Protein is the raw material from which your body is constantly renewing itself. The smallest unit of protein is the amino acid. The body requires 20 amino acids in order to build and repair itself. Of these 20 amino acids, your body can manufacture 11 of them. The other nine are essential and must be supplied through the foods we eat. Of these nine, three essential amino acids play an especially vital role in protein synthesis. These three - valine, leucine and isoleucine - are known as Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA's).

Foods that contain all of the essential and non-essential amino acids are known as complete proteins. Your body will only synthesize muscle if all of the amino acids are available together. Because your body has a very limited ability to store protein, we need to eat quality protein at every meal to provide the environment for healthy muscle synthesis.