What are Amino Acids and their Benefits

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How much do you know about amino acids? You ought to know that amino acids are involved in every area of our life, so getting to know about them is crucial.

What Are Amino Acids?

Amino acids are organic compounds that consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. In simple terms, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and you should know that proteins make up the muscles, tissues, glands, tendons, organs, enzymes, hair and nails. This alone puts amino in a position of prime importance.

Generally speaking, there are twenty or more amino acids and these acids are typically divided into two parts namely;

• Essential amino acids
• Non-essential amino acids

Essential amino acids

The word ‘Essential’ implies that the human body cannot produce specific amino acids. Thus they have to be taken from outside sources – either through foods or supplements. Amino acids in food make up the proteins, and they are essential for all metabolic processes. When protein gets digested, it is again broken down into certain amino acids that are then selectively arranged for various purposes. These newly formed proteins are what makeup nearly all solid matter in the body: eyes, heart, intestines, skin, bones and muscle. That is why appreciating the function of each of these amino acids and having them sufficiently in your diet can be very favorable to attaining various goals like muscle building.

The essential amino acids include:

• Histidine
• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Lysine
• Methionine (and its related compound cystine)
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine

Non-essential amino acids

In contrast to essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids can be produced by the body. For instance, when your body wears out as a result of physical exertion and exercise, it begins to demand some attention. This might make you feel sore and fatigued; this is where non-essential amino acids come into play. These acids help repair, restore and build body tissues.

Non-essential amino acids include:

• Alanine
• Arginine
• Asparagine
• Aspartate
• Cystine
• Glutamic acid
• Glycine
• Ornithine
• Proline
• Serine
• Tyrosine

Benefits of Amino Acids

Amino acids are generally known as muscle builders. Besides producing and developing new muscle tissue, amino acids also offer other health benefits to the human body.

Listed below are some advantages of amino acids for weight loss, skin, hair and overall health:

1. Boosts collagen production: Creatine is regarded one of the essential amino acids of the skin. Not only does it aid to keep your skin operating correctly, but it plays a significant role in the collagen production. Collagen is a protein that is responsible for keeping your skin firm and fresh. You continuously need more collagen in your body, thus getting additional creatine (formed from the arginine and carnitine amino acids) in your diet is the answer to healthier skin.
2. Improves healthy pH balance: Glutamine is yet another important amino acid that is essential for the health of your skin. It helps maintain a healthy pH balance for your skin. As we know, acidity can damage the skin, and this inadvertently leads inefficiency in repairing skin tissues. Glutamine helps keep your skin’s pH toward the alkaline and ensures that your skin is well protected. It also promotes the ability of your skin to make repairs to damaged cells.
3. Combat aging: Glutamine still plays a vital role in slowing down the skin’s aging process. It is noteworthy to mention that gluthamine is an antioxidant and this implies that it can help fight the effects of aging in your skin. Be sure to get enough glutamine in your diet so you can maintain that young looking beautiful skin.
4. Promote fat burning or weight loss: Amino acids can assist in losing weight by maintaining muscle mass while the fat is being lost. Having enough of essential amino acids will help to address overindulging. Carnitine plays a pivotal role in your body’s fat burning process. This amino acid derivative is needed for your body to activate, transport and blast fat cells for fuel. For instance, if you take carnitine prior to your workout (typically in the form of a snack or pre-workout supplement), it will boost the ability of your body to burn more fat. This eventually results in better weight loss. As you can see, Supplements can be used. However, it is essential to verify the current amino acids levels of in your body. Seeking the advice of a physician is highly suggested so that a particular plan can be scheduled to fit individual requirements. Supplements of amino acids can be valuable, but there are rules involved. They must be consumed with certain foodstuffs or in the absence of specific foods to ensure they are correctly processed. Failure to follow this will counteract the desired outcome.
5. Healthier immune system: Amino acids are important in improving the health of your immune system. They produce white blood cells which aid in the body’s defense. It is also noteworthy to mention that Glutamine helps protect the gastrointestinal tract or the mucosa. You ought to know that a healthy digestive system indicates a healthy immune system. This is true because up to 70% of the body’s immune system is concentrated in the digestive tract. Glutamine assists in healing the cells of the mucosa in both the small and large intestines and it also prevent symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
6. Promote healthy hair and nails: If you want to grow thick, lustrous hair you need to indulge in the right nutrients. Methionine is another amazing essential amino acid that plays a significant role in improving the health of your hair and nails. This amino acid is needed to generate the cellular chains that build the structure of your hair and fingernails. Besides building stronger hair and nail structures, this amino acid can also help combat hair loss. Just taking Methionine can help boost hair growth and at the same time, promote the production of keratin which is essential for healthy nails. Research also indicates that the combination of methionine and cysteine with vitamins can trigger faster hair growth.
7. Better sleep and good mental health

Do you want to enjoy a good night rest? If the answer is yes, be sure to fall in love with your amino acids. Amino acids such as Glutamine and Tryptophan can influence both your sleep and mental health. Combining these amino acids is a sure way of supporting your beauty sleep.

Summary

Well, there you have it, folks. It is quite evident that the benefits of amino acids

to our health are astonishing. These are just the top benefits of amino acids to the body. There are still other ways these acids make our life sweeter and healthier, for instance, the intake of arginine and carnitine can help boost the development of sperm in men among many other things.

We believe this article has helped you understand how important amino acids are to your body and we are sure you will take the right step of including them in your daily diet.