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The Importance of Protein

Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 09 December 2010

I was doing a cooking demonstration recently for a national school, where I taught a group of parents how to feed their kids a varied and nutritious diet. It not only allowed parents to share some of their experiences but also ask a range of questions on what nutrients were important for children. Protein came up.

Protein is one of the most important nutrients for our bodies – every enzyme, cell, muscle and tissue contains protein and it’s needed for the growth, maintenance and repair of these. This is why protein is considered so important for children. Protein is made up of 22 amino acids - 14 amino acids are non essential, meaning that the body can make them, and there are 8 that are essential, meaning that the body must take from food in order to make them.

There are some foods that contain all of the 8 essential amino acids and are called "complete" proteins, animal sources such as meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, shellfish and poultry. However, eating only animal sources of protein can be dangerous due to their levels of saturated fat and low fibre levels.

‘Incomplete’ proteins are found in vegetable products like fruits, vegetables, beans and lentils, grains and nuts, and have the added bonus of being high in fibre and some essential fatty acids. You can also mix these in the same meal to make the meal complete.

Variety is the most important thing. This recipe below shows how easy it is to add beans (and therefore protein) to your favourite soup. I’m serving with some brown bread to make it a complete protein meal.

Sweet Potato and Butterbean soup

1 tin of butterbeans (washed)
3 medium sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped)
2 small onions (chopped)
1 inch fresh root ginger (grated)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1 litre of boiling water

Place the onions in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add some water and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add sweet potatoes, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt and pepper and stir well.
Add the boiling water and bring back to the boil.
Cover and let simmer for 20 mins.
Add butter beans to soup and stir.
Take off heat and blitz with a hand blend or a liquidiser.
Serve with toasted brown or soda bread.

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