The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word PROTEIN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
R
O
T
E
I
N
More clues leading to the result PROTEIN
- Important part of diet for adolescent, it’s said
- Tripe on toast is source of this
- Dietary essential for youngster announced
- Hold about: dull way of learning subject in food science
- Essential part of diet is not ripe, unfortunately
- Substance in meat for container absorbing energy
- Way of learning to crack code for dietary essential
- Planned reception, missing church source of energy
- Nutritionally, something for youth, it’s said
- Nutritional compound for most of soccer team? I will tuck in
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Essential part of diet" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case essential part of diet = protein.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PROTEIN mean?
PROTEIN noun- Any of numerous large, complex naturally-produced molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids, in which the amino acid groups are held together by peptide bonds.
- (nutrition) One of three major classes of food or source of food energy (4 kcal/gram) abundant in animal-derived foods (i.e. meat) and some vegetables, such as legumes.
- (nutrition) A food rich in protein, often a meat or meat substitute.