Amino acids and weight loss!

A protein molecule is a giant made up of various combinations of amino acids-and don't let that word "acids" scare you. It is amino acids, in considerable degree, that make you what you are today. These remarkable substances are the basic building stuff of your tissues and they enter importantly into the manufacture of glamorous gland hormones and enzymes, or catalysts, that enable you to carry out complex chemical processes at body temperature instead of the blast furnace heat that would otherwise be required.

There are twenty-three known amino acids and at least half a dozen other suspected ones, An amino acid is not all acid; part of it is a nitrogen-containing group of atoms called an amine group. When you consider that the possible combinations between twenty different amino acids reach the staggering figure of 100 million with each combination being a different protein-you can see the possibilities.

In purified form you could mistake some of the amino acids for the crystals you use to soften your bath water, but if you actually dropped them in the tub the water would likely smell like meat broth. They have such plebeian uses as flavoring soups, but their main value is in medicine and in nutritional research. Certain amino acids sell for more than $1,000 a pound, so difficult are they to isolate, but you can get every amino acid known, at considerably more modest figure, by eating a whole egg or drinking a glass of milk.

It is only within very recent months that enough amino acids have been isolated to make nutrition experiments possible, and it is entirely probable that in due time we will hear as much about them as we have about vitamins.

Before looking into some of the astonishing things that have already been learned about amino acids, let's see what you do with them as a matter of daily routine. You eat a succulent beef steak and its proteins are broken down in the intestinal tract into the individual amino acids composing them. These are transported by the body's fluid carrier system and you proceed with an astonishing bit of architecture.

One lonely body cell, for instance, may snatch a brick of some particular amino acid out of the passing stream and use it to plug a hole in its structure. In the thyroid gland, some distance away, a brick of a different amino acid may be abstracted to manufacture the thyroid hormone. Thus the original protein molecule from the beef steak becomes engaged in widely different activities.

Throughout the body billions of amino acids from protein molecules are incessantly active in constructive processes.

If the cells have all the amino acids they need, the nitrogen-containing fraction may be knocked off and excreted and the balance used like carbohydrates.

The reason why "biologically complete" proteins from animal foods are stressed is that they provide all 23 amino acids. Cereal and vegetable foods are relatively deficient in important ones. At least 10 essential amino acids cannot be synthesized in the body and they must, like vitamins, be provided in food. As heartening proof of what future study of the amino acids can be expected to reveal, there are already a number of significant experiments.

Arthritis (and other degenerative diseases, under which classification comes cancer) appears to be benefited by increased intake of the sulfur-containing amino acid, cystine. Arthritis patients show abnormally low cystine content of the nails and sulfur therapy has succeeded in increasing this content. Of course it is not, as yet, a cure for the disease.

Lack of valine, another amino acid, causes laboratory animals to become extremely sensitive to touch and to stagger drunkenly from loss of muscular coordination. One such animal walked stiffly on three legs and held up the other in a Hitler salute.

Shock resulting from wounds and burns is minimized, according to reports by Dr. Gustav J. Martin of the Waner Institute for Therapeutic Research, by three amino acids-cystine, glycine and glucuronic acid-in combination with Vitamin C and a member of the Vitamin B complex called choline. The effect is to minimize the reactions of toxins in the body and it is possible that a new way of building up immunity to certain diseases is indicated.

One of the same amino acids, cystine, in combination with choline, has also proved effective in preventing liver cancer in rats.

Lack of still another amino acid, tryptophane, has in animal experiments caused loss of weight, hardening of the skin, and shedding of hair.

Perhaps doctors will some day find amino acids as powerful in the treatment of disease as vitamins and the new sulfonamide drugs have already proved to be. In the meantime one's best assurance of eating enough acids is to include in the diet a reasonable quantity of animal protein foods.

Protein appears to be important in preventing ulcers, probably because it furnishes materials for tissue reconstruction. Stomach ulcers can be produced in rats by rigidly restricting protein. New Guinea natives who live on diets high in carbohydrate and low in protein and vitamins are highly susceptible to tropical ulcers, while similar natives who live in fishing villages and consume diets containing from 60 to 70 per cent protein are relatively immune to ulcers.


Make it a great day!

Chris Walker is the founder of Chris Walker's Fitness located in Kitchener, Ontario. Chris manages several certified trainers, (CFT) within his organization and actively works with medical doctors and health care professionals in helping their patients to reduce bodyfat restore musculoskeletal strength and gain control over their blood sugar readings, good and bad blood fats and blood pressure readings, among other critical fitness issues. Chris has helped people to get in shape for their wedding day as well as people battling severe obesity. Chris likes to focus on functional training and likes to incorporate his martial arts background into his programs. Chris is a firm believer of a strong mind and guarantees results for those who don't mind a little hard work. Chris is a member of International Sports Sciences Association, (ISSA) and Canfitpro Organization. Chris has made media appearances on Global Television, Rogers Daytime, The Record News Paper and is a published author of many health and fitness related articles and books.

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