Obligatory Degradation of Proteins

Obligatory Degradation of Proteins

When a person eats no proteins, a certain proportion of body proteins is degraded into amino acids and then deaminated and oxidized. This involves 20 to 30 grams of protein each day, which is called the obligatoryloss of proteins. Therefore, to prevent net loss ofprotein from the body, one must ingest a minimum of 20 to 30 grams of protein each day; to be on the safe side, a minimum of 60 to 75 grams is usually recommended.

The ratios of the different amino acids in the dietary protein must be about the same as the ratios in the body tissues if the entire dietary protein is to be fully usable to form new proteins in the tissues. If one particular type of essential amino acid is low in concentration, the others become unusable because cells synthesize either whole proteins or none at all in relation to protein synthesis. The unusable amino acids are deaminated and oxidized. A protein that has a ratio of amino acids different from that of the average body protein is called a partial protein or incompleteprotein, and such a protein is less valuable for nutritionthan is a complete protein.

Effect of Starvation on Protein Degradation. Except for the 20to 30 grams of obligatory protein degradation each day, the body uses almost entirely carbohydrates or fats for energy, as long as they are available. However, after several weeks of starvation, when the quantities of stored carbohydrates and fats begin to run out, the amino acids of the blood are rapidly deaminated and oxidized for energy. From this point on, the proteins of the tissues degrade rapidly—as much as 125 grams daily—and, as a result, cellular functions deteriorate precipitously. Because carbohydrate and fat utilization for energy normally occurs in preference to protein utilization, carbohydrates and fats are called proteinsparers.