Competing sources of information have made it difficult to choose which foods to eat for optimal health and well-being. For the last couple of years, a trend has developed toward diet plans that focus on consuming protein. Diets such as the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, and Sugar Busters have all held that carbohydrates make you fat and that replacing carbohydrates with protein will help to prevent you from gaining those extra pounds.
Protein is an essential component of the body.
The organs, muscle, brain, nerves, and immune system are all, to some degree, comprised of protein. You name the body structure, and it probably has some protein in it. Since protein is one of the fundamental building blocks for the body, you need to ensure that you get enough of it. Every protein molecule is composed of amino acids. Twenty amino acids are used in different combinations to build the protein molecules found in food and in the body's structures.