Amino Acids and Protein

Proteins are comprised of amino acids. They can be broken down into two types, essential and non-essential amino acids.

Essential Amino Acids

There are 9 essential amino acids. They are considered "essential" because the human body cannot manufacture them so they must be attained through food or supplements. These 9 essential amino acids are:

L-Histidine (C₆H₉N₃O₂)

L-Isoleucine (C₆H₁₃NO₂)

L-Leucine (C₆H₁₃NO₂)

L-Lysine (C₆H₁₄N₂O₂)

L-Methionine (C₅H₁₁NO₂S)

L-Phenylalanine (C₉H₁₁NO₂)

L-Threonine (C₄H₉NO₃)

L-Tryptophan (C₁₁H₁₂N₂O₂)

L-Valine (C₅H₁₁NO₂)

Of the above nine; L-Leucine, L-Valine and L-Isoleucine are called the Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA).

Non-Essential Amino Acids

There are 11 nonessential amino acids - they aren't considered "nonessential" due to any nutritional reasons - it is just that the body can manufacture them on its own. These nonessential amino acids are:

L-Alanine (C₃H₇NO₂)

L-Arginine (C₆H₁₄N₄O₂)

L-Asparagine (C₄H₈N₂O₃)

L-Aspartic acid (C₄H₇NO₄)

L-Cysteine (C₃H₇NO₂S)

L-Glutamic acid (C₅H₉NO₄)

L-Glutamine (C₅H₁₀N₂O₃)

Glycine (C₂H₅NO₂)

L-Proline (C₅H₉NO₂)

L-Serine (C₃H₇NO₃)

L-Tyrosine (C₉H₁₁NO₃)