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THE 3-WEEK DIET—INTRODUCTION MANUAL
PROTEIN, FAT, CARBOHYDRATES
The primary nutrients humans consume are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Understanding the
role each of these primary nutrients plays on our health and on our ability to gain or lose weight is
an important feature of the 3-Week Diet. I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this
portion of the 3-Week Diet, as it will have long lasting ramifications on your daily life.
Protein
Proteins are the foundation of your body’s cells, tissues and organs. They are essential to your
muscles, hair, skin, hair, organs and hormones. While the body can survive without eating another
carbohydrate and while it can last for extended periods without eating fat, a lack of protein in your
diet will cause degeneration of your muscle tissue and organs, which will eventually lead to death.
Knowing how important protein is to the body, it is unbelievable to see how many people still get
most of their calories from high-carbohydrate diets.
Several studies have shown that the recommended daily allowance for protein consumption is far
lower than it should be...especially for those engaged in regular exercise. What this research has
shown is that people following the “recommended daily allowance” of protein consumption while
engaging in regular physical activity, were actually losing valuable muscle tissue because there was not
enough protein in the body to repair and rebuild their muscles after their workouts.
Proteins are made up of amino acids and there are just 20 amino acids that make up ALL human
proteins. Of these 20 amino acids, the body can only produce 12 of these itself. This means the
other eight amino acids must be obtained through the foods you eat.
Lysine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine are the
essential amino acids that are not made by the body (there are two others necessary for infants and
small children). We get these amino acids when we consume protein sources like meat, fish, poul-
try and legumes.
Protein sources that contain adequate amounts of all of the amino acids are called “complete pro-
teins.” Those food items that do not contain all or adequate amoun