Everything in your body is made with protein. There’s nothing in your body you can make with just carbohydrate and fat. Your hair, skin, muscles, brain, heart, organs, blood, bones...every cell is made with protein.
What happens when you don’t get enough?
An obstetrician we know works with patients who haven’t gotten enough protein in their diet for years. She said that after surgery on those patients and she is putting in the stitches,
“It’s like trying to sew wet tissue paper”.
What are the symptoms of insufficient protein?
- 1. Fatigue and/or weakness. Not just the feeling that we didn’t get enough sleep last night, but deep fatigue...or weakness where it’s hard to get through the day.
- 2. Weight loss plateau. When we don’t get enough protein, medical research indicates that the body tries to store calories rather than burning them.
- 3. Hair loss. We believe it is often preventable with enough protein.
- 4. Surgical complications. Is there surgery in your future? For many, the answer is yes. The best single numerical predictor of how well a surgery will go is your protein status. And, your body will heal slowly, sometimes very slowly, if your protein status is low.
- 5. Muscle Loss. When you don't get enough protein for weeks, you body starts taking protein from your muscles. So your body is actually taking muscle -- to help maintain other cells, and organs, and hormone levels. So it's possible you might be more easily injured if you regularly don't get enough protein.
These symptoms can also be caused by other things, so it is always good to ask your doctor.
Article reprinted with permission (in it's entirety) from Unjury Medical Quality Protein
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