NUTR 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Saturated Fat, Vegetarianism, Veal
Document Summary
Protein is an energy-yielding nutrient composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. The presence of nitrogen is what makes proteins different from carbohydrates and fats. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein molecules. Most proteins are made up of combin ations of 20 amino acids which are linked in strands. Most amino acids have the following basic chemical structure: Essential amino acids cannot be made by your body. You must get them from the foods you eat. Nonessential amino acids are the acids your body can make. Essential amino acids non-essential amino acids arginine histidine isoleucine leucine lysine methionine phenylalanine threonine tryptophan valine. The body has at least 30 000 types of proteins. The amino acids can be arranged in a straight line or stacked up and branched like a tree. The number of amino acids and the order in which they are linked determine the type of protein.
