What are they?
Amino acids are organic molecules that have an amino and carboxyl groupbound to a hydrogen atom and to a group that can be variable, called a side chain or R group, these are the basic units that form proteins.
What are amino acids for?
Their function is to combine each other to form the structural arrangement of proteins and these, in turn, perform numerous functions in the body.
How do amino acids work?
There are about 20 types that are divided into essential, which are not produced endogenously, (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine), non-essential, the one that the body is able to produce (tyrosine, aspartate, asparagine, glutamine, proline, glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, histidine, arginine and glutamate) and, finally, the conditionally essential ones that act depending on metabolic need.
When do you need to supplement?
Amino acid supplementation may be beneficial for patients with sarcopenia. In addition, the branched chain amino acids bcaas are consumed widely in the sports environment and are present in the composition of various food products focused on this area.
Reference
Reading suggestion:
The immunomodulatory role of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs)
Ruiz-Margáin, A., Méndez-Guerrero, O., Román-Calleja, B. M., González-Rodríguez, S., Fernández-Del-Rivero, G., Rodríguez-Córdova, P. A., Torre, A., & Macías-Rodríguez, R. U. (2018). Dietary management and supplementation with branched-chain amino acids in cirrhosis of the liver. Dietary management and supplementation with amino acids of branched cadena en cirrosis hepatic.
Journal of Gastroenterology of Mexico (English)
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83
(4), 424–433.
