Protein Deficiency Last updated: Nov 17, 2009

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  Protein Deficiency  
 

 
Conditions that suggest it | Contributing risk factors | It can lead to... | Recommendations

 
 

Protein is an essential component of the body. The organs, muscle, brain, nerves, and immune system are all, to some degree, comprised of protein. You name the body structure, and it probably has some protein in it. Since protein is one of the fundamental building blocks for the body, you need to ensure that you get enough in your diet. Every protein molecule is composed of amino acids. Twenty-two amino acids are used in different combinations to build the protein molecules found in food and in the body's structures. Eight of these amino acids are considered essential (histidine would make the total 9 but is considered conditionally essential), and must be supplied through the diet. The other 14 amino acids (non-essential amino acids) can either be consumed in the diet or manufactured from other building blocks within the body.

 
 

Conditions that suggest Protein Deficiency:
 
 
Digestion  Increased Intestinal Permeability / Leaky Gut

Lab Values
  Hypoalbuminemia (A low albumin level)
 Insufficient dietary protein and excess carbohydrate intake may be related to a low albumin level.

Metabolic
  Edema (Water Retention)
 When protein (especially albumin) levels in your blood go too low, the colloidal osmotic pressure will decrease and allow fluid to escape from blood vessels into your tissues, resulting in edema or swelling of the hands, feet, ankles, knees and/or belly.

Nutrients
  Vitamin A Requirement
 A deficiency of protein or zinc can reduce the amount of vitamin A released from the liver.

Organ Health
  Fatty Liver
 Among children and in the developing countries, malnutrition, especially protein and iron deficiencies, are the most common cause of fat buildup in the liver.

Skin-Hair-Nails
  Female Hair Loss
 
 

Risk factors for Protein Deficiency:
 
 
Lab Values - Chemistries  Low BUN
  Hypocalcemia

Lab Values - Nutrients
  (Very) low tryptophan levels

Symptoms - Food - Intake
  Not eating mercury containing fish
  Absence of red meat consumption
  Absence of fowl consumption

Counter-indicators:
  (High) egg yolk consumption
  Frequent soy consumption

Symptoms - Food - Preferences
  Vegan/raw food diet
 
 

Protein Deficiency can lead to:
 
 
Digestion  Increased Intestinal Permeability / Leaky Gut

Organ Health
  Fatty Liver
 Among children and in the developing countries, malnutrition, especially protein and iron deficiencies, are the most common cause of fat buildup in the liver.
 
 

Recommendations for Protein Deficiency:
 
 
Diet  High/Increased Protein Diet

Not recommended:
  Therapeutic Fasting
 Fasting should not be used when there is malnutrition.
 
 


KEY
Weak or unproven link
Strong or generally accepted link
Strongly counter-indicative
Highly recommended
Reasonably likely to cause problems







GLOSSARY

Carbohydrates:  The sugars and starches in food. Sugars are called simple carbohydrates and found in such foods as fruit and table sugar. Complex carbohydrates are composed of large numbers of sugar molecules joined together, and are found in grains, legumes, and vegetables like potatoes, squash, and corn.

Edema:  Abnormal accumulation of fluids within tissues resulting in swelling.

Histidine:  An amino acid. Precursor to histamine, a vasodilator and gastric juice stimulant. Has been used as a therapeutic aid for arthritis.

Immune System:  A complex that protects the body from disease organisms and other foreign bodies. The system includes the humoral immune response and the cell-mediated response. The immune system also protects the body from invasion by making local barriers and inflammation.

Iron:  An essential mineral. Prevents anemia: as a constituent of hemoglobin, transports oxygen throughout the body. Virtually all of the oxygen used by cells in the life process are brought to the cells by the hemoglobin of red blood cells. Iron is a small but most vital, component of the hemoglobin in 20,000 billion red blood cells, of which 115 million are formed every minute. Heme iron (from meat) is absorbed 10 times more readily than the ferrous or ferric form.

Protein:  Compounds composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen present in the body and in foods that form complex combinations of amino acids. Protein is essential for life and is used for growth and repair. Foods that supply the body with protein include animal products, grains, legumes, and vegetables. Proteins from animal sources contain the essential amino acids. Proteins are changed to amino acids in the body.

Vitamin A:  A fat-soluble vitamin essential to one's health. Plays an important part in the growth and repair of body tissue, protects epithelial tissue, helps maintain the skin and is necessary for night vision. It is also necessary for normal growth and formation of bones and teeth. For Vitamin A only, 1mg translates to 833 IU.

Zinc:  An essential trace mineral. The functions of zinc are enzymatic. There are over 70 metalloenzymes known to require zinc for their functions. The main biochemicals in which zinc has been found to be necessary include: enzymes and enzymatic function, protein synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. Zinc is a constituent of insulin and male reproductive fluid. Zinc is necessary for the proper metabolism of alcohol, to get rid of the lactic acid that builds up in working muscles and to transfer it to the lungs. Zinc is involved in the health of the immune system, assists vitamin A utilization and is involved in the formation of bone and teeth.