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Have you heard conflicting information about how many amino acids are used to build protein?
And how many are “essential” vs. "non-essential? Have you even heard the 3rd category, conditionally essential? Do you know the difference between EAAs and BCAAs?
One can get pretty confused trying to research this online. The simple truth is there are 22 amino acids used to build body protein and 8 of them must be obtained from nutrition as the body cannot make them on its own.
Read on for more…
You’ve probably heard since you were a child that protein is needed to build muscle and have a well-functioning body.
You might have also heard that amino acids are the building blocks that your body needs to create protein and muscles.
That is all true. But there’s much more to the story.
Amino acids are simple organic compounds that your body needs to operate. Among other functions, amino acids are used by your body to:
In other words, amino acids aren’t just for gym junkies and athletes – they’re for everyone.
There’s a lot of conflicting information floating around about amino acids, so here we’re going to clear it up once and for all.
There are 22 basic amino acids used by the human body, classified in three ways:
There are twelve amino acids that your body can produce on its own, thereby making them “non-essential” parts of your diet:
These eight are the most important amino acids and are the “essential amino acids” or EAAs. They are essential because your body simply cannot produce them – they are only available from food or supplements. The eight essential amino acids are:
Each of the eight essential amino acids plays a critical role in the overall health of your body. The creation of protein, production of collagen for your skin, hormones – you name it – they all rely on having each EAA available in the right quantity.
These final two amino acids can be produced by the body in limited quantities if you have enough of the EAAs, which is why they’re classified as “conditionally essential”. Understanding this is vital, as people who are very sick or experiencing extreme stress may need to take supplements or adjust their diet to include these two amino acids. They are:
You’re probably wondering “What about all the BCAA supplements I see on the internet and in my local health store?” What are they?
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (or BCAAs for short) are a chain of three of the EAAs: Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine.
BCAA supplements have been said to help build muscle mass, increase strength, boost your stamina, and help your muscles recover after a workout. Sounds ideal, right?
Unfortunately, not really. BCAA supplements come with a downside: because they only have three of the eight EAAs, and high doses of these supplements can lead to an imbalance in your amino acids – with pretty severe adverse effects.
It takes the right combination of all eight essential amino acids to make a protein – the three BCAAs can’t do the job on their own.
Regular consumption of protein-rich food and supplements that contain healthy amounts of the eight EAAs is crucial for a well-functioning and healthy body.
A diet with the right proportions of the essential amino acids can provide many benefits, including:
Sound good? We thought so too.
A quick and easy way to supplement your diet with perfectly balanced EAAs is BodyHealth’s PerfectAmino tablets or powder, formulated for 99% utilization in the body.
Whether you get your EAAs through a diet rich in protein or through supplements, remember – you need all eight EAAs to optimize your health.
One of the more popular recent voices on the subject promotes a plant-based diet in a big way: The Game Changers. This Netflix special proposes eliminating meat from your diet and replacing it with plant-based sources of protein and nutrition.
Having spent years as a vegan and understanding the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, I couldn’t help but agree with many of the points brought to light in the film.
As a medical doctor, I saw a fundamental flaw in his information: plant-based proteins do not contain enough of each essential amino acid for most of to provide their bodies the wherewithall to optimize body protein synthesis. This is a fact observed through my own experience, through the experience of my patients, and backed by scientific research.
You know that the cardiovascular system is responsible for pumping blood and oxygen throughout your system, right? And that the endocrine system manages hormones? And that your nervous system relays messages throughout your body?
Well, underlying all these systems is an astoundingly complex electrical system.
This electrical system is busy sending an almost uncountable number of messages to the muscles, bones, brain, and the cells. The human brain is the home to approximately 100 billion neurons, each firing about 200 times every second.
Sometimes it feels like there are more types and brands of water than drops in the ocean. You go to the grocery store and discover a huge shelf packed with different brands of water that all claim to be health-beneficial. Add in the hundreds of in-house water purifiers, and it can seem like a “sea” of confusing options (cue the pun).
Thankfully, your choice doesn’t have to be that complicated.
