This section provides some of the hard data gained from decades of
research on amino acids. If you find this section too "scientific," "bookish," or just not practical enough in terms of your immediate health concerns, click here to go to the
sub-site describing the action of all 20 amino acids.
Most textbooks will tell you that there are 20 amino acids.
However, there are actually hundreds of them, some of them
short-lived, some of them modifications of the main 20. We will call
those the "minor amino acids." For example, Serine is counted as one
of the main 20, but phosphoserine, another important amino acid, is
never classified among the major 20 and is a minor amino acid.
Classifying amino acids helps us break them down into smaller
byte-size pieces so that we can better mentally ingest them. When we
mentally understand amino acids, it becomes obvious why one should
not just mentally ingest them, but should take them by mouth in order
to enhance our energy, concentration, performance... and help us
recover from illness, whether acute or chronic.
Here are 6 different ways to categorize amino acids:
I - Essential Versus Non Essential
Essential Amino Acids
(You must include them in your diet because your body can't make
them on its own. If you don't ingest them, you will not be
experiencing optimal health and may have a disease caused by that
deficiency.)
Arginine
Histidine
Methionine
Threonine
Valine
Isoleucine
Lysine
Phenylalanine
Tryptophan
Leucine
Non-Essential Amino Acids
(Under normal conditions, your body can manufacture these amino
acids, so you don't have to ingest each of these).
Alanine
Asparagine
Aspartic Acid
Cysteine
Glutamine
Glutamic Acid
Glycine
Proline
Serine
Tyrosine
Conditionally Essential
(If your system is stressed, out of balance, or diseased, these
amino acids become essential and you must get them from food or
supplements).
Arginine
Glycine
Cystine
Tyrosine
Proline
Glutamine
Taurine
Essential amino acids are considered to be ones that we must
ingest, while non-essential have historically been believed to be
produced inside our bodies. In other words, it has been felt that we
do not need to supplement our diet with non-essential amino acids.
This thinking does not hold up well in the light of actual,
clinical experience. When we are suffering from a moderate to severe
chronic illness, we lose the ability to manufacture enough
non-essential amino acids, and thus require supplementation. Problems
with digestion will also necessitate supplementation of
"non-essential" amino acids. Most people have been told that if you
eat a balanced diet, you'll get all the amino acids you need. That
simply is not true if you are significantly out of balance. For
example, if your amino acid testing reveals a significantly low
Tryptophan, you will have to eat several turkeys a day... or gallons
of milk to get enough Tryptophan from a natural source. Recent
research has led to a third category within this classification
system, namely, "Conditionally Essential." These amino acids are
normally non-essential, but become essential during times of
physiological stress.
II - Classification According to Charge and
Polarity of Side Chains (R-Group)
Nonpolar (Hydrophobic) Side Chains
Alanine
Glycine
Leucine
Valine
Isoleucine
Phenylalanine
Tryptophan
Methionine
Proline
Uncharged Polar (Hydrophilic) Side
Chains
Asparagine
Glutamine
Cysteine
Serine
Threonine
Tyrosine
Acid Side Chains
Aspartic Acid
Glutamic Acid
Basic Side Chains
Arginine
Histidine
Lysine
III - Glycogenic and/or Ketogenic
Glycogenic
Glycogenic amino acids have the ability to be converted into
glucose.
Alanine
Arginine
Asparagine
Aspartic Acid
Cysteine
Glutamic Acid
Glutamine
Glycine
Histidine
Methionine
Proline
Serine
Ketogenic
Ketogenic amino acids have the ability to be converted into
ketones. The process of ketone formation involves both the breakdown
of fats and the formation of a source of energy.
Leucine
Lysine
Both Glycogenic and Ketogenic
Isoleucine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tyrosine
Tryptophan
IV - Proteogenic Versus
Non-Proteogenic
The 40,000 different kinds of protein in the human body are made
up of 20 amino acids. Before we list the amino acids in these 2
groups, let's cover the vast role that proteins play:
1. Enzymes
2. Structural protein &emdash; collagen and connective tissue
3. Contractile proteins &emdash; muscle tissue.
4. Transport proteins &emdash; hemoglobin
5. Immune proteins &emdash; immunoglobulins
6. Regulatory proteins &emdash; hormones
Essential Proteogenic (protein-producing) Amino
Acids
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
Non-Essential Proteogenic (protein-producing)
Amino Acids
Alanine
Arginine
Aspartic Acid
Asparagine
Cysteine
Glutamic Acid
Glutamine
Proline
Serine
Tyrosine
Non-Proteogenic Amino Acids
The non-proteogenic amino acids are generally metabolites or
analogues of the proteogenic amino acids:
Ornithine, a minor amino acid is made from Arginine.
Taurine is made from methionine and cysteine.
Hydroxyproline and Hydroxylysine, both minor amino acids, are made
from proline and lysine.
V - Amino Acids by Structure
Amino acids can be grouped according to the structure of the side
chains, or the R-Group (see amino acid
graphic)
- 1. Aliphatic
- Alanine
- Glycine
- Isoleucine
- Leucine
- Proline
- Valine
-
- 2. Aromatic
- Phenylalanine
- Tryptophan
- Tyrosine
-
- 3. Acidic
- Aspartic Acid
- Glutamic Acid
-
- 4. Basic
- Arginine
- Histidine
- Lysine
-
- 5. Hydroxylic
- Serine
- Threonine
-
- 6. Sulfur-Containing
- Cysteine
- Methionine
- Taurine
-
- 7. Amidic (containing amide group)
- Asparagine
- Glutamine
VI - Amino Acid Functions
For the clinician (or educated healthcare consumer) understanding
amino acids according to their functions is the most useful approach,
and leads directly to recommendations for supplementation. In this
section, you will notice more than the usual 20 amino acids, for this
grouping includes a number of the lessor-known amino acids. Also
notice that a particular amino acid may appear in more than one
category. For example Glutamine is categorized as a Neurotransmitter,
Glycogenic, and Branched Chain Amino Acid.
This "Functional" way of understanding and classifying amino acids
builds on the "Glycogenic Versus Ketogenic" system and greatly
amplifies and clarifies amino acid functions.
Neurotransmitter Amino Acids
Abnormalities in this group are widespread in their implications,
and are seen in virtually all mental/emotional problems, primary
brain problems (stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, epilepsy), depression,
anxiety, insomnia, poor concentration, memory problems, and mental
exhaustion.
Aspartic Acid
Asparagine
Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) (minor amino acid)
Glutamic Acid
Glutamine
Glycine
Phenylalanine
Taurine
Tryptophan
Tyrosine
Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA)
This group contributes to protein synthesis. Surgery, Deficiencies
are associated with injury, exercise, and muscle wasting.
With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), one usually sees deficiencies
in this group, which relates to easy fatiguability, and
post-exertional exhaustion.
Glutamine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Valine
Sulfur-Containing Amino Acids
Deficiencies in this group are associated with food allergies and
chemical sensitivity.
Cystine/Cysteine
Methionine
Taurine
Glycogenic Amino Acids
Deficiencies in this group are associated with problems with sugar
metabolism, diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemia, candidiasis, poor
concentration, abnormalities in zinc and/or chromium levels, and
fatigue.
Alanine
Glutamine
Glycine
Serine
Threonine
Urea Cycle Amino Acids
Deficiencies in this group can be associated with liver disease,
kidney disease, or strenuous exercise.
Arginine
Aspartic Acid
Citrulline (minor amino acid)
Ornithine (minor amino acid)
Connective Tissue Amino Acids
Abnormalities within this group are associated with trauma,
surgery, muscle wasting, and strenuous exercise.
Hydroxyproline (minor amino acid)
Hydroxylysine (minor amino acid)
Proline
Amino Acids that Give Clues about Non-Amino
Acid Deficiencies
Phosphoserine (minor amino acid)
Elevated blood levels of Phosphoserine is predictive of a
deficiency of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P), a critical form of vitamin
B-6. Without adequate blood levels of P5P, many amino acid reactions
become impaired. In particular, tyrosine cannot be converted to
norepinephrine without P5P, and tryptophan cannot be converted into
serotonin.
Histidine
Abnormally high levels of histidine are associated with abnormally
low levels of zinc, and vice versa,
Taurine
Abnormally low levels of taurine are suggestive of vitamin B12
deficiency, zinc deficiency, and vitamin A deficiency. With low
taurine levels, one should do extra lab work to evaluate B 12,
vitamin A, and zinc.
Arginine (deficiency indicates a weakened immune system).
Histidine (deficiency is associated with auto-immune disease)
Lysine (deficiency is suggestive of viral infection).
Taurine (deficiency is suggestive of generalized candidiasis)
Threonine (deficiency is associated with AIDS).
This web site goes into detailed description of the 20 "primary"
amino acids as well as many of the "secondary" or "minor amino
acids."
Click here for those detailed
descriptions so that you can better understand the powerful role
amino acids play in your life. You can begin to examine your own
life, your state of wellness, or illness by understanding what these
building blocks of life do.
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