Protein and Its Importance

Protein is a special kind of complex chemical compound that forms an essential part of every living cell. Proteins contain nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and sometimes other elements. All proteins are built up of smaller units, the amino acids. Millions of different proteins are formed by different arrangements and combinations of only 20 or so amino acids. When we eat foods rich in protein, enzymes in the stomach break down the proteins into their constituent amino acids; then the amino acids are absorbed into the blood and sent to the tissues of the body; there they are built up into our own kinds of proteins.

Our bodies can manufacture some of the amino acids we need to form our own proteins, but there are ten amino acids that we cannot manufacture. These so-called essential amino acids must be supplied in the protein foods we eat. If the diet is deficient in proteins containing this essential amino acids, normal, physical and mental development cannot take place during the period of growth in infancy and childhood. Anyone whose diet lacks proteins becomes weak and loses resistance to disease. In severe cases of protein deficiency, excessive fluid accumulates in the tissues and general swelling, or edema, results.