{"id":4489,"date":"2019-04-12T13:33:39","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/?p=4489"},"modified":"2019-06-19T16:05:09","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T20:05:09","slug":"macronutrients-101-what-is-protein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/","title":{"rendered":"Macronutrients 101:  What is Protein?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protein is primarily known for its association with muscle repair but did you know that it is also used to make DNA, hormones, enzymes, and basically every cell\/tissue in your body? \u00a0When digested, your body breaks down the protein into amino acids. There are 21 amino acids that humans use, 9 of which are essential to your body\u2019s nutrition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essential amino acids cannot be produced by the body, so they must be obtained through the food we eat. \u00a0<\/span><b>Complete <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">protein sources contain all 9 essential amino acids (ex. meat, eggs, and other animal sources). \u00a0<\/span><b>Incomplete <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">protein sources are missing a few essential amino acids and are usually plant-derived (grains, veggies, fruit).\u00a0 <\/span><b>Complementary <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proteins are two incomplete proteins paired together to provide all 9 essential amino acids. \u00a0Legumes\/grains or legumes\/nuts are great examples of complementary proteins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know what you&#8217;re thinking &#8211; should I worry about pairing proteins at every meal?\u00a0 Nope!\u00a0 As long as you are consuming a balanced diet and eat animal products, there\u2019s no need to worry about pairing proteins! \u00a0However, if your diet specifically eliminates food groups, like a vegetarian or vegan, pay closer attention to your protein intake and pairings.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Sources of Protein<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1) Meat\/Poultry\/Seafood<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2) Eggs<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3) Nuts\/Seeds<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4) Beans\/Peas<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5) Soy<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6) Protein supplements (usually derived from dairy, egg, soy, or pea protein)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food for thought:\u00a0 Animal products are a complete source of protein but be sure to choose leaner cuts of meat or low fat dairy products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Questions about protein? \u00a0Our CoreLife Registered Dietitians are here to help!\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/find-locations\/\">Contact your local CoreLife office<\/a> or visit us on Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corelife\/\">@corelifemd<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protein is primarily known for its association with muscle repair but did you know that it is also used to make DNA, hormones, enzymes, and basically every cell\/tissue in your&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,7,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CoreLife Healthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corelife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/eggs-food-8439.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2213\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@corelifemd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@corelifemd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/07831d98618e2345e81029a007d44dc1\"},\"headline\":\"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\"},\"wordCount\":270,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\",\"Nutrition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\",\"name\":\"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/\",\"name\":\"CoreLife Healthcare\",\"description\":\"Treatment of obesity and its disease states\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CoreLife Healthcare\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CL-no-HC-399x150-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CL-no-HC-399x150-1.png\",\"width\":399,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"CoreLife Healthcare\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corelife\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/corelifemd\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/corelifemd\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2715229\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCza26FRRsef5CrUqTBbBLLA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/07831d98618e2345e81029a007d44dc1\",\"name\":\"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/core-life-logo-tall-100x100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/core-life-logo-tall-100x100.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare","description":"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare","og_description":"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.","og_url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/","og_site_name":"CoreLife Healthcare","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corelife","article_published_time":"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3319,"height":2213,"url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/eggs-food-8439.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@corelifemd","twitter_site":"@corelifemd","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/"},"author":{"name":"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/07831d98618e2345e81029a007d44dc1"},"headline":"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein?","datePublished":"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/"},"wordCount":270,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Blog","Nutrition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/","url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/","name":"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein? | CoreLife Healthcare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-04-12T17:33:39+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-19T20:05:09+00:00","description":"What is protein and why is it important to our bodies? CoreLife identifies healthy protein sources and complete, incomplete, and complementary sources.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/macronutrients-101-what-is-protein\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Macronutrients 101: What is Protein?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#website","url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/","name":"CoreLife Healthcare","description":"Treatment of obesity and its disease states","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#organization","name":"CoreLife Healthcare","url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CL-no-HC-399x150-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CL-no-HC-399x150-1.png","width":399,"height":150,"caption":"CoreLife Healthcare"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corelife","https:\/\/twitter.com\/corelifemd","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/corelifemd\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2715229\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCza26FRRsef5CrUqTBbBLLA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/07831d98618e2345e81029a007d44dc1","name":"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/core-life-logo-tall-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/core-life-logo-tall-100x100.jpg","caption":"Megan Lautz, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4489"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4641,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489\/revisions\/4641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corelifemd.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}