All About Protein

What is Protein and Why Do You Need It?

Canada’s Food Guide recommends 1-3 servings of meat and meat alternatives per day depending on your gender and age, but do you know why? You probably know you need to eat protein, but what is it? Many foods contain protein and the best sources are turkey, other meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds and legumes. The building blocks in protein (called amino acids) build, maintain and replace the tissues in your body. Your muscles, your organs and your immune system are made up mostly of protein.

Your body uses the protein that you eat to make lots of specialized protein molecules and each has a specific job within your body. New protein is needed daily to replace and repair those molecules that are used up or worn out. Every cell in the human body is partially made of proteins. Protein is a major part of the skin, muscles, organs and glands. Everything you do throughout the day, even sleep, requires a constant supply of new protein to keep you alive, healthy, and moving.

About Amino Acids

When you eat foods that contain protein such as turkey, the digestive enzymes in your stomach and intestine go to work. They break down the protein into their simple building blocks, called amino acids. The amino acids can then be re-used to build new proteins that your body needs to maintain muscles, bones, blood and body organs. Protein is particularly important when pregnant or for growing children.

The amino acids can join together in many different combinations to make thousands of different proteins. There are many different amino acids in protein, but 22 of them are necessary to maintain the human body. Of those 22 amino acids, your body can make 13 of them. The other nine amino acids can’t be made by your body, so they are considered essential, because it’s essential that you get them from the foods that you eat.

Turkey is a Complete Protein

Protein from a source such as turkey meat is called complete, because it contains all nine of the essential amino acids. Most vegetable protein is considered incomplete because it lacks one or more of the essential amino acids.

How Much is Enough?

Each day, kids need to eat about 0.5 grams of protein for every pound (0.5 kilograms) of their weight. Adults, on the other hand, need about 60 grams per day. If you’re eating a balanced diet, including lean turkey, you will likely get enough without needing to worry.

Canada’s Food Guide

Recommended Number of Food Guide Servings per Day