Complete and incomplete proteins

Any fitness enthusiast swears by the power of proteins. In fact, in recent time protein is “the” nutrient to include in your diet. While people are obsessing over including plenty of proteins in their diet, not many are eating the right kind of protein. Read on to know more about it.

Proteins are needed to build and repair the tissues in our body. For fitness enthusiasts, proteins are helpful to recover from the physical injuries and muscular damage. Proteins are made up of amino acids and there are two types of amino acids, essential and non-essential amino acids.

Though our body can make a few amino acids and not all, and the ones it can make on its own are called the non-essential amino acids while the ones our body can not make are the essential amino acids.

Proteins are further categorized as complete and incomplete proteins. Complete proteins are the ones that contain all essential amino acids while incomplete proteins are the ones that lack one or more than one essential amino acid. Hence, it is vital that we consume food sources that contain complete proteins to ensure we supply all the essential amino acids to our body.

In case you eat a balanced diet, you may still make up for the lack of essential amino acids in a diet containing incomplete protein source. As each protein source lacks a different amino acid and by consuming a balanced diet, comprising of many types of protein source, you may still have access to all the essential amino acids!

Almost all the animal products, and soy bean and its derivatives are considered complete proteins. However, these animal sources are also laden with a high quantity of saturated fat and must be consumed in limited portion or pick a lean source and cut of animal meat. So, choosing fat free or low fat dairy, low fat seafood, chicken, egg, and turkey is a healthier way to include complete proteins in your diet.

The incomplete proteins are found in nonanimal products, with an exception of soy. These food choices are healthier than animal foods and consuming many types of these proteins help to incorporate all the essential amino acids in a day’s meal. So, try to include a variety of nuts, grains, legumes, beans, and rice in an entire days’ meal.

Vegans and vegetarians have to be extra careful to include many types of protein sources to balance the intake of essential amino acids throughout a day. Or, better still, make sure you eat soy or its products every day!