Protein Power
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/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2021

Protein Power

Among the many important nutrients we get from a healthy, diversified diet is protein. Here are a few things you might not know about this essential piece of the nutrition puzzle.

  1. Protein is best known for building muscle, but it is important for building all over your body, including your bones. Protein can even help prevent osteoporosis and broken bones.
  2. Your organs could not function without protein. The essential nutrient builds organs and helps them run smoothly. It also helps move nutrients—like vitamins, minerals, sugars, cholesterol, and oxygen—throughout the body. It also helps store surpluses of iron for later use.
  3. Protein is an important building block for the components that make up the immune system too. The amino acids that make up protein are used to make T cells, B cells, and antibodies that alert the body to intruders and kill them off before they can cause an infection.  And when you get a cut or a scrape, protein is there to support immune function, manage inflammation, and heal the wound by creating new tissue.
  4. Getting enough protein helps you look and feel your best too. It is a building block of healthy hair and nails.
  5. Is there anything protein can’t do? Well, protein is your body’s least favorite choice for making energy. It uses sugars (carbohydrates) first and fats second before finally moving on to protein.
  6. Lean meats and fish are great sources of protein, including turkey, chicken, tuna, and sardines. Eggs, yogurt (especially Greek- and skyr-style yogurts), and cottage cheese offer lots of protein too. But meat and dairy are not the only places you can get protein. There are so many wonderful plant-based sources too. Lentils, avocados, nuts, beans, tempeh, snap peas, and mushrooms are good sources. And studies about protein from plants show that it can help lower blood pressure. It can also decrease your LDL, or bad cholesterol levels, which lowers your risk of heart disease.
  7. Surprisingly, several grain, or carbohydrate-rich foods are also pretty high in protein, including oats (5 g per cup), baked potato (8 g each), sweet corn (4 g per ear), and Quinoa (8 g per cup).   
  8. And protein is so satisfying! Protein takes longer to break down in your stomach, so making protein a part of each meal will leave you feeling fuller longer than meals without protein.
  9. Most people should get at least 10% of their daily calories from protein. That’s about 56 grams for a man (based on 2,000 calories a day) and 46 grams for a woman (1,800 calories a day).
  10. Protein and unhealthy fats are linked in many of our favorite foods, like red meat and cheese, so it is wise to use caution when portioning these foods. Embracing protein in its high-fat or processed forms can be linked to adverse outcomes, like cancer, high cholesterol, kidney stones, weight gain, and constipation.

Now that you understand all that protein can do for you, it’s time to explore some new recipes with these protein-rich ingredients. Cheers!

Kristin Irace, RD, is a registered dietitian with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care in Bennington.

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Emergency Department: Open, Ready, Safe. 

The last 3 months have been a uniquely challenging experience in the SVMC Emergency Department (ED) and emergency departments and hospitals all over the country and the world. I am very proud of all our staff has done and continues to do to ensure safe care for patients during this era of COVID-19. We are grateful that cases of COVID-19 in our area have been the lowest in the U.S. and have decreased even further over the past several weeks. We are also heartened to see that patients who had been avoiding the ED are now confident to return to get the care they need.

It may be surprising to hear that over the past few months, the sickest patients we have seen in the ER have not had COVID-19. Many people have refrained from seeking care for serious medical problems due to the fear of being exposed to the virus, assuming that the hospital was not a safe place to be and not recognizing the seriousness of their symptoms. The most challenging moments of the past several months have involved critically ill patients who tried to stay away for far too long due to fear of being exposed to COVID-19. We have had many sad moments trying to care for those who waited until it was too late for us to help with conditions that could have been easily treated if presented sooner.

One might expect that the greatest challenges related to the pandemic were those needed to adapt our facilities and procedures and the work of caring for sick COVID-19 patients. SVMC is fortunate to have built a strong foundation of safety and infection-prevention methods over many years, which made this transition much easier. Still, when it became apparent that we were going to see COVID-19 cases coming through our doors, we implemented many COVID-specific changes very quickly.

From day one our staff have all been fully trained to use protective equipment effectively, to focus on cleaning and disinfecting, and to move patients safely through the new areas created to keep them safe. We also spaced the waiting room chairs to allow for plenty of distance and initiated drive-by testing to keep potentially contagious people outside and away from other patients.

We immediately increased our standard of protective equipment we use. For example, all staff who relate with patients now wear both a mask and protective shield, which is a proven and effective strategy to prevent transmission. Those staff who work with patients with respiratory or other contagious symptoms also wear a gown and advanced respirators developed in cooperation with Mack Molding in Arlington. They look strange, but they help us deliver care safely.

We also quickly built special spaces and units in the hospital to treat and segregate patients with respiratory symptoms who might be contagious from those with other routine medical problems. Outpatients with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 are directed to a spacious area called the Respiratory Evaluation Center. There they can be taken to a safe treatment space called a negative-pressure room without encountering any patients who are using the ED for other reasons or any staff who are not fully equipped with protective gear. There are similar, safe, negative-pressure units for those who require treatment in the ED or hospital.

Our hard work paid off. We have treated a number of COVID-19 patients in our ED and, as far as we know, not a single staff member was sickened in relation to their work here, and no patients have contracted COVID-19 while under our care. With our current procedures and drastically declining COVID numbers, we are confident that we can continue that trend. Furthermore, SVMC recently received a perfect score on a rigorous survey specifically designed to judge our ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19. At this time our ED is safer than just about any other public place you could go.

My goal in writing today is to communicate that SVMC’s Emergency Department is open, ready, and safe. If you need emergency care, we are here and we can care for you safely. Please do not defer emergency care until it is too late for us to help. While many symptoms can represent a serious medical problem, the most concerning are chest pain, difficulty breathing, fast heart rate, confusion, high fever, intense headache, drooping face, dehydration, or weakness. Of course, with any other symptom you feel indicates a serious problem, come in right away or call 9-1-1.

For us, spending time with patients and connecting on a personal level is the best part of our jobs. We take pride in our life-saving role in our communities and the work we have been able to do during the pandemic, but we cannot help if you do not come in. Please don’t hesitate to get the care you need when you need it.

Adam Cohen, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. He also serves as the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the medical director of SVMC’s Emergency Department.

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