amino acids

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The following is taken from a

book by Priscilla Slagle, M.D. called " The Way Up

from Down " - you can obtain

this book from her site and also much more

information is obtainable at

http://www.thewayup.com/index.htm

 

 

" Many scientists believe amino acids are the most

elementary and essential of

all food substances, even though all nutrients are

interdependent. In fact,

without amino acids we would have no structural

bodies. While carbohydrates and

fats give us energy with which to drive our body

machines, twenty of the amino

acids are the actual physical body builders that

create " us " in the first

place. They are imperative to the formation and

maintenance of our skin, bones,

muscles, blood, organs, hair and nails. They also

help form our body's enyzmes,

hormones, antibodies and brain neuro-transmitters.

 

Since amino acids are the very basis of the

successful nutritional treatment of

depression, and since one of the most important

aspects of obtaining a good

diet is the balancing of amino acids, we'll take a

closer look at the ways

these food substances function.

 

AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS

 

Each protein food is made up of a unique combination

of amino acids, in a

specific order. The body's need for protein is really

a need for amino acids.

 

Of the basic 22, there are 10 essential and 12

nonessential amino acids. The

label " nonessential " does not mean not important. All

of the amino acids are

vitally necessary and have their various and unique

functions in your body. The

essential ones can only be obtained from your diet,

whereas the nonessential

amino acids can also come from your diet or be

created in your body by

conversion from the essential dietary amino acids. In

order for this conversion

to take place, there has to be an adequate level of

an essential amino acid

left over after it has performed its primary

functions in your body. Even then,

the conversion can only take place when other

nutrient and enzyme substances

are present to facilitate the process.

 

The essential amino acids must be consumed in

proportions that closely

approximate the pattern required by our bodies. The

lowest level of an

individual amino acid in a meal is called the

limiting amount, and the meal is

nutritionally useful only to that extent. For

example, a lunch containing 100%

of your body's phenylalanine requirement, but only

20% of your tryptophan

requirement, results in only 20% of the protein in

that meal being used by your

body for the vital functions of replenishing and

building tissue. The rest of

the protein you've eaten can be used only for fuel,

thereby creating more of

the unwanted waste products of urea and uric acid.

 

Some foods have the full range of essential amino

acids in relatively balanced

amounts. These are fish, fowl, red meats, eggs, milk,

cheese, sesame seeds and

pumpkin seeds. Other foods such as nuts, beans, rice,

vegetables and grains

have low levels of certain amino acids and adequate

levels of others. To be

effective in building tissue, the full range of

essential amino acids must be

eaten at the same time or on another day. Therefore,

when some amino acids are

low or completely missing ina food, that food must be

combined with a

complementary protein food which makes up for the

deficiency in order to

provide amino acid balance.

 

The RDA for amino acids has little practical value,

as doctors Roger Williams,

Jeffrey Bland and others have demonstrated in their

research on biochemical

individuality. Each person is unique in his/her needs

for all nutrients. These

variations can be marked, so there are considerable

differences between

individuals in their amino acid requirements. You may

need 4x as many amino

acids as your husband, for instance. Perhaps some

cases of depression are only

secondary to an individual having an unusually high

need for certain amino

acids. Or stress may create a situation in which

nonessential amino acids

cannot be adequately produced to meet our brains'

needs.

 

Also, a nonessential nutrient can become essential

when our body processes fail

to work optimally in their conversion processes.

 

Often in my practice (this author is Priscilla

Slagle, M.D.- her website is:

http://www.thewayup.com/index.htm) I do an analysis

of my patients' diets.

Among other things, this reveals how many grams of

protein a day they are

eating daily and what the amino acid breakdown of the

protein is. Even when the

total protein inteake is in the normal range of 45 to

80 daily depending on

size, age and physical activity, some of the

component amino acids are often

low because, although they are eating " enough "

protein, it is not good quality.

Even excessive intake, such as 100 to 150 of protein

daily, can still result in

amino acid deficiency. This pattern, together with

high fat intake, is often

found in those who eat large amounts of dairy

products.

 

METABOLIZING AMINO ACIDS:

 

Interestingly, some studies show only 60% of

apparently healthy people have

normal levels of ALL The amino acids in their blood.

One reason for such

deficiencies is that we eat protein in forms that

don't include a full range of

the amino acids. Additionally, food protein contains

amino acids in what is

called a " bound " form, where chains of several amino

acids are linked together.

When you eat protein your digestion, assimilation and

metabolic processes must

operate to release or separate the amino acids from

the chain or bound form

into what is called the " free form " state. If this

separation process does not

take place, the protein is useless to you.

 

HERE are the basic requirements for the healthy

metabolism of amino acids:

 

1. You must regularly eat enough, but not too much,

amino acid balanced protein

or properly combine these proteins which are not

complete to achieve an overall

balance.

 

2. You must have no problems digesting this protein

and breaking the chains

down into their component amino acids.

 

3. All the other necessary ingredients and nutrients

which interact with each

amino acid must also be available in your body:

 

a) A large number of digestive enzymes, many of which

are formed

by amino acids. Poor usage of amino acids creates

digestive

enzyme deficiencies, which in turn lead to even less

efficient

digestion of protein.

 

b) Vitamins and minerals. Amino acid deficiencies are

prominent

in persons with vitamin deficiencies because certain

vitamins

and minerals, especially B6, B3 and B12 are necessary

for the

metabolism of protein.

 

4. There must be no genetically determined variations

in your usage, metabolism

or need for amino acids.

 

5. All the other body functions that involve amino

acids must be operating

normally.

 

6. You must not have severe stress interfering with

these basic metabolic

processes.