3 Amino Acids and Their Properties

Amino acids are essential for building muscle tissue. In this article, we'll tell you about the three amino acids that you should be including in your diet.

Amino acids are the structures that makeup proteins. All of them have different functions, and some of them are very important for your body. In this article, we’ll tell you about three very important amino acids and their properties.

Amino acids: leucine and muscle building

Leucine is one of the essential amino acids. This means that your body can’t make it on its own, so you need to include it in your diet.

The main function of leucine is to help build muscles. It’s an amino acid that builds tissue. In addition, it’s closely linked to the recovery of lean tissue and prevents pain.

Because of this, it’s very common for protein supplements to contain leucine. Also, you can find this amino acid for sale separately, or in BCAA’s (branched-chain amino acids.) However, it only makes sense to take these supplements if you have high muscle stress and pain.

It’s definitely an amino acid to keep in mind if you have a muscle injury. In this type of situation, it’s important to get enough protein and leucine. This way, you can stimulate the formation of protein and help your muscles reconstruct.

Although there are certain things your body is predisposed to, following a good diet can help to prevent future injuries.

Tryptophan for rest and mental health

Tryptophan is another essential amino acid. In fact, it’s closely linked to the quality of rest. For this reason, it’s common to use it with melatonin to improve sleep. Also, it’s common to use 5-HTP.

Except in people taking SSRI medications, this is a great supplement to improve rest and reduce stress. In addition, this amino acid helps decrease the risk of depression and other nervous system conditions.

In fact, it naturally occurs in nuts. So, we recommend eating a handful of nuts at least once a day. However, be careful not to eat too many nuts because they contain lots of calories. If you eat too many, you can easily start eating too many calories every day.

Arginine and sports performance

The last amino acid we’ll mention is arginine. It can increase the production of nitric oxide in the body. In fact, this substance boosts blood flow. Because of this, it can be important for heart health and also sports performance.

An increase in blood flow means your muscles get more nutrients. Also, there’s more oxygen in cells, so they can make energy more efficiently.

This amino acid is common in lots of commercial pre-workouts. Sometimes, supplements combine it with caffeine and taurine to enhance the effect and make the whole body feel alert.

In fact, you can also get this from drinking beet juice. Beets contain lots of nitrates, so drinking it can boost blood flow and improve performance.

On the other hand, not a lot of people like the flavor of beet juice. Usually, you’ll need to add other food to make it taste better.

Conclusion on amino acids

Amino acids have lots of different functions. Therefore, you need to make sure you get enough of them every day. Lots of amino acids that have important jobs are essential, meaning your body doesn’t make them on their own.

Knowing this is very important, especially for vegan diets. Vegetable protein doesn’t contain all essential amino acids, and also it isn’t as digestible.

Because of this, it’s important to combine different foods to make sure you get enough protein. For all other diets, we recommend that at least 50 percent of your daily protein comes from animal sources.