALL 2011 Wise Traditions

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