All you should know about AMINO ACIDS

Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins. Different proteins are made up of  different combinations and concentrations of amino acids. When we ingest protein, whether it is from food or supplements, it is digested in the stomach and broken down into its amino acid constituents.These amino acids enter what is known as the amino acid pool.This is the body’s storage mechanism for excess amino acids, which will be used at a later time for either:

1. Muscle growth

2. Conversion into glucose for energy

3. Maintenance of nitrogen balance

Amino acids can be classified as either essential or nonessential. By essential, those particular amino acids that can’t be synthesized by the body but must be derived from the foods we eat.

The nine essential amino acids are:

isoleucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine,

leucine, and histidine.

The value of a protein for new tissue growth is determined by the presence and concentration of these amino acids. Since some amino acids are found in smaller amounts in some foods, the supply of these amino acids will be used up faster in the growth of new muscle if these foods are your primary protein sources. 

For an athlete, the most crucial amino acids are the critical five :

glutamine, arginine, leucine, isoleucine, and valine. 

These amino acids are utilized by working muscle tissue for a variety of functions and are rapidly depleted in the body. The body breaks down protein into amino acids and converts

them to glucose when blood sugar levels get too low.This commonly occurs in low-carb diets; therefore we must have sufficient carbs in our diet, so that the body will not draw on protein or muscle tissue for this purpose.

The Critical Five Amino Acids

Glutamine.

This member of the critical five amino acids is quite possibly the most important amino acid for athletes to replenish through food and supplementation. Although glutamine is considered a nonessential amino acid because it can be synthesized (manufactured) by the body from glutamic acid.

Taking glutamine immediately following your workout will help shift you into an anabolic state. Glutamine can also help buffer lactic acid.You know that feeling you get when you’re training hard, and your muscles feel so burnt and exhausted that you can’t squeeze out another rep? That feeling is caused by lactic acid buildup in your muscles. Glutamine helps buffer the lactic acid and delay muscle exhaustion.

Glutamine also plays an important role in strengthening your immune system by acting as an antioxidant enhancer.

Glutamine allows more vitamins, minerals, water, carbohydrates (such as glycogen), and protein (such as amino acids) to enter the muscle,

Arginine. 

Arginine is one of our acclaimed critical five amino acids, and it is crucial for muscle growth. For an athlete, arginine is actually a conditionally essential amino acid. Exercise, like intense training in the gym, increases your body’s demand for this amino acid.

As far as strength is concerned, arginine is used as a metabolic intermediate in the formation of creatine phosphate. Creatine phosphate has been shown to increase cell ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is your muscle cells’ first source of energy for any action. By increasing your ATP, you will help increase your muscle strength and performance.

BCAAs: Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine.

The branched-chain amino acids  (BCAAs) are made up of valine, leucine, and isoleucine. These three amino acids are considered essential because our bodies do not create them, and we need to get them from our diet.We store these amino acids in our liver and in skeletal muscle. For bodybuilders, these three aminos are a very important part of  the critical five.Our bodies need them for the maintenance of muscle tissue, preservation of muscle glycogen, and prevention of the breakdown of muscle protein.

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