Daniel-J. CRISAFI, ND.A., PhD

I recently consulted a dietician who suggested I have a protein deficiency and need to increase my protein intake. But my doctor tells me I don’t have any of the symptoms associated with protein deficiency. Whom should I believe?

Thank you for this question. It highlights an important dilemma when it comes to nutritional deficiencies, namely, the difference between the classic clinical symptoms associated with severe deficiency disease and the subclinical symptoms associated with a lack of optimal function. Indeed, in most cases, the symptoms associated with a nutritional deficiency are major symptoms that develop rapidly following a significant deficiency.

The protein deficiency disease is called kwashiorkor. It is manifested by important symptoms such as stunted growth, muscle atrophy, swelling of the feet and stomach, alteration or loss of hair, skin changes, diarrhea and anemia. It usually leads to death in the short or medium term. Kwashiorkor is generally present in malnourished children or in adults who have undergone bariatric interventions. By this definition, your doctor is probably right – you do not have a protein deficiency.

However, there is another form of deficiency – one that is more insidious and often goes undiagnosed. This is the subclinical deficiency. The term subclinical is used for situations where symptoms are not the classic symptoms associated with these diseases or when standard analyses turn out to be normal. Or both.

The subclinical protein deficiency can cause a variety of disorders that are not usually associated with protein deficiencies. To name but a few: slowing metabolism, and difficulty losing weight; difficulty in increasing muscle mass; reduced energy and fatigue; poor concentration, learning difficulties; mood changes; muscle, bone and joint pain; hypoglycemia, followed by hyperglycemia (type II diabetes); slow wound healing; decreased immunity. This is probably the type of protein deficiency referred to by your dietician.

Therefore, it is likely that both your dietician and your doctor are right. You probably do not have the classic symptoms of a protein deficiency disease, but you may have a subclinical deficiency disease, which your dietician has spotted.

The Role of Proteins

As I have already written elsewhere, proteins are not just for bulging biceps and bodybuilders. The word protein comes from the Greek, “πρωτεῖον” “proteion” which means “what comes first” or “which ranks first”. And it is a fact that proteins are the most important of the macromolecules in living beings. Indeed, the difference between the living (animal, microbial or plant) and the non-living – the mineral – is the presence of proteins.

Proteins, therefore, are important to the development and maintenance of life. But there is more. Proteins play a vital and sometimes neglected role in obtaining and maintaining optimal health. Let’s take a closer look at this role of proteins.

First, proteins are composed of amino acids. When we digest and absorb dietary proteins, we use these amino acids to produce our own proteins known as native proteins. When we talk about proteins and their effects on the body, we are referring to native proteins produced from the amino acids we obtain from the proteins we consume.

Our native proteins have a “plastic” or structural function. We all know that they play a role in the development of muscle tissue, but what is often not known is that all body tissues are made up of proteins. Take the bone structure, for example. The dry mass of bone is made up of about 60% minerals and about 40% protein, especially collagen. Indeed, protein makes up almost half the bone mass…READ FULL ARTICLE HERE…(drcrisafi.com)

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