Proteins have in recent years become the Nutrition’s Holy Grail. They’re everywhere, almost like an epidemic, appearing in products that until recently didn’t even have them or expect them. The dairy aisle enriched with proteins, for example, has multiplied its volume, and there is no shortage of new products boasting the inclusion of proteins.
It may seem like magic, but it’s part of a nutritional revolution that has now placed this macronutrient in the spotlight. It isn’t new, obviously. Proteins have been with us since the dawn of time, but now many specialists advocate increasing their intake.
The reasons are more varied than the ones we might initially think about proteins. We know they are fundamental for developing muscle and repairing tissues, but also for promoting satiety, for transporting substances like oxygen through proteins such as hemoglobin, or for strengthening defenses.
A true showcase of virtues that now has thousands of people on hyper-protein diets and, perhaps, you don’t need to go overboard. This is how the dietitian and personal trainer María Casas explained on her social networks why there’s no need to “take extremely high amounts of protein.”
Protein, the Macronutrient That Acts Like a Sponge
It’s very easy to interpret that, the more we consume of a product, the more we will retain it and assimilate it. However, our body regulates the use of nutrients to maintain that balance. This happens with vitamins and minerals, and also, though in a different way, with proteins. The macronutrient we have talked about several times at THE OBJECTIVE.
Something that María Casas warned about, making several principles clear on her account @mariasquatfit. The first thing she emphasized was that “absorbing protein is not the same as using it to build muscle.” It may sound paradoxical, but the truth is that absorbing protein does not guarantee that all its amino acids will be used to develop muscle.
Additionally, not all the protein we ingest is exclusively destined for developing muscle. These nutritional bricks also have other functions, and when we consume them, we do not decide where our body will deploy them.
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James Whitaker
I’m James Whitaker, a UK-based journalist focused on emerging trends and everyday stories gaining attention across the country. I cover the topics people start talking about before they fully break into the mainstream. My work aims to stay clear, factual, and closely connected to how news is actually consumed today.