NO NEED FOR ALL THAT MEAT

I love meat. Being a vegetarian scares me. That is how much I love meat.

One of my professors could not stress enough the fact that the human body has no way to store excess dietary proteins. In essence, the human body has no way to store the element nitrogen which is the main component of proteins. Proteins are unique because they contain nitrogen.

The human body stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen in the liver and when that store is full, it is converted to fat and stored. Fat is stored in the adipose tissue which has infinite storage. Proteins are used where there is need and the excess is excreted.

Nitrogen the main component of proteins is removed by a process called deamination and is excreted in humans as urea via urine as the main route. The remaining backbone resembles carbohydrates and has lost its function as a protein.

Proteins are used to build and repair tissue and perform other cellular functions and the excess is excreted as soon as possible.

For this reason, it is foolhardy to eat a whole kg of meat as it will all end up being wasted. A normal person requires only a few grams of meat to meet their daily requirement. As a biochemist I know this, but as a meat lover I ignore it especially around the holidays. It is time to eat meat.