Guide to fruit and vegetables
Welcome to the realbuzz guide to fruit and vegetables. This food group is made up ...
Guide to meat, fish and protein
Foods containing protein
This food group consists of fish (oily, such as kippers, herrings, sardines, mackerel, salmon, trout and pilchards; and white, such as cod, haddock and coley), red meat (such as lamb, pork, beef) and poultry (such as chicken and turkey). It also includes alternatives such as pulses (kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas etc) and nuts for vegetarians.
This food group provides protein and it should make up about 15% of the diet. This means that we should be eating protein foods (a portion is 4oz of red meat, 6oz of poultry and fish) twice a day.
Protein consists of ‘building blocks’ called amino acids. Once protein has been eaten and digested, it is used in the body as a major component of every human cell. It is found in muscles, bones, hair and forms part of hormones and other essential substances.
A lack of protein in the diet means that the body uses up its own stores in the muscles. This can happen in some low calorie, weight-reducing diets. When more protein is consumed than is needed it is used as a source of calories, therefore it can lead to weight gain.
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Rozlynmac - check out the vegetarian society website for more detailed info about protein: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/protein.html
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This is only vaguely helpful if you're a vegetarian - you mention the non-meat alternatives, but then don't bother saying how much of these you should eat a day.