AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE SERIES Part One: Basic Science of amino acids. By Vic Goyaram

AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE SERIES

Part One: Basic Science of amino acids

Researched and composed by Vic Veeraj Goyaram

Exclusive for Bodybuilding Mauritius

Fig. 1: Amino acid supplements are numerous and varied. 
This article attempts to give you a background on amino acids 
and help you find a way in this maze.

Introduction 
The term "Amino acid" is one which is very commonly encountered in bodybuilding. At the same time amino acid supplements are very common on supplement shop shelves and in supplement cabinets worldwide. Most bodybuilders have used an amino acid supplement during the course of their career. Indeed amino acids are among the top 5 most common supplements in sports nutrition and there are various types and formulations of amino acid supplements (Fig. 1) in commerce today. Amino acids are theorised to enhance performance in several ways as listed below. 

(a) Increasing the secretion of anabolic hormones
(b) Modifying fuel use during exercise
(c) Preventing the negative effects of over-training
(d) Anabolic properties 
(e) Preventing fatigue
(f) Improving blood flow during exercise

However, not all users of amino acid supplements know what amino acids exactly are and how they differ from proteins. Furthermore, many supplement companies assume that everyone has a degree in Biology and thus indulge freely in loading supplement labels with technical and scientific jargon that may add further confusion. 

In this series of articles, we aim to give you a basic understanding of amino acids, their functions, the various types of amino acid supplements on the market as well as more in-depth analysis of specific amino acids. This will help you to make informed decisions.  In the first series we will explain the basic science of amino acids in order to equip you to read and make sense of the terminologies used on amino acid supplement labels. 

Fact #1: What amino acids are

Amino acids are molecules that make up proteins. Just like a wall is made up of individual bricks joined together by cement, proteins are made up of amino acids joined together by special forces called “peptide bonds”. Amino acids are thus the building blocks of proteins. Therefore, amino acids are the constituents of all proteins in the body like protein hormones (e.g. insulin), enzymes, muscles, etc. 

Amino acid molecules join together by peptide bonds to form proteins

When you eat a protein meal, your body will break down the protein with the help of enzymes called “proteases” (digestion). The proteins are converted into shorter chains called “peptides” and then into the single amino acid units. Amino acids cannot be digested further. Your intestines will then absorb these amino acids into blood circulation and the different body tissues will use them (assimilation) for making new proteins or in some cases, for energy.

Fact #2: Chemical Structure of amino acids

Unless you are a biology student there is no reason to learn the structure of amino acids in detail. It suffice to know that amino acids contain Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen that are joined together in a special way (Fig. 2). Each amino acid has a unique “R group”. For example L-Glutamine has a different R group from L-Leucine. Furthermore, the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are so called because they have R-groups that have a branched structure (Fig. 3)

Fig 2: Basic amino acid chemical structure

Fig. 3: amino acids differ from each other by their R-groups

Fact #3: Not all amino acids form proteins

There are 22 different amino acids that form proteins in living organisms. These are known as proteinogenic amino acids. When you drink a protein shake or eat a piece of chicken, for example, your body will receive these proteinogenic amino acids after digestion of the protein. 

However, there are also some amino acids that do not form part of proteins but serve other important functions in the body. As bodybuilders have probably heard of L-Carnitine, Beta-alanine, Citrulline and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These are the non-proteinogenic amino acids and are manufactured by the body. These are also available from supplements. Remember that proteinogenic amino acids can be obtained from food sources and supplements whereas non-proteinogenic amino acids cannot be obtained from food. These are made by the body and obtained from supplements. 

Fact #4: Essential v/s Non-essential amino acids

Your body can make some amino acids. These amino acids that can be made are called “non-essential amino acids”. However, some other amino acids cannot be made by the body and should be obtained from the diet. These are called “Essential amino acids” and there are 8 such amino acids in all. The branched chain amino acids (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine) form part of these 8 amino acids. As a side note, the ability of whether certain  protein foods can provide the essential amino acids in the right amounts determines whether it is a "complete" or "incomplete" protein.

Fig 4: Essential and non-essential amino acids

The table below gives the essential amino acid content of common forms of supplemental protein. You can see that soy protein fares very well compared to animal-based proteins. 

Fig. 5: Essential amino acid content of common supplemental protein sources. Values are grams/ 100g protein

There is sometimes a confusion when it comes to the essentiality of amino acids. If an amino acid is essential it means simply that it must comes from the diet. It does not mean that supplementation is essential. Just like we've seen in a discussion on our facebook group lately regarding BCAAs, the latter are essential amino acids but it does not mean that free-form BCAA supplementation is essential under all circumstances otherwise your progress will stall. This topic is further discussed in this article (click to read)

Fact # 5: We have L- and D- amino acids

When reading supplement labels you will see that all amino acids start with L. The L simply refers to special chemical characteristics of these amino acids. All the food amino acids are in the L-form.

Fig. 6: L and D-amino acids are mirror images of each other

Basically the L- and D-amino acids are mirror images of each other. The L and D forms of a particular amino acid will have the same molecular formula (same number of each of C, H, O and N atoms). We call them "isomers". If you are really curious, the term L and D originates from the different abilities of amino acids to rotate plane polarised light in different directions. L means Laevorotatory (Left rotation) while D means Dextrorotatory (right rotation).

Some D-amino acids also exist as free amino acids in human tissues but not part of proteins. They do serve important functions. For example D-Serine is a brain neurotransmitter. D-Aspartic acid is found in some tissues where they have quite recently been found to be involved in testosterone release. Needless to say, the supplements industry have already started to fill the shelves with D-Aspartic acid products although little conclusive data exists from trials on athletes. So our friends should expect to see some D-form amino acids on the shelves.

Fig. 7: D-Aspartic acid sold as a testosterone booster

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©,2013, Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

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