The dietary proteins one consumes are digested and result in the absorption of single amino acids and occasionally short peptides. There is not a protein requirement per se. Rather, there is an amino acid requirement, since the body cannot make its own codes for proteins without an adequate supply of these essential nutrients. Dietary protein provides 20 amino acids that are used to build body proteins. Eight of these amino acids are considered essential, which means they cannot be synthesized by the body. In Table 1, these eight are noted with an asterisk. The rest are considered nonessential amino acids, each of which can be synthesized either directly or indirectly from the essential ones.