Joslyn's Blogspot - Protein gives you a lean mind as well as a lean body

As you know we are sticklers here for ensuring that you get protein in with every meal. You'll already know that, like good fats, it helps to control blood sugar spikes caused by eating carbohydrates on their own; it has a thermogenic effect (more fat burning); and keeps us fuller for longer.

So it's pretty important to make sure you get it in. Just a quick refresh on protein sources:

Meat* (ideally lean cuts)
Fish*
Eggs*
Dairy
Nuts
Seeds
Beans/Pulses

(* the best sources)

Before we go on, a little bit about amino acids. Amino acids themselves are the building blocks of protein and us. There are 20 altogether of which we produce 10. The rest we have to obtain through diet. As trainers, we are extremely interested in branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine and valine, which we do not produce ourselves but are hugely important in reducing muscle breakdown and promoting quicker recovery and growth. It is not uncommon for BCAAs to be taken after a training session, they taste pretty nasty but you get used to it!!!

New research from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has shown that protein may help to heal a damaged brain. The researchers mimicked brain injury in mice, and noted that after seven days the mice had lower levels of BCAAs. Another set of brain-injured mice were then split into two groups, one group were given plain water, and the other group were given water enriched with branched chain amino acids. After a five day period, the group fed with BCAAs returned to normal levels of the amino acids and performed better on learning tasks.

Last year, Simona Viglio of the University of Pavia and colleagues found that minimally conscious patients who were given BCAAs intravenously improved in their "feeding, grooming and toileting" abilities.

Finally, burns patients in hospitals are fed on high-protein diets to speed their recovery.

So there it is, BCAAs are considered to be extremely important in more areas than just muscle. It would appear they are required for both brain and brawn!