Weight Loss

It might seem strange, but the foods that you eat can help keep your skin, hair and nails looking great and healthy. Protein is vital to every cell and function in the body. Your body uses protein to make your skin by replenishing skin cells as they die and slough off. Without enough protein in your system, your nails can become brittle and weak. Protein is also important as the body works to heal the effects of too much sun exposure. Protein should be increased whenever you are healing from trauma, illness or burns. However, make sure that you are not adding or changing the amounts of protein in your diet without discussing it with your doctor or your nutritionist.

Remember George and Jane Jetson? These fictional cartoon characters had two children, a dog “Astro” and the somewhat obsolete robot, Rosie. By all accounts, Jane was an excellent wife and mother, but we are led to believe that she never slaved over a hot stove cooking meals; she simply pressed a button and dinner was ready. On occasion we saw her son, Elroy, zoom in and consume an entire meal by ingesting a pill no larger than a normal vitamin before zooming out again.

Do you remember your mother telling you to finish your glass of milk before you could be excused from the dinner table? Did she also tell you to finish your plate of spinach if you wanted muscles like Popeye? Good old Mom; she was right, you know! Research has always supported the health benefits of including calcium and certain nutrients into our daily meals. Research findings also support the role that protein plays for living a healthy lifestyle. As we age, keeping adequate amounts of protein in our diets is necessary for bone health.

There are many reasons that humans need to consume enough protein in their daily diets. Proteins play a vital role in virtually every function of the body, including a major role in the building, repair and maintenance of the muscles. Without protein, we would have a serious lack of the eight essential amino acids that are not made by the body, but must instead be supplied by adequate protein consumption or supplementation. And finally, we need to consume protein in adequate amounts or face increasing weight gain because of the role that protein plays in our feelings of satisfaction. It’s not like it would even be possible to eliminate all sources of protein from our diets in the first place, and humans would be very miserable if they could.

The biological need for food is simple – we need to eat so that we have energy. Even if the goal is only to sit on the couch and watch a hockey game, we still need energy to exist. The human body is an amazing machine, but it needs fuel even when it is doing nothing at all, even when it is sleeping. Every function of the human body requires energy, from the beating of our hearts to the expanding of our lungs. Our body also uses energy to grow our skin, hair and nails. If we do not have the right kind of energy in our system, then these functions will cease, not only affecting the way that we look, but also how we feel. If the deficiency continues for long enough, our health will suffer as well.

We need protein in our diets in order to survive. It’s as simple as that. But, protein is also necessary in the prevention and treatment of a wide array of serious health issues, including some cancers. Protein is what makes our muscles grow properly, and even our hair and fingernails are made from protein.

There are a number of high protein diets that have been very popular in recent years. Many of them were built on the premise that if protein was a fat burner, then more protein would mean more fat burning. These diets suggested that you could lose weight and be healthy by eating extreme amounts of protein while severely limiting the amount of carbohydrates (even the healthy ones). Protein can be dangerous in amounts over the recommended amount and may be even more dangerous to those who have certain health conditions or diseases. Before starting any kind of diet plan, it is important to consult your doctor for suggestions and recommendations.