Protein is the first element accepted as a vital part of living tissue. It accounts for 20 percent of our body weight and it has various functions throughout the body and is an important component of enzymes, body tissues and immune cells.

Protein is made up of essential and non-essential amino acids that provide energy to the body. It controls several vital metabolism functions in our body and it is an essential component of the living cell.

Important function

A special kind of protein called hemoglobin is a component of the red blood cells. This helps carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the rest of the body then returns carbon dioxide from the different parts of the body to the lungs. The red color of the blood is due to the red blood cells present in it and it is from hemoglobin that red blood cells get their red color.

For the blood in the body to function properly there should be sufficient amount of protein. It’s a good thing there are high protein foods we can eat to prevent protein deficiencies.

Protein rich foods

• Dairy products and animal sources have the highest amount of protein. They are packed with all the necessary amino acids to produce new proteins in the body. Dairy products that have protein include milk, yoghurt and chee Animal sources of protein include egg, meat, sea food and poultry.

4 ounces of chicken has 32 grams of protein with low cholesterol and fat content. Go for poultry, fish or lean meat to get low fat but high amounts of protein.

• Other sources of proteins are vegetables and legumes. They lack one or two amino acids to make proteins but they are the best source for vegetarians.
  • 100 grams chickpeas = 16 grams protein
  • 1 gram bean = 9 grams protein
  • 100 grams baked beans = 6 grams protein
• Nuts like cashews, peanuts and almonds are good source of protein. A kind of nut with the highest protein content are nuts from Brazil. Just an ounce of Brazil nuts can already provide your daily requirement of protein.
• Sea foods are low in fats but high in protein. 3 ounces of salmon already contains 20 grams of protein and just 5 grams of fat. Cold fish provides 24 grams of protein per 100 grams while tuna gives 24 grams per 100 grams of the fish.