3.2.1.1 Protein GapFill

Proteins are organic macromolecules built from  couscousadipose tissueamino acidspeptides, 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 high biological valuea misoan insoluble amino acid and has to be provided as a part of a healthy diet.

There are  twentytwonineeleven 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 valuehigh biological valueincomplete valuehigh energy value. If one or more of the amino acids is missing, the protein is considered  a stablean unstablea low biological valuea solid protein.

Protein  coagulationcomplementingcorrelationcomplementation allows us to combine two or more sources of low biological value proteins to make a   fattyadequatetextured vegetablewhole protein. An example of this is  hot dogcheese on toastspaghetti bolognesebeans on toast. Complete proteins occur mostly in  plant foodsanimal-derived foodsfruits and vegetablesnuts, but also in  quinoagherkinsbreadcouscous and  green peasolive oilsoytomatoes.

Proteins are necessary to build  adipose tissueall cells in the bodylardunsaturated fat , enzymes and hormones. They can also be used as a  insolublesecondaryfreeprimary 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  kwashiorkornight blindnessscurvykidney stones. Too much protein can also be harmful for the body, causing harm to the liver and the kidneys.