Diploma in Hospitality Management

Nutrition Lecture Five

Protein

Why does the body need protein?

Dietary protein provides needed amino acids these are used to make new protein in the body

Protein is made in the body:

contractile, enzymes , Immunity etc.

Protein in New Tissue as a Child Growths

Lack of protein for the immune system and digestive enzymes creates a vicious circle of malnutrition in malnourished children.

The inability to make of these proteins makes it hard for the child to utilise what little dietary protein is available to it.

In Adult Tissue Structural Proteins:

Turn over of existing tissue requires new protein in:

Intestine, blood, skin, bone, hair and other organs

Adult functional proteins are constantly synthesis:

eg Immune system, hair , muscle contraction;

transport proteins for digestion , absorption carriage in blood;

and enzymes are needed for metabolism of all other nutrients.

Use of amino acids in the body"

Dietary Protein must first be digested into constituent Amino Acids.

ie broken up into it’s constituent Amino Acids

All proteins are polymers of amino acids that may be hundreds of amino acids long

All proteins include 18 different type amino acids in their structure

And these 18 must all be present in the body for it to make any new protein

Note: If any one AA is missing no protein is made

Fortunately 9 of the 18 AA can be made from the other amino acids

 

How much protein do you need each day?

In the 1920s League of Nations recommended 1.0gm protein / Kg body weight

UN now recommend Adult needs 0.75 gm / Kg of body weight

Research indicated we may need as little as 0.50 gm / Kg

0.75 gm/Kg is considered safe minimum allowing for individual variation.

Children need more than adults / Kgm body wt.

All these values assuming normal mixed proteins (veg/meat)

 

Protein Requirement Based on Age (g/ kg Body Wt)

Day 1-3 mo 2.00

6 mo 1.50

1 yr 1.20

6 yr 1.00

Adult 0.75

 

Value of High Protein Diets

All absorbed AA is transported to the liver and only the required amounts are realised into blood. All the rest burnt or converted into fat. This is because AA is toxic and only small amount can be tolerated in the blood stream. The toxicity is because some AA are used as neurotransmitters and others are analogues of hormones

Specific Dynamic Effect is the heat produced by liver when it burns up excess AA from a high protein diet

Danger of Dietary Protein Excess

Any protein consumed in excess of bodies needs is wasted as the excess AA are used for energy and the bi-products then have to be are excreted. Removing the bi-products can have adverse effects.

Bi–products of Amino Acid catabolism:

Urea;

Most AA nitrogen is converted into urea, which is non-toxic

Sulfate;

Sulfate is made from Sulfur containing AA and causes the body to loose more Ca+ in urine causes osteoporosis and kidney stones

Oxalic acid;

Oxalic acid is made from some AA and increases the chance of also causes kidney stones

Uric Acid

Some people excrete excess N as uric acid that can cause gout if it precipitates in muscle and joints

All of these bi-products put more stress on the kidneys

 

Advantage of Low protein diets

 

Hierarchy of Nutrients Used for Energy

Some say Carbohydrates used first then Fat then Protein This is only true for Dietary protein if one is on a marginal diet In this case Carbohydrates give a SPARING EFFECT for protein

This hierarchy NOT TRUE if adequate energy and protein consumed.

Sugar, Fat and Protein are all used all the time:

Muscles use fat for energy (when aerobic)

Brain and RBC.s use only Glucose

Liver uses excess amino acids first

Nitrogen Balance

Not all proteins are as good as each other Even if you eat the RDA you may still not be able to replace lost protein

Nitrogen Balance is a measure of amino acids you can use:

NB = amount of Nitrogen consumed - amount excreted

If NB = 0 intake = excretion

This means no loss or gain of protein from the body

If NB= –ve excretion > intake

This means body is wasting away.

If +ve intake > excretion

This means Increased body mass

Essential Amino Acids

Synthesise protein needs all 18 amino acids

If one AA is missing NO protein is made

However 9 AA can be made from the others by Transamination

Transamination allows one amino acid to be converted into another.

These are NON-ESSENTIAL amino acids

Essential Amino Acids are the other 9 AA that can not be made form any other AA

These ESSENTIAL Amino Acids must be supplied by the diet

 

Sparing Effects for Essential Amino Acids

Some amino acids can be made from one other

Eg. Tyrosine can be made from Phenylalanine so one spares the other

Cysteine can be made from Methionine

Both counted as one essential AA

Histidine is essential for children not adults

In adults histidine is provided by bacteria growing in the gut.

We can survive with out arginine ie it is a non-essential amino acid

But growth is much faster if arginine is included in the diet.

Nutritional Value of Protein

The value of a protein is the amount of the essential amino acid in least supply.

Once the essential amino acid in least supply is used up all remaining AA are used are for energy or stored as fat

All excess nitrogen is excreted as Urea

First and Second Class Protein

A concept based of keeping rats in N balance

Bread dose not allow growth of rats

However Bread is OK for humans This is because rats grow faster than humans

The Nutritional Value of Protein is a continuous measure from 0 to 100

 

Measuring Nutritional Value of Protein
Amino Acid Score % of limiting AA compared to Ideal protein.

Biological value of Protein

Measure of % of absorbed N that is retained in the body retained

Protein Efficiency Ratio

Compares rate of growth of fed different protein diets

Biological Value of Proteins

Whole egg 93.7

Milk 84.5

Fish 76.0

Beef 74.3

Soybeans 72.8

Rice, polished 64.0

Wheat, whole 64.0

Corn 60.0

Good mixed diet 70.0

Peas & Beans, 40.0

Millet 43.0

 

Complimentary Proteins

BV of many vegetable protein too low to sustain human growth.

However the deficiencies of some can be made by the excess in others

eg Wheat, Rice and Nut seeds are : low in methionine but high in Lysine

Legumes (not peanuts) are: low in Lysine but high in methionine

These two groups are complimentary to each other

eg Peas and Rice or Wheat and beans

 

Amino acid metabolism

 

Amino Acids

 

The End

 

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