Speaker #0Hello everyone and welcome to the Blueness Guide, the ideal nutrition guide for humankind. Today, we're going to focus on proteins. These macronutrients are essential for building human tissues. First, we'll start by defining what they are, before looking at how they work, their benefits, and the generally recommended daily intake. First of all. What are proteins? Proteins are essential for humans in the sense that the body cannot produce them on its own. They act as hormones, thus controlling organs, as enzymes, serving as catalysts for chemical reactions, and as antibodies in the immune system, protecting the body against infections. They also make up certain structures in the body, such as connective tissues, skin, hair, and muscle fibers. The majority of proteins are stored in the muscles as building blocks, not as a source of energy. That's why this macronutrient is so widely consumed by people who do weight training. Besides athletes, non-athletes also need to eat protein every day since the body doesn't store it for later use. Unlike carbohydrates, for example, When it comes to energy, just like carbohydrates, 1 gram of protein equals 4 kilocalories, compared to 9 kilocalories for 1 gram of fat. In terms of composition, proteins are made up of amino acids linked together in chains. There are 20 amino acids that make up proteins. They're called proteinogenic amino acids. as opposed to other amino acids that aren't incorporated into proteins. Some of these amino acids, the proteinogenic ones, are essential because the body can't synthesize them on its own. So it's important to make sure you consume the so-called essential amino acids. There are eight of them, or you risk developing deficiencies. A deficiency in essential amino acids usually shows up as fatigue, a weakened immune system, or even weakened ligaments. Among the eight essential amino acids are leucine, isoleucine, valine, lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. These eight essential amino acids absolutely must be obtained from your diet. because the body can't synthesize them on its own from other nutrients. Additionally, there are also histidine and arginine, which are considered semi-essential. They are especially vital for infants. Finally, there are the 10 non-essential amino acids, which doesn't mean they're less important than the essential amino acids, but rather that the body can synthesize them from other nutrients. In the group of non-essential amino acids, we find alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acids, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. When it comes to recommended protein intake, actual needs vary from person to person. The proportion of semi-essential or non-essential amino acids that the body produces or should produce depends on various factors depending on age physical and mental demands the body will need varying amounts of amino acids to stay efficient and healthy the french agency for food environmental and occupational health and amp safety the public body whose main mission is to assess health risks in the fields of food environment and work recommends consuming 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight daily, which amounts to about 60 grams per day for a person weighing 75 kilograms. For example, 100 grams of white meat generally contains 20 to 25 grams of protein. We can also take the example of three eggs, which correspond to about 20 grams of protein. For athletes, The daily protein intake is generally 1.3 grams per kilogram of body weight for endurance sports and up to 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight for strength sports. And for bodybuilding, it's generally between 1.8 and 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. Healthy adults can safely consume up to 25% of their calories in the form of protein. In fact, in France, people consume on average about 17% of their calories as protein. Moreover, it's important to remember that the body cannot store protein. So, you need to make sure to consume enough protein every day, and that it contains at least all eight essential amino acids. But what are these foods that are rich in protein? Proteins are found in foods of animal origin, such as eggs, meat, whether white or red, fish, seafood, dairy products, and even cured meats. There are also proteins of plant origin. Plant-based nutrients that are high in protein are actually a pretty high quality food source, because these nutrients offer many benefits beyond just their protein content. Among these nutrients, you'll find chickpeas, lentils, pretty much all other legumes, peanuts, nuts, seeds, and to a lesser extent, tofu or even soy, which is still a bit controversial. We'll come back to that later in the guide. Finally, Proteins can also be found, to a lesser extent, in grains like wheat, rice, oats, and rye. In the case of a vegetarian diet, it would actually be wise to consider the concept of protein complementarity. Good news! That's exactly what the next podcast is about. See you soon in the Blueness Guide.
