You will experience less plateauing and will have a much easier time maintaining your healthy body composition for the long term. It is becoming more and more important to pay attention to our weight, and more and more difficult to do so. As our dietary patterns have changed, so has our waistlines. It is a unique nutrient that performs important and diverse functions and is the major source of building material for muscle tissues, which are responsible for our strength and mobility. Protein is crucial to maintain our smooth muscles as well-the most critical, of course, is the heart.
Protein is absolutely essential for healthy brain tissue and even our hair, skin and nails.
Each gram of protein supplies four calories, which can be used by the body for heat and energy. Fortunately, protein is not normally used up for energy when adequate levels of carbohydrates and fats are present. When you do, your rate of protein synthesis equals your rate of degradation. If you don't consume enough calories and proper amounts of amino acids from the protein in your diet, you can go into negative nitrogen balance. This means your body can become cannibalistic and actually break down the protein in your own muscle tissue.