How important is protein to the human body? Before answering that question, let’s explore what protein is.

What does a car need for it to move? Fuel, right? Without it, you’re not going anywhere. That’s the simplest way to describe what protein is. It’s fuel for the body for it to function. It provides energy. But that’s not all it does, the body needs protein for growth and maintenance. It is the most important component of cells in the body that includes organs, hair, skin, and especially muscles. Then there’s its role in hormones, immune response, blood cell formation, cellular repair—pretty much those that are essential for life.

If you were able to control yourself from bingeing during the Holidays, then good for you! A lot of people most probably forgot the word ‘diet’ either the entire month of December or the last two weeks of December. And if you’re one of them it’s perfectly okay. It’s hard to ‘celebrate’ when you can’t enjoy all the available goodies, so you took a two-week break or more. No problem. Besides, it was the Holidays! Time to celebrate, right? What’s the harm? It’s just for a short while of being carefree, right?

From time to time the term E. Coli is heard in the news, and it would often be lumped together with words such us contamination, food, danger, and even death. A lot of people have a basic understanding of what this is—that it’s a kind of bacteria that can be found on food, which can make humans sick. That’s as far as their understanding is when it comes to E. Coli. Unfortunately, others don’t have a clue what this is.

Ever felt that painful, clawing feeling in the middle or upper part of your stomach, which happens between meals, sometimes even throughout the night? This could simply be hyperacidity, but it can also be ulcers. Hyperacidity happens when the gastric juices (hydrochloric acid) in the stomach, which aids in digesting foods, increases in quantity. It is also this condition that can lead to gastritis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach) and peptic ulcers.

Everyone knows the basic idea of what calories are—these are found in every food, which can make you gain weight the higher the value is. Because of this, when someone who’s health conscious checks out any food product, they would automatically check the back to see how much calories it has. And if the value is high, the product would most likely be returned to the shelf. That’s the reason why food manufacturers always aim to produce low-calorie products.

Back in the old days, the cardinal rule was ‘eat to survive’. It was a simple rule—if you eat, you will live. As long as you have food, you will be alright. But that was way back then when medicine was not as advanced as we have it today. As the field of medicine advanced exponentially, and doctors and scientists were able to study and understand the human body better and better, the rule of ‘eating to live’ changed.