Your Body and Protein
What makes up your body?
Your organs, immune system and muscles are all made up primarily of protein. Protein is responsible for building up, maintaining and replacing the tissues in your body.
High protein foods help ensure proper growth and maintenance of these parts of your body.
Protein also plays a part in muscle growth and wound healing. Hair, nails, skin and teeth are all made with protein, as are certain hormones and enzymes. The critical role of protein in muscle and tissue growth means that protein is especially important for children as their bodies grow.
What makes up protein?
Protein is made up of amino acids. Amino acids link together to form chains and act as the “building blocks” of protein in your body.
Amino acids are considered to be essential or non-essential.
Essential vs. non-essential amino acids
- Essential amino acids need to be consumed through the food we eat because the body is incapable of making them
- Non-essential amino acids can be made in the body
- There are 9 essential amino acids
- There are 11 non-essential amino acids
- The amino acids in your body work together to build protein
- If a protein contains all of the essential amino acids, it is called "complete”
Complete and incomplete protein
Meats and poultry are very important sources of protein that are considered complete protein because they contain all nine of the essential amino acids.
Most vegetable protein is considered incomplete because it is missing at least one of the essential amino acids.
While incomplete proteins do not contain all of the essential amino acids, they are still an important part of your diet. Incomplete protein sources, like beans or nuts, still provide nutrients and some amino acids that are necessary for a healthy body.
Did you know?
It is possible to figure out yourself how much protein you need.
Adults need about 60 grams of protein a day. Kids need about 0.5 grams of protein for every pound they weigh. So, to figure out what your kids should be getting, just divide their weight in two. For instance a 60-pound child should have about 30 grams of protein per day.