Muscle Building and Amino Acids

Amino Acids – Building Blocks of Protein To Build Muscle Mass

By Kevin Cutler

Everyone who is interested in building muscle mass knows how critical protein is. Protein is one of the key building blocks of your body. Each cell in your body is made up of it. For example, your red blood cells can be composed as high as 20% of protein. It comprises about 15% of your weight, in which the only water surpasses it as a heavier mass in your body. It is essential to provide your body protein to keep your healthy and even more so if you have the intention of building muscle mass. However, you should know that not all proteins are the same. If you take a closer look into proteins, you will see that they are made up of amino acids. Some of these acids are produced naturally by your body, and others must be acquired through your diet. What differs between different proteins is their amino acid content.

What are Amino Acids?

Protein which we consume cannot be directly used by our bodies, so we must break them down into smaller units to be used. These smaller units are called Amino Acids. Proteins consist of chains of hundreds and thousands of these acids which are joined together. There are approximately 20 commonly known amino acids which are mixed together in different configurations, producing between 10,000 to 50,000 different kinds of protein. Only after your body has broken down protein into these smaller units can the nutrients be absorbed into your body and become usable. These 20 Aminos are the building blocks of protein. Our bodies can produce 11 of these (non-essential amino acids), including alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, and serine. The other 9 (essential amino acids) must be obtained through the foods we eat, which are tryptophan, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

Sources of Amino Acids

Because our bodies are capable of producing 11 of the 20 essential acids, our focus is on picking the types of protein which contain the essential amino acids. The foods we eat provide two types of protein, complete and incomplete. Complete proteins contain all of the nine essential acids (hence the name complete). Some of the most common examples are eggs, soy, whole milk, chicken, fish, and beef. Incomplete proteins contain some but not all of the essential acids. Some examples include rice, whole wheat, and beans. Incomplete proteins can be combined to give you all the essential acids. A few examples are chilli and cheese, pasta and cheese, and rice and beans. There are many different ways to get your protein. The key is to get an abundant amount of the essential acids. One final thought to think about is that certain proteins bring additional health benefits/detriments. Red meats are likely to be high in saturated fats and cholesterol, while fish will have beneficial omega 3 fatty acids.

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