Happy New Year! I know - it's almost the end of January already. What can I say except that the holidays threw everything off. So we're late, but we're here!!

Protein - What's it all about?

Several months ago, we talked about Soy - why it's important, what it does for us, how it does it for us. This month we're going to talk about Protein - one of the basic building blocks of human life.

We all know that we're partially made up of protein. And we all know that we need to consume protein. But do we really know why? And what are the different kinds of proteins and why do we care?

We'll dip into these subjects this month, and provide some reference material to help further your education. And, after all, the more you know, the better off you are, right?

What is Protein?

Take away the water, and about 75 percent of your weight is protein. This chemical family is found throughout the body. It's in muscle, bone, skin, hair, and virtually every other body part or tissue. It makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood. At least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way.

Twenty or so basic building blocks, called amino acids, provide the raw material for all proteins. Following genetic instructions, the body strings together amino acids. Some genes call for short chains, others are blueprints for long chains that fold, origami-like, into intricate, three-dimensional structures.

Because the body doesn't store amino acids, as it does fats or carbohydrates, it needs a daily supply of amino acids to make new protein.

Nuts for the heart:

Many people think of nuts as just another junk food snack. In reality, nuts are excellent sources of protein and other healthful nutrients.

One surprising finding from nutrition research is that people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks or die from heart disease than those who rarely eat them. Several of the largest cohort studies, including the Adventist Study, the Iowa Women's Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study, and the Physicians' Health Study have shown a consistent 30 percent to 50 percent lower risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack), sudden cardiac death, or cardiovascular disease associated with eating nuts several times a week.

There are several ways that nuts could have such an effect. The unsaturated fats they contain help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. One group of unsaturated fat found in walnuts, the omega-3 fatty acids, appears to prevent the development of erratic heart rhythms. Omega-3 fatty acids (which are also found in fatty fish such as salmon and bluefish) may also prevent blood clots, much as aspirin does. Nuts are rich in arginine, an amino acid needed to make a molecule called nitric oxide that relaxes constricted blood vessels and eases blood flow. They also contain vitamin E, folic acid, potassium, fiber, and other healthful nutrients.

Eating nuts won't do much good if you gobble them in addition to your usual snacks and meals. At 185 calories per ounce, a handful of walnuts a day could add 10 pounds or more in a year if you don't cut back on something else. This weight gain would tip the scales toward heart disease, not away from it. Instead, eat nuts instead of chips or other, less healthy snacks. Or try using them instead of meat in main dishes, or as a healthful crunch in salads

Read this and more in a Harvard School of Public Health article

Mental Health and Protein Nutrition

by Julia Ross, excerpted from Well Being Journal, Vol 11, No. 5 - full article here

Are you an emotional basket case who can't get by without comfort food? If you had more strength, could you power through your problems without overeating? Should you feel ashamed of yourself for needing emotional sustenance from foods? No! I hope to help you understand why you are using food as self-medication. It's not because you are weak willed; it's because you're low in certain brain chemicals. You don't have enough of the brain chemicals that should naturally be making you emotionally strong and complete.

These brain chemicals are thousands of times stronger than street drugs like heroin. And your body has to have them. If not, it sends out a command that is stronger than anyone's willpower: “Find a druglike food or a drug, or some alcohol, to substitute for our missing brain chemicals. We cannot function without them!” Your depression, tension, irritability, anxiety and cravings are all symptoms of a brain that is deficient in its essential calming, stimulating and mood-enhancing chemicals.

Why Are Your Natural Mood-Enhancing Chemicals Sometimes Deficient?

Something has interfered with your body's ability to produce its own natural brain drugs. What is it? It's obviously not too unusual, or there wouldn't be so many people using food to feel better, or taking Prozac for depression relief. Actually, there are several common problems that can result in your becoming depleted in your feel-good brain chemicals, and none of them is your fault!

You may have inherited deficiencies. We are learning more all the time about the genes that determine our moods and other personality traits. Some genes program our brains to produce certain amounts of mood-enhancing chemicals. But some of us inherited genes that undersupply some of these vital mood chemicals. That is why some of us are not emotionally well balanced and why the same emotional traits seem to run in families. If your mother always seemed to be on edge, and she had a secret stash of chocolate for herself, it should come as no surprise that you, too, need foods like candy or cookies to calm yourself. Parents who have low supplies of naturally stimulating and sedating brain chemicals often produce depressed or anxious children who use food, alcohol or drugs as substitutes for the brain chemicals they desperately need.

Prolonged stress “uses up” your natural sedatives, stimulants and pain relievers. This is particularly true if you have inherited marginal amounts to begin with. The emergency stores of precious brain chemicals can get used up if you continually need to use them to calm yourself over and over again. Eventually your brain can't keep up with the demand. That's why you start to “help” your brain by eating foods that have druglike effects on it.

read the full article

What is "Protein Energy Malnutrition"?

Alleviating protein-energy malnutrition

The challenge

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is by far the most lethal form of malnutrition. Children are its most visible victims. Malnutrition, “the silent emergency,” is an accomplice in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year. These young lives are prematurely – and needlessly – lost.

First recognized in the 20 th century, PEM’s full impact has been revealed only in recent decades. Infants and young children are most susceptible to PEM’s characteristic growth impairment because of their high energy and protein needs and their vulnerability to infection.

Globally, children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. Malnutrition magnifies the effect of every disease.

The response: managing severe malnutrition

The clinical management of moderate and severe protein-energy malnutrition in children remains ineffective in many parts of the world. Mortality rates of 30% are not uncommon; yet, with adequate management, these rates can be reduced to less than 5%. WHO has produced comprehensive step-by-step guidelines on how best to treat, in a clinical setting, and restore to health the severely malnourished child. These guidelines are being promoted for adaptation and use worldwide in simple learning modules for physicians, nurses, indeed all front-line health workers.

Read the complete World Health Organization article