Foods rich in protein and essential amino acids

Proteins are a very important macronutrient for our body. Unlike carbohydrates and fats, our body needs to eat protein often, because we cannot store them in case one day we eat more than necessary.

In fact, our body's store of protein is primarily our own muscle. If we do not ingest protein, when our body needs this type of material it will destroy some of our muscle fibers. That is better to avoid, and it is for that reason that in many diets the foods richest in protein are taken into account.

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What exactly are proteins?

Proteins are the basic components so that our body and that of any organism can develop a structure. Therefore, the primary function of proteins is to form tissues, although they also have many other functions and are the basis of many compounds in our body, such as hormones or enzymes.

From a chemical point of view, proteins are macromolecules made up of smaller pieces known as amino acids. There are 22 of them, and the chain linkage of amino acids combined in multiple ways gives rise to different proteins.

Essential amino acids and their importance for our body

Of the 22 amino acids that exist, eight of them are known as essential amino acids. They receive this name because they are of vital importance to our body, since it cannot synthesize them fast enough considering the metabolic demands of our body.

These amino acids have to be ingested often to avoid deficiencies in our body, and this raw material is needed to build human protein. Here is a list of the 8 essential amino acids:

• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Valine
• Methionine
• Lysine
• Phenylalanine
• Tryptophan
• Threonine

When a food contains the 8 essential amino acids, it is said to be a source of proteins of high biological value.. This, for practical purposes, means that if we eat the food in question our body will have all the necessary material to form human protein.

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Foods rich in animal protein

All foods that come from an animal source are good sources of protein. Animal bodies, like us, also need to build their own protein. What happens is that some of them are capable of synthesizing some amino acids that are essential for us on their own. This is why herbivorous animals can create their body's proteins.

1. Eggs

Egg protein is considered the best quality because it contains the 8 essential amino acids in a very good proportion. Albumin is the protein that we find in this food, and its availability for absorption by the intestine is very good.

Normally we eat chicken eggs, but it does not matter if it is goose, quail or ostrich; all eggs have proteins of high biological value.

2. Milk, yogurt, and other dairy products

Dairy products contain a protein called casein, which, like egg albumin, contains all the essential amino acids. For that reason, whenever you eat a food that can be classified as dairy, you will be ingesting protein of high biological value.

The products derived from milk are very varied and are very present in our gastronomy, so it will not be difficult for you to eat any of them. Some examples of them are milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, cheeseburger, and curd.

3. Meat

Obviously meat is a great source of protein. Sometimes there are people who interpret "meat" to mean red meat. In this section we want to make it clear that we are referring to any type of meat, including poultry, since for practical purposes it is always a good source of protein.

The meat can be, therefore, from any animal: pig, cow, chicken, horse, rabbit, ox, partridge, turkey, goat, sheep, ...

Another thing is that there are meats with more fat content and others that are leaner. In this case, an observation must be made, and that is that if the meat is leaner there will be a higher proportion of protein and less fat. For example, pork or beef is more fat than goat or rabbit.

4. Fish, crustaceans or mollusks

Any fish, crustacean or mollusk that we eat is a good source of protein. These living beings that live in the sea provide us with a quality of total protein and it is comparable to that of meat. Thus, whether we eat hake, prawns or mussels, we will be ingesting protein that our body will know how to take advantage of.

Regarding the protein density, we could say the same thing that we have commented in the case of meat; those fish that are leaner will have a higher concentration of protein. In this way, white fish will be more protein than blue fish, which has more fat.

Foods rich in vegetable protein

There are few foods of plant origin that provide us with the 8 essential amino acids in perfect proportions to form human protein. It is not easy to be able to guarantee a sufficient protein intake by eating only vegetables without considering what type of amino acids they contain. Luckily, knowing the different sources of vegetable protein well, we can be vegetarian or vegan without problems.

Examples of foods of plant origin that provide us with protein of high biological value:

• Quinoa

• Amaranth

• Pumpkin seeds

• Chia seeds

• Spirulina

• Chlorella

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Plant food combination

There are many foods of plant origin that provide many amino acids, but still lack some essential amino acid or have it in very low proportions.

Just missing one of the eight can cause us a serious aggravation, because our body does not have all the necessary parts to create protein for the body itself.

The good news is that we can combine plant foods to get all eight, something that is essential to know.

For example, cereals as well as seeds and nuts have a good repertoire of amino acids, but they lack enough lysine. Lycin can appear in these foods but in very low amounts, so our body will not be able to create protein.

On the other hand, legumes have a good supply of lysine and the other essential amino acids. Or rather, of all but methionine.

Can you think of what we can do?

• Cereals + legumes
• Legumes + nuts
• Legumes + seeds
• * Tofu + cereals
• * Tempeh + cereals
• * Seitan + legumes

Following the previous cases we ensure that our menus will be full of protein of high biological value **. For example, if we take a plate of rice (cereal) with lentils (legume) we will not have any protein deficit.

* For those who do not know tofu, tempeh and seitan: they are products from soybeans (in the case of tofu and tempeh) and wheat (in the case of seitan). This means that they contain the amino acids belonging to their group (legumes in the case of soybeans and cereals in the case of wheat).

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Bibliographic references

• Alberts, B. (1992). Molecular biology of the cell. Barcelona: Ediciones Omega S.A.

• Melina, V., Craig, W. and Levin, S (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets. J Acad Nutr Diet 116 (12), 1970-1980.

• Young, V.R. (1994). Adult amino acid requirements: the case for a major revision in current recommendations. J. Nutr., 124 (8), 1517–1523.