Proteins in foods

Did you know...

The proteins in foods are an essential energy source for our body and given their importance consumers pay a great attention in choosing the best and richest protein sources.

This attention is due to the importance that proteins have both for people who practice physical activity and need to tone muscles and for people who are on a slimming diet and want to improve their physical condition, where the protein becomes an essential food.

WHERE TO FIND PROTEINS IN THE FOODS

Not everyone knows that the protein sources in foods are different and have similar but not the same characteristics.
Let's discover together the main ones:

• Milk: the protein source with the highest biological value. In a liter of milk there are about 30 g of proteins.
• Cheese: other largely used protein source, it contains a protein quantity which varies according to the tipology of cheese: for example mozzarella cheese contains about 30 g of proteins in 100 g.
• Eggs: they provide a complete protein source. An egg contains about 6,7 g of proteins.
• Red meat: other protein source, perhaps the most well-known. On avarage there are 35 g of proteins in 100 g of meat.
• White meat: very good protein source as much as red meat but with the advantage to contain less fats.
• Fish: other primary protein source, in addition it provides also fatty acids particularly suitable for the diet. The protein quantity on 100 g of fish varies according to the species between 20g and 30 g.

For those seeking plant protein sources, the main foods to assume are:

• Dried fruit: as peanuts, almonds, nuts and hazelnuts, they contain a decent quantity of proteins; in particular peanuts have about 23 g on 100 g of product.
• Legumes: soy,lentils, chickpeas and beans are part of them: lentils in particular contain 23 g on 100 g of product.
• Soy derivatives: Tofu is part of this category, widely used by vegetarians; in 100 g of Tofu there are about 16 g of proteins.

WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THE DIFFERENT PROTEINS

The quantity of plant proteins is surely on average inferior compared to animal foods but the advantage can be the price, which is considerably lower.

A deficiency that plant proteins have, compared to the animal ones, is in particulat the quantity of essential amino acids which are more lacking in the first ones compared to the others. In fact, for this reason, the VB (biological value: it represents the yardstick to measure the protein absorption capacity of our body by referring in particular to the essential amino acid quantity in the correct quantities) is lower.

This element must not discourage who is on a vegetarian or vegan diet, because it is sufficient to assume different plant protein sources in order to compensate this deficiency.