• Eating for two
• Food diary

Only some foods - the complete protein foods - contain all the essential amino acids. These are listed below:

• milk and dairy products
• eggs
• fish
• meat and poultry
• corn plus peas or beans
• rice plus beans
• lentils plus bread.

The diagram shows how a grocery store is arranged, the purest, whole foods are on the parameter, while the processed foods are in the center of the store.

During digestion, proteins are broken down into smaller units called amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids, which can be combined to make many different proteins. Our bodies can make proteins from amino acids, but we are unable to produce eight of the acids - the essential ones - so these need to be supplied by our diet.