Foods of animal origin.

Abstract

Animal foods play an important role in the diet of man. Nutritionally they are important sources of protein of good quality and excellent sources of vitamins and minerals. In addition, animal foods are in general more distinctive in flavor and texture and often more palatable than foods of vegetable origin. However, grains and their products and vegetables continue to constitute the bulk of the diets of most persons because of their lower cost. The feeding of grains to animals and consumption of them as animal products is uneconomical in certain respects, but many plant products can be consumed by human beings only after conversion through the animal. The customary combination of animal and vegetable foods is a sound practice nutritionally because of their supplementary relationship. PROTEIN Probably the most important contribution of animal foods to the human diet is the proteins (amino acids) they supply. The animal proteins generally are