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Amino Acids
Everybody knows how important protein is. As I mentioned earlier, it's a major source of building material for the body, and is needed for the formation of hormones, which control a variety of bodily functions including metabolism, sexual development and the formation of milk during lactation. Fundamentally, however, it is not the proteins themselves that are accomplishing all these feats, but rather the end products of protein digestion -- amino acids.
If we could remove all the water, organic and inorganic materials from the human body, we would see that over 75% of our total body composition is made up of protein. This alone would suggest that proteins, or more importantly amino acids, play a significant role in body efficiency and function.
When we consider we have no storage capacity for amino acids, and must keep supplying a steady, well-balanced stream of these vital nutrients, it becomes clear that their role and impact on health is critical. There are up to a hundred trillion cells in the body, and we routinely shed some five billion of them daily. This of course emphasizes the point that any upset in the delicate balance of amino acids, no matter how microscopic, can and will eventually result in loss of energy and poor health. And if you're stressed out, ill or training heavily, the loss of amino acids increases by a factor of five times or more!
Accordingly, if these increased amino acid requirements are not being met dietarily, the body has no alternative but to start "feeding" upon itself as a last ditch effort to restore metabolic balance.
As we've already learned, there are 22 commonly found amino acids in nature (8 of them essential), which have the capacity not only to maintain and repair our tissues, but also to produce in excess of 1600 different protein complexes. Some of these complexes would not readily be recognized as proteins (glucose, vitamins, urea, etc.), but they do nevertheless come from amino acids.
In trying to put this into perspective, I've always liked the analogy of the alphabet. Try to think of our bodies as a book, and the 22 amino acids as individual letters of the alphabet. Just as the 26 letters of the alphabet can be combined in various ways to form thousands of words, so can amino acids be combined to form hundreds of body proteins. And mark my words, the story these amino acids tell is either healthy or unhealthy.
At any rate, if you choose to purchase amino acids for nutritional supplementation, I suggest you choose an IV pharmaceutical grade of "free form" amino acids (those manufactured through a process known as biological fermentation), fortified with the vitamins and minerals necessary for proper metabolism. I'm not negating the caloric and weight gaining benefits derived from alternative sources such as protein powders and "pre-digested" amino acids (those manufactured through a process known as "hydrolysis"), but if your desire is to keep your body functioning at its best, then you must choose the purest quality for the best results.
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