Essential vs. Non-Essential Amino Acids

Amino acids are the basic building blocks of protein, and protein is one of the nutrients that help to build muscle. So it’s important to know about these amino acids and which ones you should consider supplementing with to get the most out of your nutrition and workouts.

Essential Amino Acids

Essential amino acids are the type of amino acid that your body cannot produce on it’s own. So the only way to get these into your body it so eat them, whether that be through regular food or supplements.

Here is a list of the 9 essential amino acids: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and valine.

Non-Essential Amino Acids

Non-essential amino acids are the amino acids that your body can produce on its own. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t essential to your body, it just means that you don’t have to get them from other places. They are still very essential for different body functions.

Here is the list of the 13 non-essential amino acids: alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, hydroxyproline, proline, serine, & tyrosine.

BCAAs

Branched chain amino acids, or BCAAs, are the amino acids that have a specific structure, the branched chain. These amino acids are different from others in several ways, one being that they are metabolized in the muscles rather than in the liver. These amino acids are the ones that are included in BCAA supplements and used by athletes and body builders. In fact, BCAAs are one of the most effective body building supplements according to many and are also one of the oldest.

Sources:
http://bodybuilding.com/store/bcaa.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branched_chain_amino_acids

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