Nutrition - Proteins
Proteins are found in every cell in your body. They are found in everything from muscles to hair. The main job of proteins is to help build and repair the cells in the body.
Proteins are made up of chains of amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids and they can combine in many different ways to produce different proteins. Some amino acids are made in your body. Others, called essential amino acids, must be supplied by the foods that you eat because they cannot be produced in the body.
Proteins provided by food can be classified as either complete or incomplete proteins. Complete proteins have all of the essential amino acids that your body needs. Examples of foods that are rich in complete proteins are lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese.
Incomplete proteins lack some of the essential amino acids that your body needs. You can combine foods that have incomplete proteins to get all the essential amino acids that your body needs. Some examples of foods that have incomplete proteins are nuts, grains and vegetables.