What are Essential Amino Acids?

What are essential amino acids? They are organic compounds that your body cannot make on its own – but need to function properly. 

So how do you get the essential amino acids? And what are essential amino acids made of? What’s the difference between essential vs nonessential amino acids? 

Today we will discuss what essential amino acids are, what they do for your body, and where you can get them from. 

Before we get into what essential amino acids are, let’s make sure you understand what amino acids are in the first place. 

What are amino acids?

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. They are also compounds that complete many critical functions in your body, and they are composed mainly of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Your body needs these amino acids to build hormones, neurotransmitters, and proteins. 

But there are different kinds of amino acids, which are categorized as essential or nonessential. 

There are roughly 500 types of amino acids found in nature, but only 20 found in the human body. Nine of them are considered essential, and the other 11 are nonessential. 

This blog will be about essential amino acids, but we will explain the difference between essential vs nonessential amino acids below. 

What are essential amino acids?

Essential amino acids are the building block of proteins that your body cannot make on its own. That means you need to get them from outside sources. 

The essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Essential amino acids are usually found in animal proteins, such as fish, chicken, red meat, or even collagen. 

Some people choose to take essential amino acids supplements to ensure they are getting enough of these important amino acids. 

Essential vs nonessential amino acids 

There is a simple difference between essential and nonessential amino acids. As we mentioned before, your body cannot make the essential amino acids on its own – but it CAN make the nonessential ones.

This is why they are called nonessential. Not because they are unimportant. (In fact, they are very important for your body.) But because it isn’t essential to get them from outside sources. 

What are conditionally essential amino acids?

There are a couple nonessential amino acids that are actually classified as conditionally essential. This means they are essential under specific circumstances, such as during pregnancy, infancy, illness, or injury. 

For example, arginine is a nonessential amino acid, but if you are healing from a serious injury or are fighting cancer or other diseases, your body cannot make enough of it.  

If you are in one of those situations yourself, you may benefit from taking an arginine supplement to meet your body’s needs. 

Both glycine and arginine are considered conditionally essential during pregnancy. This is because a pregnant person needs more of these amino acids to support the health of the fetus along with their own health. 

Now that you understand what essential amino acids are, and what makes them different from nonessential amino acids, let’s take a closer look at each of the essential amino acids your body needs to function properly. 

The 9 essential amino acids

What are essential amino acids good for in your body? Here are the nine essential amino acids and what each of them does for you:

1. Histidine

Your body uses histidine to produce histamine, a neurotransmitter that is vital to immune response. It may even help to treat eczema. Histidine is used in growth, repair of damaged tissues, and making blood cells.

Histidine is also used to improve digestion, sexual function, and sleep-wake cycles. In addition, it’s necessary for maintaining the myelin sheath, which is a protective barrier that surrounds your nerve cells.

2. Isoleucine 

Isoleucine is one of the three BCAAs. These are branched chain amino acids that your body burns for energy. 

Isoleucine plays a crucial role in muscle metabolism and is predominantly found in muscle tissue. It is essential for immune function, hemoglobin synthesis, and energy regulation.

As a component of hemoglobin, isoleucine contributes to the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells. Additionally, it aids in blood sugar control, enhances energy levels, and improves endurance. Isoleucine is also known to accelerate muscle repair and support muscle growth and lean body mass.

3. Leucine

Like isoleucine, leucine is a BCAA that is necessary for muscle protein synthesis and muscle repair. 

Leucine also helps stimulate wound healing, produce growth hormones, and regulate blood sugar levels.

One study in young adults with cerebral palsy found that participants who were given leucine supplements for 10 weeks experienced significant improvements in markers of inflammation.

4. Lysine

Lysine is crucial for protein synthesis, calcium absorption, and the creation of hormones and enzymes. It also contributes to energy production, immune system support, and the formation of collagen and elastin.

Lysine supports proper growth and is vital for producing carnitine, a nutrient that helps convert fatty acids into energy and reduce cholesterol. It enhances calcium absorption and is essential for collagen formation, which is important for the health of bones, skin, tendons, and cartilage.

5. Methionine

Methionine is crucial for metabolism and detoxification, as well as for tissue growth and the absorption of essential minerals like zinc and selenium.

Methionine acts as an antioxidant, potentially shielding the body from damage caused by ionizing radiation. It may assist in detoxifying harmful substances, including heavy metals, and could help prevent liver damage from acetaminophen overdose. 

Additionally, methionine might aid in reducing fat deposits in the liver, alleviating fatigue, and lowering the risk of premature hair loss. Methionine may also be beneficial in treating osteoporosis.

6. Phenylalanine

Phenylalanine plays a key role in producing the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, which are vital for proper brain and nervous system function. 

Additionally, it contributes to the production of melanin, the pigment responsible for coloring the skin, hair, and eyes.

Phenylalanine is also crucial for the structure and function of proteins and enzymes, as well as the synthesis of other amino acids.

7. Threonine

Threonine is a key component of structural proteins like collagen and elastin, which are vital for your skin and connective tissues. It also contributes to fat metabolism and supports immune function.

Threonine also supports tooth enamel and liver and lipotropic functions when combined with aspartic acid and methionine.

As a precursor to glycine and serine, threonine may help regulate fat accumulation in the liver. It may assist in addressing mental health issues, improving digestion, and alleviating intestinal problems. 

8. Tryptophan

Tryptophan is essential for normal growth in infants and for the production and maintenance of proteins, muscles, enzymes, and neurotransmitters in the body.

The body converts tryptophan into melatonin and serotonin. Melatonin helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, while serotonin is involved in controlling appetite, sleep, mood, and pain.

Additionally, the liver uses tryptophan to produce niacin (vitamin B3), which is crucial for energy metabolism and DNA synthesis. For dietary tryptophan to be converted into niacin, the body needs adequate levels of iron, riboflavin, and vitamin B6.

9. Valine

Valine is the last of the BCAAs on this list. It helps to stimulate muscle growth and regeneration and is involved in your body’s energy production.

Valine has also been shown to improve mitochondrial function and protect the body against oxidative stress. 

Now that you know what essential amino acids are and what they are used for, you can clearly see why they are essential for your body. But then comes the next question: where can you get essential amino acids if your body doesn’t make them naturally? 

What are essential amino acids found in naturally?

Have no fear. It is easy to get enough essential amino acids through your diet or through essential amino acids supplements. 

To ensure you are getting all the essential amino acids from your diet, it’s important to look into complete vs incomplete proteins. 

Complete proteins contain all nine essential amino acids. These are foods like eggs, red meat, poultry, fish, and even some plant based sources like edamame and tofu. 

If you remember above, we also listed collagen as a source of essential amino acids, but is collagen a complete protein?

Almost.

When you look at the amino acids in collagen, collagen is missing one essential amino acid – tryptophan. But you can find collagen supplements that are fortified to include tryptophan, making them a complete protein source. 

A fortified collagen supplement is one of the easiest ways to ensure you’re getting enough of all the essential amino acids in your diet. 

Health benefits of taking essential amino acids supplements

While essential amino acids can be found in a wide array of foods, taking concentrated doses in supplement form has been linked to several health benefits.

Supplements may improve your mood

As we mentioned above, tryptophan is crucial for producing serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in regulating mood, sleep, and behavior.

Low serotonin levels have been associated with symptoms of depression and sleep problems. Research suggests that tryptophan supplements may help alleviate depression and enhance mood.

Supplements may improve exercise performance and recovery

Many people use valine, leucine, and isoleucine, the three essential branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), to combat fatigue, enhance athletic performance, and support muscle recovery after exercise.

In a small 2017 study, participants who took BCAAs experienced improved performance, faster muscle recovery, and reduced muscle soreness compared to those who received a placebo.

BCAAs have also been shown to lower the perceived exertion — the subjective intensity of effort — during high-intensity workouts.

Supplements may speed wound healing

Essential amino acids supplements can be beneficial for individuals recovering from surgery.

There are numerous studies that show that taking a collagen supplement can significantly boost your body’s wound healing abilities. That’s because you’re giving your body the essential amino acids it needs to build new tissues fibers – which are made out of collagen. 

If you are hoping to speed wound healing, improve performance in the gym, or boost your mood, taking a fortified collagen supplement like Frog Fuel might just be the simplest way to ensure you are getting all the essential amino acids your body needs. 

Best yet, you don’t need to mix Frog Fuel liquid protein shots with anything. They come in single serve packages that you can simply toss in your pocket or gym bag and take whenever it is most convenient for you.