Amino acids supplements are the puzzle pieces that your body uses to make proteins, and you can get them through a healthy diet.
Your body takes in proteins, breaks them down into the various amino acids and then recombines them into other proteins.
The same way you and I require specific parts to build any tool or machine your body requires specific pieces in differing amounts.
The problem is, there are 20 types of amino acids, and if you are missing just one of them you will have a deficiency.
Other nutrients like protein, sugars, fats, and minerals your body will store for when you need, but amino acids are lost if they do not recombine into a useful protein.
All amino types must be simultaneously present in your body every day to be of use.
Amino acids are broken into two groups: essential and non-essential.
Non-essentials are produced by your body naturally.
Essential ones are not provided by your system, and you must acquire them through supplements or food.
The essentials are Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Trypophan, and Valine.
Methionine is needed in large amounts since it can become another essential amino acid, cysteine.
Cysteine is not usually found in sufficient amounts in food, but methionine is common.
Phenyalanine has a similar relationship with tyrosine, another scarce but essential component.
Arginine, phenylalanine, and methionineare needed for reason not directly related to synthesis.
Arginine is essential because it is used much too slowly to meet your body's needs and most what is used becomes waste.
A deficiency of amino acids can cause your body to create more nitrogen than you can absorb which can cause depression and indegestion.
It can also stunt growth.
Depression can rob you of your drive for your fitness program and cause you lose sleep.
Indegestion can be a real problem because you lose nutrients from the food you eat and bloating can cause pain and a loss of stamina.
For these reasons, a good supplement is esssential to recovery and health when you are trying to build muscle or lose fat.
Glutathione and Cysteine are powerful antioxidants, and Taurine and Tyrosine offer minor antioxidant properties.
Antioxidants are importaqnt to your health because oxidants can cause muscular, organ, and even brain damage.
Excersizing causes a massive increase in your oxygen consumption which can create a large amounts of oxidants.
Amino acids also play an important role with vitamins.
They don't help you break them down, but they are essential to their function.
This is true for the multi-vitamins you may take and the ones naturally occurring in your diet.
Without amino acids you are not getting all or any of the benefit of the vitamins in your body.
They are also immune system boosters.
There are two forms amino acids can be found in: L-Form and D-Form.
L-Form comes from plant and animal proteins which will give you the most benefit.
D-Form is less efficient and will give your poor results.
It is important to take the supplements in capsules or powder rather than tablet form.
Tablets are sealed with a heating process that can damage or neutralize the delicate nutrients rendering them ineffective.
To ensure you are getting enough 1.
5 grams of powdered amino acids taken three times a day is ideal.
While some studies show results from taking amino acid supplements before a workout, consuming them afterwards has shown to be optimal.
This is partly due to their role as an antioxidant.
Personally, I mix them into my post weight lifting or running supplement shake with whey protein and my favorite creatine.