As a WLS patient, we hear “protein! protein! protein!” all the time… what’s the deal?!
Let me start off by saying:
I’m not a Doctor or Nut these are my opinions based on my research etc, blah blah………
Cliff notes version:
Your body is going to TAKE the proteins it needs for survival and it’s not too particular where it gets them from….. Your job is to feed the beast and try to limit the body from chowing down on your muscle.
Long boring version:
Proteins form the body’s main structural elements and are found in every cell and tissue. Take away the water, and about 75 percent of your weight is protein.
Our bodies use proteins for growth and to build and repair:
- Bone
- Muscles
- Hair
- Connective tissue
- Skin
- Internal organs
- Blood
- Virtually every other body part or tissue
Besides building cells and repairing tissue, proteins form antibodies to combat invading bacteria & viruses; they build nucleoproteins (RNA & DNA). They make up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions. They also carry oxygen throughout the body and participate in muscle activity.
Hormones, antibodies and enzymes that regulate the body’s chemical reactions are all made of protein. Without the right proteins, blood won’t clot properly and cuts won’t heal.
Each protein is a large complex molecule made up of a string of building blocks called amino acids. The 20 amino acids the body needs can be linked in thousands of different ways to form thousands of different proteins, each with a unique function in the body.
Your body can’t use food protein directly. So after protein is ingested, digestive enzymes break the protein into shorter amino acid chains, and then into individual amino acids. In FREAKS, this normal digestive process is bypassed. These digestive enzymes are not available until they meet with the food protein in the common channel of the small intestine, and then have only about 5(distal) – 7 ½(proximal) ft (compared to 20 ft in a “normal” digestive tract) to do their job. The amino acids then enter the blood stream and travel to the cells where they are incorporated into proteins the body needs.
How much protein do I really need?
RNY FREAKS absorb about 50 percent of the nutrients they take in due to malabsorption – whether it’s regular grub or supplements.
The average non-freak needs 50-75 grams of protein each day.
RNY FREAKS on average will need 100-150 grams of protein per day when you factor in the 50% malabsorption/exercise. This is why it drives me crazy when I hear NUTS telling baby freaks not to use protein shakes…. cos to consume 150g of protein a day from regular grub is not possible with the small pouch.
“How to determine grams of protein you need daily when not yet at ideal weight: Subtract 120 from your current weight. Multiply that answer by .25 and add it to 120″.
So for me that works out to be:
208lbs – 120 = 88 x .25 = 22.0 + 120 = 142.0g of protein per day
But why….can’t you get that much protein just from eating?
It all depends on the BIOAVAILABILITY of the protein in question. Which means how well your body absorbs it.
The Biological Value, or BV, of a protein is an indicator of the quality of the protein. It is a measure of a protein’s ability to be used by the body (or its bioavailability). It is a percentage (though the scale is skewed resulting in some BV’s of greater than 100) of the absorbed protein that your body actually uses. Biological Values are indicators of which proteins are best at aiding nitrogen retention in muscles to help them maintain or grow.
Many of the whey protein powder manufacturers claim that their products have BV values well above regular whey protein by various techniques such as ion-exchange processing, hydrolization, and adding other ingredients such as specific amounts of limiting essential amino acids.
Hydrolyzation is a process breaking large peptides into smaller ones. It is sometimes referred to as “pre-digested”.
Regular undigested whey will be broken down into di- and tri-peptides via enzymes in the gut (which freaks no longer have). This process takes a while, even in the non-freak. Hydrolyzation is useful when protein delivery is needed very quickly so the body doesn’t have to require the time and enzymes doing it. The benefit is of having a quickly absorbed protein to ensure muscle tissue is flooded with nutrients in a timely manner.
BIOAVAILABILITY OF PROTEIN TYPES
The higher on the list, the better.
The numbers are the BV. (Biologic value).
This is only how easily the (normal) body can absorb them, not the protein grams in each one. The last few need to be blended to make a complete protein.
And remember….freaky patients don’t absorb nutrients from food protein very well.
Protein Source-------------------------BV
Whey Protein Isolate Blends -----------100-159
Whey Concentrate (Lactalbumin) --------104
Whole Egg -----------------------------100
Cow's Milk ----------------------------91
Egg White (Albumin) -------------------88
Fish ----------------------------------83
Beef ----------------------------------80
Chicken -------------------------------79
Casein (a protein from milk) ----------77
Rice ----------------------------------74
Soy -----------------------------------59
Wheat ---------------------------------54
Beans ---------------------------------49
Peanuts -------------------------------43
So, because we freaks don’t have a stomach and the stomach acids, etc, anymore, we don’t process the undigested proteins properly and malabsorb most of them. The same is for the normal food we eat. We don’t absorb most of it. We, therefore, need the more highly absorbed, pre-digested protein supplements…..whey which is pre-digested (aka hydrolized)…in order to get the proper nutrients our bodies need and are no longer able to get from food.
So, whereas whole egg, cow’s milk, egg white are near the top of the list of bioavailability for “normal” people, they are not pre-digested (hydrolized), so for us, they are not as high on the list as pre-digested whey protein. Our bioavailability list would be quite different from the “normal” person’s list.
So, make sure your protein powder or drink states that it is pre-digested or hydrolized. And the best kind of protein would be a whey blend protein. Second best would be a 100% whey protein. Isolates, though good for a quick acting pick-me-up, are not sufficient alone for freaky patients on-going maintenance requirements.
Suffice to say….. Protein supplements will be part of your life forever if you want to do things right.
