14 Mar 2008 02:11:36 | Protica Research
Most of us equate the word diet with calorie reduction. This is
understandable, since most diet marketing is relentlessly
focused on offering consumers low-calorie options.
Unfortunately, this way of thinking is categorically wrong. The
simple fact that any nutritionist will verify is that everyone
is on a diet. Even those who do not wish, or do not need, to
lose weight are on a diet, as are those who are increasing their
weight. Dieting has nothing to do with calorie reduction, and
everything to do with calories choices. The foods you ‘choose’
to eat determine the type of diet you are on.
Indeed, to the digestive system and the intestines, a candy bar
and a stalk of celery are neither seen as junk food nor diet
food. They are both seen as simply food. The candy bar leads to
a rapid glycemic reaction and the production of fat cells. The
celery does not. Still, the body does not label one as junk and
the other as diet food. In fact, everything that the body
ingests, it tries to use in the best way that it can.
However, outside the neutral intelligent internal body systems,
the term diet persists in our often rather misguided external
world of advertising, marketing, and diet plans. As such, we can
group diets into two categories: deliberate and accidental.
Deliberate diets are designed with specific requirements, such
as those engineered to lose weight, to gain weight, and to
maintain weight. Deliberate diets are typically what people
refer to when they use the catchall term ‘diet’. This is in
contrast to the other kind of diet that is called the
‘accidental diet’. Accidental diets have no requirements, and
march to a simple chant: eat whatever, whenever, and the body
will take care of itself.
However, despite the fact that there are two terms for diets –
deliberate and accidental – there is a denominator that unifies
them both: protein. All diets, even those that are accidental,
require protein.
Protein, and the amino acids that comprise protein, are
essential for life itself. Every system within the body depends,
directly or indirectly, on protein. In fact, because protein
regulates hormones, some cases of depression or anxiety are
actually instigated and perpetuated by either a lack of protein,
or the body’s inability to fortify its neurological system with
this critical macronutrient.
Yet for those on a diet -- and that includes everyone -- the
importance of protein is more pragmatic. Many deliberate diets
such as the Atkins™ diet and the South Beach Diet™ restrict
carbohydrates, while other restrict fats. That leaves protein.
Protein is the common link between all nutritionally-sound
diets. But is it also the missing link? Or, is protein readily
accessible and readily present in the foods we eat?
Oddly, most American meals and snacks are protein deficient.
Indeed, complete protein is absent from 6 of the top 10 foods
eaten in the US, and absent from all 10 of the most popular
snacks (see chart at end of article). This shortage of protein
in the American diet refers both to the absolute amount of
protein, which is recommended to be a minimum of 50 grams per
day, and the kind of protein as well. The healthiest protein is
a “complete protein”, which includes all 19 amino acids.
However, even people who are ingesting 50 grams of protein may
not be eating complete protein. As such, these people are
sometimes unwittingly suffering from some form of protein
malnourishment, and experience symptoms that include drowsiness,
digestive problems, emotional disorders, and other adverse
physiological effects.
So to achieve a balanced diet -- regardless of the diet regimen
– an appropriate level of complete protein must be present in
each meal. This, of course, is easier said than done for most
time-starved people. Regrettably, these people are more than
time-starved; they are oftentimes macronutrient starved, as well.
Pennsylvania-based Protica Research has developed a protein
beverage to meet the protein needs of busy consumers, dieters,
diabetics, students and others. Profect® is an advanced beverage
that supplies 25 grams of protein in less than 3 fluid ounces.
It is packaged in an unbreakable test-tube-shaped vial and can
be consumed in 2 or 3 seconds. Akin to a multivitamin, Profect
can be taken immediately before a snack or a meal to fortify it
with 50% of the US RDI of protein and the complete spectrum of
water-soluble vitamins.
Profect can turn an otherwise "empty-calorie" snack into a
complete meal. Its macronutrient and micronutrient profile fills
the nutritional void found in most meals and snacks. It does
this by combining with the carbohydrates and fats generally
present in most foods and thereby completing the ‘nutritional
trifecta’ required by the body for nourishment.
Of course, this is just the first step. A truly healthy diet
must also understand how to properly eat the other members of
the macronutrient kingdom, including fats and carbohydrates.
Actually, since so many diets revolve around the fluctuation of
carbohydrates and fats, it is essential to understand how to
properly consume these two sources of body fuel in order to
achieve optimal health. Yet which fats and which carbohydrates
reign supreme? Which ones add weight, and which ones actually
help the body’s metabolism function more effectively? The
answers to these questions will be eye opening to most dieters,
and they will form the dieting cornerstone for many consumers.
You will find the answers in the second part of this two-part
article entitled ‘The Macronutrient Balancing Act’. If you do
not have a link to the next article, you can find ‘The
Macronutrient Balancing Act’ on Protica’s web site at
protica.com/publications
Top 10 Most Popular Foods in the US Source:
http://tigerx.com/trivia/foods.htm
1) Fresh Produce & Processed Vegetables 2) Milk & Cream 3)
Flour, Bread & Cereal Products 4) Meat, Poultry & Fish 5) Sugar
& Other Sweeteners 6) Fruit 7) Potatoes 8) Oils & Fats 9) Eggs
10) Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Top 10 Most Popular Snacks in the US Source:
http://tigerx.com/trivia/snacks.htm
1) Chocolate Bars 2) Potato Chips & Pretzels 3) Cookies 4)
Non-Chocolate Bars 5) Gum 6) Filled Crackers 7) Nuts 8) Mints 9)
Granola Bars 10) Crackers
ABOUT PROTICA Founded in 2001, Protica, Inc. is a nutritional
research firm with offices in Lafayette Hill and Conshohocken,
Pennsylvania. Protica manufactures capsulized foods, including
Profect, a compact, hypoallergenic, ready-to-drink protein
beverage containing zero carbohydrates and zero fat. Information
on Protica is available at http://www.protica.com
You can also learn about Profect at http://www.profect.com
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