What are Amino Acids?

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Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. They come together in chains to form the matter from which life is born. This is a two-step process: First, they join together and form peptides or polypeptides, and it is from these groupings that proteins are made.
A total of 20 different types of amino acids form proteins, with the types involved determining the shape of the proteins formed. Commonly recognized ones include glutamine, glycine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and valine. Three of these – phenylalanine, tryptophan and valine – are essential amino acids for humans; the others are isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine and threonine. This type cannot be synthesized by the body, so they must be ingested through food.

One of the best-known essential amino acids is tryptophan, which performs several critical functions for people. Helps induce normal sleep; helps reduce anxiety, depression and the risk of artery spasms; and helps produce a stronger immune system. Tryptophan is perhaps best known for its role in the production of serotonin, which is what gets all the press around Thanksgiving to put people to sleep after the big holiday feast.

Amino acids make up 75% of the human body. They are essential for nearly every bodily function, and every chemical reaction that takes place in the body depends on them and the proteins they build.

Essential amino acids must be ingested every day. Failure to take just one of them can lead to protein degradation, because the human body does not store them for later use, as it does with fats and starches. Amino acids can be found in many places in nature and more than 300 have been found in the natural world from sources as diverse as microorganisms and meteorites.

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