I have always known that protein is necessary for the human body to function. We ingest meat, fish, cheese, tofu, beans, eggs, yogurt/milk, soy, and nuts (the top 10 most protein-rich foods) to give our bodies energy. But how exactly does it work?
After learning in class this week about how amino acid chains are put together and broken down, I did some research on how exactly the human body uses protein that it ingests. It turns out that humans need nine amino acids. We cannot produce these essential amino acids on our own, so we need to eat them. They are:
- histidine
- isoleucine
- leucine
- lysine
- methionine
- phenylalanine
- threonine
- tryptophan
- valine
When we eat foods that contain these proteins, they are broken down by our stomach and intestines until the amino acids are just peptides, or a chain of two or three amino acids. Next, the peptides are absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered all over the body. Many go to the liver, where new proteins are synthesized and others are processed into energy. Amino acids are constantly broken down and put back together, so the same pieces are being reattached and detached all the time.
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