What is plant protein？

Abstract: Vegetable protein is a type of protein. The source is extracted from plants. The nutrition is similar to animal protein, but it is easier to digest. The most abundant plant protein is soybeans. Vegetable protein is mainly derived from rice, noodles and beans.

Keywords: plant protein, food additives, soy protein, protein

Related products for this article: Plant Protein

The role of plant protein powder

The so-called protein powder is generally a powder composed of purified soy protein, or casein, or whey protein (lack of isoleucine), or a combination of the above-mentioned proteins, and its purpose is to supplement people who lack protein protein. The plant protein powder, as its name implies, is a powder made of protein extracted from plants.

Plant protein powder is a nutritional food supplement for specific groups of people. As an amino acid supplement food, it can provide essential nutrients for infants, the elderly, sports people, patients before and after surgery, and people who lose weight due to lack of protein.

Protein powder efficacy

1. Increase protein intake

Protein is the main source of nitrogen in the human body. It can not only provide part of the energy consumed, but also be used to synthesize new tissues. The protein in the adult body accounts for about 17% of the body weight, and 3% of the protein participates in metabolic renewal every day.

Infants, young children, adolescents, pregnant women, and lactating women, in addition to maintaining the renewal of tissue proteins, they also need to synthesize new tissues.

When there is insufficient protein in the body, people’s basic life activities will be affected, which can lead to children and adolescents with growth retardation, underweight, and mental retardation; adults will experience fatigue, weight loss, anemia, decreased plasma albumin, and even edema; It can also cause menstrual disorders in women. Eating protein powder can effectively prevent or improve these symptoms.

2. Prevent diseases

Heart disease is the number one killer of death in Western developed countries. High plasma cholesterol content is the main cause of heart disease. Animal fat in the diet can increase plasma cholesterol content, which is an important factor leading to arteriosclerosis and heart disease. Saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and excessive blood cholesterol are directly related to heart disease. Reducing plasma cholesterol also reduces the risk of heart disease.

In 1982, scientists from many countries in Italy and Switzerland used soy protein to replace animal protein in a comparative experiment on high cholesterol patients. The results showed that the daily intake of 50 grams of soy protein reduced the total plasma cholesterol by 20%. This study proved that soy protein can be Reduce the adverse effects of blood lipids and cholesterol on the heart of patients with high cholesterol.

In the United States, doctors recommend that heart disease patients consume soy protein before using cholesterol-lowering drugs. Because soy protein is neither a drug (no toxic side effects) nor cheap, it can effectively prevent heart disease without any side effects.

3. Reduce the burden on the kidneys

Nephropathy is a common long-term diabetic complication, and more than 20% of diabetic patients have impaired renal function. Ingestion of animal protein will increase the burden on the kidneys, leading to aggravation of the disease.

Soy protein can prevent and reduce the damage of animal protein to the kidney by reducing plasma cholesterol content. Observation of dietary treatment of patients with kidney disease shows that the effect of substituting soy protein for animal protein is the best, and patients with kidney disease are also willing to accept foods containing soy protein.

The advantages of vegetable protein compared with animal protein

Plant-based protein is significantly better than animal-based protein because of the following characteristics: no cholesterol; almost no saturated fat.

Contribute to bone health; can reduce the risk of breast cancer in women; diets containing soy protein can provide adequate nutrition for patients with chronic kidney disease and slow down the pathogenesis; emerging research shows that soy protein can reduce the incidence of fatty liver.

People with high cholesterol can consume more plant protein.

People who like to exercise can also consume more plant protein to better recover their physical strength.