Meet your body builder:Proteins

Protein

• An important constituent of tissues and cells of the body
• Proteins are made up of different amino acids (essential and non-essential)
• Essential for body growth and repair, production of enzymes, hormones and also contribute to immunity
• The building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood  
• Contribute to immunity
• It’s important to get the right balance of both animal and plant foods

Our body doesn't store protein that’s why it's important to get enough protein in the diet each day. Our body can make non-essential amino acids but not the essential amino acids. It is important to get essential amino acids from food. The nine amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Sources of protein

Animal protein

• Good quality protein because of well balanced essential amino acid composition
• High protein utilization

Plant protein

• Protein quality is inferior to animal protein because of a lack of some essential amino acids
• Protein utilization is approximately 10% lower than animal protein

*All proteins are made up of amino acids, but the amount and type of each amino acid varies based on the protein source

*Protein requirement varies from person to person based on their age, activity, medical condition, etc.