Download Protein: How Cows and Carrots Become People 1. Your body can

Protein: How Cows and Carrots Become People
1. Your body can manufacture some amino acids (used as the building blocks of
proteins) out of nitrogen. What name is given to this group of amino acids?
2. Your digestive system breaks protein down into what is often called the body’s
“building blocks.” What is the correct name for these building blocks that are formed
from protein?
3. Plants, such as trees or carrots, thrive without eating meat or other plants. Many
animals, such as cows or gorillas, stay healthy without eating other animals. Why do
people need plants and/or animals to survive?
4. If you were to select a food to represent almost pure carbohydrate it would be sugar.
Pure fat would be represented by cooking oil or lard. What would you select to illustrate
almost pure protein?
5. In the video, Jake tells about a house building crew working during a very cold
winter. These workers burn the wood that was supposed to be used to build the house in
order to stay warm.. They succeed in staying warm, but have no wood to build the house.
What does this story have to do with diets and protein?
6. In the video, Jake compares proteins to pasta. What characteristic do they share other
than the fact that we eat both proteins and pasta?
7. Why is protein from vegetable sources often called “incomplete”? Explain exactly
what it lacks.
8. Who needs the most protein per pound of body weight? Hint: the correct answer is
NOT an athlete or long distance runner.
9. Believe it or not, you have hydrochloric acid in your stomach. It’s nasty stuff that can
burn skin and eat away at almost anything. What is it doing in your stomach and why
doesn’t it eat up your insides?
10. Give two examples of important bodily processes that depend on proteins.