Amino Acids

Essential Amino Acids (Body cannot make these amino acids, they must come from food or amino acid supplements.)
	Amino Acid	Sym.	Abbr.	Min. Daily mg.	Acid Base Neu.	# of pathways - One Pathway	Generates	Works With (Against)	Augments
1	Isoleucine*	I	Ile	10	n	1 - threonine --> isoleucine			muscles
2	Leucine*	L	Leu	14	n	1 - keto-isovalerate --> leucine			blood, muscle, hormone
3	Lysine	K	Lys	12	B	2 - asparate --> lysine		calcium	herpes, triglycerides
4	Methionine	M	Met	13	n	7 - homoserine --> methionine	cysteine	selenium, zinc	hair, skin, chelator
5	Phenylalanine	F	Phe	14	n	3 - chorismate --> phenylalanine	tyrosine	B6	depression
6	Threonine	T	Thr	7	N	3 - aspartate --> threonine	glycine, serine		collagen, tooth enamel
7	Tryptophan	W	Trp	3.5	n	1 - chorismate --> tryptophan	niacin, seratonin		depression
8	Valine*	V	Val	10	n	1 - pyruvate --> valine			muscles
Food Sources: Fish - meat - poultry - cottage cheese - peanuts - lentils A= acid, B= base, N= Neutral, n= non-polar *= BCAA, Branched-Chain Amino Acids, all important in muscle recovery
Non-Essential Amino Acids (The body can make these amino acids from the above essential amino acids.)
	Amino Acid	Sym.	Abbr.	Min. Daily mg.	Acid Base Neu.	# of pathways - One Pathway	Generates	Works With (Against)	Augments
1	Alanine	A	Ala	-	n	4 - valine pyruvate --> alanine
2	Arginine*	R	Arg	-	B	4 - citrulline --> arginine	polyamines, creatine	zinc (lysine)	immune, healing, muscles
3	Asparagine	N	Asn	-	N	3 - asparate and ammonia			CNS
4	Aspartic Acid	D	Asp	-	A	3 - glutamate --> aspartate			CNS, brain
5	Cysteine	C	Cys	-	N	4 - serine --> cysteine	homocysteine, taurine	B6, Vit.E	skin, hair
6	Glutamic Acid	E	Glu	-	A	3 - ketoglutarate --> glutamate	glutamine, GABA	B6	brain
7	Glutamine	Q	Gln	-	N	2 - glutamate --> glutamine			brain
8	Glycine	G	Gly	-	N	2 - serine --> glycine	glutathione	GABA, taurine	body protein
9	Histidine*	H	His	-	B	1 - histidinol --> histidine	histamine		blood, allergy, sex
10	Proline	P	Pro	-	n	4 - l-glutamine --> proline	hydroxyproline	Vitamin C	collagen, elastin
11	Serine	S	Ser	-	N	1 - phosphoglycerate --> serine	cysteine, glycine	choline	blood sugar
12	Tyrosine	Y	Tyr	-	N	2 - phenylalanine --> tyrosine	thyroxin, melanin	B6	thyroid
* = These are Essential for infants, since they cannot produce them yet.
	Other Amino Acid Factors
	Carnitine	-	Car	-	-	carnitine --> butyrobetaine -->	Lysine, methionine	Vitamin C	fat metabolism
	Citrulline	-	Cit	-	-	argenine --> citrulline --> ornithine	Ornithine	zinc	urea cycle
	Hydroxyproline	-	Hyp	-	-	proline --> hydroxyproline		Vitamin C	collagen
	Ornithine	-	Orn	-	-	argenine --> citrulline --> ornithine			urea cycle
	Taurine	-	Tau	-	-	methionine --> cysteine --> taurine	GABA, glycine	B6	heart, bile
The above are precursors for/ or important products of the 20 "true" amino acids.