Essential Amino Acids...
The Building Blocks of 25,000 Proteins

As you might have gathered, essential amino acids have something to do with protein.

My preference would be in the form of a medium-rare rib eye or an end-cut prime rib instead of a meal replacement drink any day. Essemtial Amino acids are, in fact, the building blocks of all proteins.

Most knowledgeable sources say there are 8 Essential amino acids and four others that are essential nutrients for children and babies since they have not yet developed the ability to make them on their own.

There are eight other aminos that must be administered to certain populations since they can't synthesize enough. These are usually said to be conditionally essential. So other than those, the rest of the amino acids can be synthesized by the body from other amino acids and are non-essential.

Any normal person should be able to get all the essential amino acids they need from eggs, beef, beans, seafood, milk, dairy and soy products. I gave up cow's milk a long time ago in favor of light soy milk although the only time I use it is on my morning cereal.

If you're not a normal person and are into bodybuilding and want to look like The Hulk, then you best supplement with some heavy duty amino acid products.

Since essential amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and proteins are vital to muscle tissue, then all types of strenuous physical activity relating to sports, energy, recovery, and muscle strength gains are critically linked to amino acids.

The heading above asked the question, "Where do we get Amino Acids?" There's no better place than Omaha Steaks. Click the banner below to check it out.

Since the word "protein" has been thrown around, let's give it an overview. We already said that proteins are made of essential amino acids.

The amino acids are arranged in a chain where the sequence of acids is determined by a gene and incorporated into the genetic code. So it could be deduced that proteins are integral to genetics and therefore, our DNA.

Those 20 amino acids link together to make the approximately 25,000 different proteins in the human body. If that's not awesome enough, consider that each one has a unique function.

Proteins participate in every single process within living cells. Many proteins are enzymes that perform as catalysts in metabolism. They have structural and mechanical functions in muscles and the cytoskeleton in cells that maintain the cells shape. Other proteins are involved in cellular communication, immune responses, binding cells together and in replication of cells.

We will list the essential amino acids and their function but not go into great depth on each one:

The four needed by infants and children are:

Moving right along, next we will visit the essentials of fats and fatty acids.

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