Protein is an essential nutrient that we must consume through food. However, the quality of the protein is also important: it must contain enough essential amino acids . These are amino acids that the body cannot produce itself.
Here you will find out why they are so important and how you can meet your needs.
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What are essential amino acids?
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which are often also called protein. We need protein to produce our own proteins. Proteins fulfill many different functions: They give cells support and structure and serve as signaling molecules . Proteins can also have an enzymatic function and thus enable biochemical reactions .
Proteins consist of 21 different amino acids . The frequency of a single amino acid in a protein varies. In order to produce our own proteins from amino acids, we need each amino acid in a certain amount.
The body can produce some amino acids from other amino acids. These are non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids, on the other hand, we cannot produce ourselves and therefore must consume them with food. Of the 21 amino acids, 8 are essential . [1]
So it's not just important that you consume enough protein. It's also crucial that you're well supplied with every single essential amino acid. That's why you not only have a daily protein requirement, but also a requirement for essential amino acids .
List of essential amino acids
Here you can find a list of the 8 essential amino acids and the respective daily requirement per kg of body weight: [2]
- Isoleucine: 20 mg
- Leucine: 39 mg
- Lysine: 30 mg
- Methionine: 10.4 mg
- Phenylalanine: 25 mg
- Threonine: 15 mg
- Tryptophan: 4 mg
- Valine: 26 mg
Foods containing essential amino acids
Most foods that are high in protein also contain essential amino acids. These include: [3]
- Milk and dairy products such as cheese, yoghurt and curd
- Eggs
- Meat
- Fish
- Legumes such as peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas
Plant-based foods must be skillfully combined
Plant foods also provide essential amino acids. However, there is an important difference to animal foods . Individual animal foods provide each essential amino acid in significant amounts. This is why animal protein is said to be "complete".
Individual plant foods, on the other hand, are rich in some essential amino acids, but contain only small amounts of others. To meet your essential amino acid needs with plant protein, you must therefore cleverly combine plant protein sources . You may have heard that it is good to eat beans and rice together. The amino acid composition of these two foods complements each other well, so that together they provide all essential amino acids . [4] , [5]
Buy essential amino acids
Many foods are rich in essential amino acids and many people can meet their needs through food.
However, under certain circumstances it may make sense to supplement essential amino acids.
1) With a vegan diet
You can also meet your essential amino acid needs with plant-based protein. On the other hand, this requires a clever combination of different protein sources. If you follow a vegan diet and don't want to worry too much about it, you should consider taking essential amino acids in the form of dietary supplements.
2) In strength training
Amino acids also provide building blocks for building muscle protein. This is why protein supplementation is so popular among bodybuilders. Particularly important in this regard are the essential branched-chain amino acids (also called BCAAs) leucine , isoleucine and valine . [6]
3) When protein intake is limited
If you eat more than enough protein, which is far above the daily requirement (approx. 0.8 g per kg of body weight), you will usually also consume sufficient essential amino acids. However, people who eat little protein can easily be deficient in essential amino acids. The risk is particularly high with tryptophan , because this amino acid is one of the rarest amino acids.
Here you can learn more about why tryptophan is so important.
With Amino-8 from Viktilabs you can easily meet your needs for essential amino acids. These are purely plant-based amino acids in their purest form: without artificial additives or fillers.
Conclusion: Protein is not the same as protein
When it comes to your daily protein intake, you need to make sure that you consume enough essential amino acids . If you cover your protein needs exclusively with plant-based protein , you need to skillfully combine different protein sources.
In most cases, the need for essential amino acids can be met through food. If you follow a vegan diet, do strength training , or have a limited protein supply, supplementing with high-quality essential amino acids can be useful.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557845/
[2] https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43411/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf;jsessionid=091CCA4E94F503C352CACBB791C2403C?sequence=1
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315330/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5302255/
