Protein GapFill

Proteins are organic macromolecules built from  peptidesfatty acidsamino acidsadipose 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 completea misoa high biological valuean essential amino acid and has to be provided as a part of a healthy diet.

There are  eleventwoone hundrednine essential amino acids and if they are all present in a molecule of protein, such protein is called a complete protein and has a  high energy valuehigh biological valueincomplete valuelow biological value. If one or more of the amino acids is missing, the protein is considered  a stablean essentiala low biological valuean unstable protein.

Protein  kwashiorkorcorrelationcomplementationcoagulation allows us to combine two or more sources of low biological value proteins to make a   textured vegetableadequatehigh energycomplete protein. An example of this is  beans on toasthot dogcheese on toastspaghetti bolognese. Complete proteins occur mostly in  fruits and vegetablescerealsanimal-derived foodsplant foods, but also in  couscousgherkinsquinoabread and  soygreen peassweetcornolive oil.

Proteins are necessary to build  unsaturated fatadipose tissuetooth enamelall cells in the body , enzymes and hormones. They can also be used as a  essential minorfreeprimarysecondary 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.