3.2.1.1 Protein GapFill

Proteins are organic macromolecules built from  amino acidscouscousadipose tissuepeptides, 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  an essentiala misoa high biological valuean insoluble amino acid and has to be provided as a part of a healthy diet.

There are  twoninetwentyeleven essential amino acids and if they are all present in a molecule of protein, such protein is called a complete protein and has a  insufficient valueincomplete valuehigh biological valuehigh energy value. If one or more of the amino acids is missing, the protein is considered  a solida stablean unstablea low biological value protein.

Protein  correlationcoagulationcomplementingcomplementation allows us to combine two or more sources of low biological value proteins to make a   adequatewholetextured vegetablefatty protein. An example of this is  spaghetti bolognesebeans on toastcheese on toasthot dog. Complete proteins occur mostly in  fruits and vegetablesplant foodsnutsanimal-derived foods, but also in  quinoabreadcouscousgherkins and  soygreen peastomatoesolive oil.

Proteins are necessary to build  unsaturated fatlardadipose tissueall cells in the body , enzymes and hormones. They can also be used as a  primaryinsolublesecondaryfree 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, he or she may develop a disease called  night blindnesskidney stonesscurvykwashiorkor. Too much protein can also be harmful for the body, causing harm to the liver and the kidneys.