Useful facts About Amino acids

Amino acids are the molecular units that make up proteins. All proteins are various compositions of twenty specific naturally occurring amino acids.

Protein is required for the growth and development of all animals including human beings. Body proteins serve many functions, they include structural components of cells and tissues, enzyme catalysts of biochemical reactions, hormone messengers, and components of the immune system.

Proteins are hydrolyzed by digestive enzymes to peptides and amino acids which are absorbed and transported by the blood to various body tissues. Tissue proteins are continually being broken down and resynthesized, ingested amino acids being incorporated and those already present being eliminated. Certain amino acids necessary for growth and maintenance must be included in the diet, but others can be synthesized from non-protein precursors.

  • Alanine

    Alanine is synthesized in your muscle tissue from branched chain amino acids. It helps regulate your blood sugar levels and chronic deficiencies may lead to muscle loss and poor glucose tolerance. Alanine is the major amino acid utilized by the liver for gluconeogenesis under normal conditions.

  • Arginine

    This amino acid is necessary for the normal functioning of the pituitary gland. Together with ornithine, phenylalanine, and other neuro chemicals, arginine is required for the synthesis and release of the pituitary gland's growth hormone.

    The need for arginine is especially important for males, since seminal fluids contain much of this amino acid.

  • Aspartic acid

    Aspartic acid helps in the expulsion of harmful ammonia from the body. When ammonia enters the circulatory system it acts as a highly toxic substance. By disposing of ammonia, aspartic acid helps protect the central nervous system.

  • Cysteine and Cystine

    Cystine is the stable form of the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine. The body readily converts one into the other as needed, and the two forms can be considered as a single amino acid in metabolism. When cystine is metabolized it yields sulfuric acid which acts with other substances to help detoxify the system.

  • Glutamic acid and Glutamine

    Glutamic acid is primarily used by the brain. It has the ability to pick up excess ammonia, which inhibits brain functioning, and convert it into glutamine. Since glutamine produces an elevation of glutamic acid, a shortage in the diet can result in a shortage of glutamic acid in the brain.



    Glutamine has also been shown to help in the control of alcoholism, shorten the healing time of ulcers and alleviate fatigue, depression, and impotence. It has also been used successfully in the treatment of schizophrenia and senility.

  • Glycine

    Glycine has been found to be helpful in the treatment of low pituitary gland function and, because it supplies the body with additional creatine, it has also been found effective in the treatment of progressive muscular dystrophy.

    It is also used for the treatment of hypoglycemia. Glycine stimulates the release of glucagon, which mobilizes glycogen, which is then released into the blood as glucose.

  • Lysine

    This essential amino acid is vital in the makeup of critical body proteins. It's needed for growth, tissue repair, and the production of antibodies, hormones, and enzymes.

    It promotes better concentration and properly utilizes fatty acids needed for energy production.

  • Methionine

    Methionine helps in some cases of schizophrenia by lowering the blood level of histamine, which can cause the brain to relay wrong messages. It also helps remove toxic wastes from your liver, assists in the regeneration of liver and kidney tissue, infuences hair follicle health, and can be an effective antistress factor.

    A deficiency of methionine can inhibit the body's ability to process urine and result in edema and susceptibility to infection. A methionine deficiency has also been linked to cholesterol deposits, atherosclerosis, and hair loss in laboratory animals.

  • Phenylalanine

    Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that is a neuro-transmitter (a chemical that transmits signals between the nerve cells and the brain).

  • DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA)

    This form of the essential amino acid phenylalanine is a mixture of equal parts of D (synthetic) and L (natural) phenylalanine. By producing and activating endorphins it intensifies and prolongs the body's own natural pain-killing response to injury and disease.



    Certain enzyme systems continually destroy endorphins, but DL-phenylalanine effectively inhibits these enzymes, allowing the pain-killing endorphins to work.

    People who suffer from chronic pain have lower levels of endorphin activity in their blood and cerebro-spinal fluid. Since DLPA can restore normal endorphin levels, it can assist the body in reducing pain naturally. It is effective as a natural pain-killer for conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lower back pain, migraines, leg and muscle cramps, postoperative pain, and neuralgia.

  • Threonine

    Excessive use of threonine can cause the formation of too much urea and consequently ammonia toxicity in your body. To be used effectively, threonine requires vitamin B6, magnesium, and niacin. Both serine and glycine can be synthesized from this amino acid.

  • Tryptophan

    Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that's used by the brain along with vitamin B6, niacin, and magnesium to produce serotin, a neurotransmitter that carries messages between the brain and one of the body's biochemical mechanisms of sleep. It acts as an antidepressant reducing anxiety and tension.

  • Tyrosine

    Tyrosine is a neuro-transmitter and is important because of its role in stimulating and modifying brain activity. For instance, in order for phenylalanine to be effective as a mood elevator and appetite depressant, it must first be converted into tyrosine.

    Clinical studies have shown that tyrosine supplementation has helped control medication-resistant depression and anxiety, as well as enable patients taking amphetamines (as mood elevators or diet drugs) to reduce their dosages to minimal levels in a matter of weeks.

Known Hazards: An excess of protein can also cause the formation of toxic substances and become a burden to our digestive system. There has been much research done showing the negative and dangerous results of diets with too high a protein content. It has been deemed prudent to maintain an upper bound of no more than twice the RDA for protein.