Amino Acids - Building Blocks of Life
Almost everyone has heard of amino acids. But what exactly is an amino acid? And how are amino acids related to our health and the proper functioning of our bodies? Below you’ll read everything you didn’t yet know about the “building blocks of our body.”
Imagine you want to build a house. You need different building materials such as bricks, cement, and wood. Our body works much the same way: it is built from different molecules. Amino acids are one of the most important building materials for us: they are the basis of many other molecules that ultimately allow us to stand upright, move, and survive. In short: no life without amino acids!
The amino side and the acid side
As mentioned, an amino acid is a molecule. Molecules are tiny particles you can compare to Lego bricks. The name “amino-acid” comes from the two ends of the molecule: the amino end (left in the diagram) and the acid end (right). In addition, each amino acid has a so-called “functional group.” This is essentially another molecule attached to the amino acid. In the figure below it’s indicated by “R.” There are 20 such functional groups, which means there are 20 different amino acids.
Making chains
The special thing about an amino acid is that your body can attach the “acid end” to the amino end of another amino acid. In this way, chains of amino acids are easily formed. A short chain consisting of a few amino acids can act as a hormone. A chain of more than 20 amino acids is called a protein.
Bio-logical, right?
So it’s quite logical: all living beings need amino acids to stay alive. From them they craft all kinds of substances needed to function well. That’s pure biology. Below are two examples of amino acids as building materials in our body: first the amino acid tryptophan and then the protein hemoglobin.
Happy with tryptophan
Our brain uses the amino acid tryptophan to produce serotonin. Serotonin is involved in many processes in the brain and generally helps us feel well. If we consume too little tryptophan through our diet, that has downsides.
Breathing with hemoglobin
The protein hemoglobin is composed of several protein chains totaling 574 amino acids. These amino acids fold together in such a way that—together with the iron in our blood—they can bind oxygen effectively. Our red blood cells contain many hemoglobin proteins. This allows them to transport oxygen from the lungs throughout the body and release it where needed.
Where do amino acids come from?
You obtain amino acids—like other building materials—from your diet. Often you eat them in the form of proteins. These proteins are broken down in your intestines into amino acids and absorbed into the blood to serve a function elsewhere in the body. You can also take individual amino acids as supplements.
Which amino acids are important?
Of the 20 amino acids, our body can produce 12 itself. The remaining 8 must come from food. These are the amino acids phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, and histidine. They are known as the “essential amino acids.”
People with a normal diet usually obtain enough essential amino acids to function well. Good digestion and adequate stomach acid production are, however, crucial. Some people absorb certain amino acids less efficiently. In that case, taking ready-to-use essential amino acids can help.
Individual amino acids can also be taken for specific indications and/or special purposes. Popular examples include L-Theanine, L-Arginine, L-Tyrosine, L-Tryptophan, and L-Taurine.
Besides single amino acids, the branched-chain amino acids L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, and L-Valine (BCAAs) are also very popular—especially among athletes seeking extra recovery.
Author: Toine Wilke, Dutch nutritionist, biochemist, and seaweed expert.