Protein GapFill

Proteins are organic macromolecules built from  amino acidsfatty acidspeptidesadipose tissue, bound together into long chains.There are about 20 different amino acids which can combine to make a molecule of protein. Some of the amino acids can be built by the body from scratch – for this reason they are called 'dispensable'. If an amino acid cannot be built by the body from scratch, it is called  a completean essentiala high biological valuea miso amino acid and has to be provided as a part of a healthy diet.

There are  elevenninetwoone hundred essential amino acids and if they are all present in a molecule of protein, such protein is called a complete protein and has a  incomplete valuelow biological valuehigh energy valuehigh biological value. If one or more of the amino acids is missing, the protein is considered  an essentiala low biological valuean unstablea stable protein.

Protein  complementationkwashiorkorcorrelationcoagulation allows us to combine two or more sources of low biological value proteins to make a   completetextured vegetablehigh energyadequate protein. An example of this is  spaghetti bolognesehot dogcheese on toastbeans on toast. Complete proteins occur mostly in  animal-derived foodscerealsfruits and vegetablesplant foods, but also in  breadcouscousgherkinsquinoa and  olive oilgreen peassoysweetcorn.

Proteins are necessary to build  unsaturated fattooth enamelall cells in the bodyadipose tissue , enzymes and hormones. They can also be used as a  secondaryprimaryessential minorfree source of energy – this means that they are only used as a source of energy if other sources (carbohydrates and fats) are not available.

If a person eats too little protein, they may develop a disease called  kwashiorkorscurvykidney stonesberiberi. Too much protein can also be harmful for the body, causing harm to the liver and the kidneys.