Essential Takeaways
• The body uses 20 amino acids; of those, 9 are “essential” as they cannot be synthesized in the body – you have to get them from your diet.
• A complete amino acid profile contains all 9 essential amino acids in sufficient quantities – that’s why we add 400mg of L-methionine to each serving of Essential Protein.*
We’re sure you know all about protein, but do you know about amino acids? Simply put, they are the building blocks of protein – the smaller compounds that, together, make a complete protein. When proteins are digested or broken down, amino acids are the result. Our bodies use these amino acids to make proteins to help the body break down food and perform other important functions. (6)
What Are Essential Amino Acids?
Amino acids are made up of both essential and non-essential amino acids. There are 20 amino acids in total, and 9 of them are considered essential or indispensable because the human body cannot synthesize them on its own. We can only get these amino acids by consuming them in our diet, so knowing how to get them and how much we need is important.
Why can't our body make these 9 essential amino acids on its own? There may be an evolutionary advantage, and it comes down to energy. Humans and mammals rely on the environment to provide amino acids the body can’t synthesize. This means some genetic material was kicked to the curb and the energy to run long pathways to synthesize aminos acids was saved for other uses - is that a bear? (5)
Of course, this efficiency comes with a catch: we depend on our diet to deliver these crucial building blocks. That's why getting enough essential amino acids through food or supplements is important. (5) That means filling our plate with protein-rich foods like eggs, meat, fish, beans, and nuts is key.* The 9 essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Each plays a particular role in cell function and tissue makeup. (1)