okay so I understand like nutrient groups and how they’re broken down for energy like with carbohydrates. I don’t understand when people eat “protein” what it means. Because a cellular protein is like a tag and as far as I understand aren’t digested for energy. So what is it that’s so important to our diet that’s called protein and is it an *actual* protein?
In: Biology
They’re important to your diet because they’re the only thing you eat that has nitrogen in large quantities. Every amino acid has an amino group of NH2–amino acid and ammonia (NH3) don’t sound alike by accident. All amino acids have the same ‘backbone’ where they link together, but each one also has a “dangly bit” called the R group. There are only 21 amino acids and your body can make 12 of them. Except you can’t make amino groups from nitrogen in the air directly so you have to eat every one your body needs which is where the base amount of protein you need comes from.
The nine you can’t make must be in your diet in sufficient quantities. This is what balanced protein means. Any animal protein is balanced since it contains enough of all nine. Plant protein can be deficient in the nine essentials. You can still balance it out by eating plants from different groups so that a deficiency of one group is supplied by another. The classic example is grains and legumes. Rice and beans, succotash, peanut butter sandwiches all combine all combine a grain with a legume for a complete protein source.
Latest Answers