List of Amino Acids Needed by Your Body

This article provides an amino acid list and offers you with more comprehensive information on how these chemicals help your body function well.

The importance of amino acids is directly related to the indispensability of proteins in our body. Proteins are what make up your muscles, ligaments, organs, tendons, tissues, glands, nails, hair - almost every part of your body is made up of proteins. In the same way, repair, maintenance of cells and critical bio-chemicals processes in the body are dependent on proteins.

How many amino acids are there? There are a total of 20 amino acids found in our body. Here is the list of 20 amino acids that your body can not live without:

Alanine

Asparagine

Aspartic acid

Arginine

Cysteine

Glutamine

Glycine

Glutamic acid

Histidine

Isoleucine

Lysine

Leucine

Phenylalanine

Methionine

Serine

Proline

Tryptophan

Threonine

Tyrosine

Valine

Amino acids are classified into two general types: essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are those that can not be synthesized by the body on its own and thus need to be acquired through your diet. Non-essential amino acids are those that your body can produce, specifically by the liver, without any outside help.

Essential Amino Acid List

Here is a list of essential amino acids found in your body:

Arginine

Isoleucine

Histidine

Leucine

Methionine

Lysine

Phenylalanine

Tryptophan

Threonine

Valine

Non-Essential Amino Acids

Your body can produce the other half of the twenty amino acids out of other chemicals that are present in your body. Refer to the non-essential amino acids list below:

Alanine (from pyruvic acid)

Arginine (from glutamic acid)

Asparagine (from aspartic acid)

Aspartic Acid (from oxaloacetic acid)

Cysteine

Glutamic Acid (from oxoglutaric acid)

Glutamine (from glutamic acid)

Glycine (from serine and threonine)

Proline (from glutamic acid)

Serine (from glucose)

Tyrosine (from phenylalanine)

Amino Acid Sources (Essential)

If you fail to obtain even just one out of the ten essential amino acids, your body's proteins so that obtaining all of them in your daily diet is a must. Also, unlike fats and carbohydrates, your body does not tend to store excess supplies of amino acids for later use - you should get a regular supply of them everyday. Foods with amino acids include animal and vegetable sources. Most of the animal sources such as meat, eggs and milk are considered to be "complete protein sources" meaning that these contain all the essential amino acids that your body needs. Vegetables are also good amino acid food sources (especially soy, nuts and beans) but most of them do not usually contain all of the ten. For instance, rice is not a good source of lysine and isoleucine.

These days, deficiencies of the amino acids happen more often than you think. Many people, especially those who try weight loss programs and vegetarians, consume insufficient amounts of protein. Thus, supplementation of amino acids has been increasingly necessary.

Amino supplements are very important as they counter the deficiencies (if you have them) and offer therapeutic benefits to your body. For your amino acid supplementation needs, we highly recommend Xtend Life's Total Balance. It contains all the amino acids that your body requires (in safe proportions), along with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and herbal extracts that assures you of a healthy and disease-protected body.