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Protein is an essential nutrient found in animal products, nuts, and beans. The name protein name comes from the Greek word protos, which means âfirst.â Your body uses proteins in your diet to build new cells, maintain tissues, and synthesize new proteins that make it possible for you to perform basic bodily functions.
Getting enough protein in your diet is important to maintaining healthy tissue. During digestion, your body breaks dietary protein down into small subunits, called amino acids. Your cells can then reassemble those amino acids into the thousands of proteins needed to maintain your tissues, as well as support cell growth.