Ep. 106: The 9 Essential Amino Acids
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf, to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode delves into a bit of science, and even a tiny bit of organic chemistry, and is on the nine essential amino acids.
They are essential because our body does not produce them as opposed to nonessential where the body can produce the particular amino acid. Along with essential and non-essential there are also conditional amino acids which are not essential, except in times of illness and stress.
As you no doubt would have heard the amino acids are the building blocks of life and are critical to many processes in the body such as building proteins, hormones, and neurotransmitters.
So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amino_acid_generic_structure.png
Wikipedia Summary
An essential amino acid, or indispensable amino acid, is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized from scratch by the organism fast enough to supply its demand, and must therefore come from the diet. Of the 21 amino acids common to all life forms, the nine amino acids humans cannot synthesize are valine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, threonine, histidine, and lysine.[1][2]
Six other amino acids are considered conditionally essential in the human diet, meaning their synthesis can be limited under special pathophysiological conditions, such as prematurity in the infant or individuals in severe catabolic distress.[2] These six are arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, proline, and tyrosine. Six amino acids are non-essential (dispensable) in humans, meaning they can be synthesized in sufficient quantities in the body. These six are alanine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, serine,[2] and selenocysteine (considered the 21st amino acid). Pyrrolysine (considered the 22nd amino acid),[3] which is proteinogenic only in certain microorganisms, is not used by and therefore non-essential for most organisms, including humans.
The limiting amino acid is the essential amino acid which is furthest from meeting nutritional requirements.[4] This concept is important when determining the selection, number, and amount of foods to consume because even when total protein and all other essential amino acids are satisfied if the limiting amino acid is not satisfied then the meal is considered to be nutritionally limited by that amino acid.[3]
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Essenzielle_Aminos%C3%A4uren.png
Mnemonic
The 9 Essential Amino Acids Mnemonic – MI HiLLToP TV
(You picture yourself on a hilltop with your giant TV watching the latest animated movie on the 9 Amazing Amino Acids)
1. Methionine
2. Isoleucine
3. Histidine
4. Leucine
5. Lysine
6. Tryptophan
7. Phenylalanine
8. Threonine
9. Valine
Five Fun Facts
1. Amino acids are building blocks of proteins. There are 20 standard amino acids out of which almost all proteins are made.
2. About 500 amino acids are known. Now, amino acids make proteins as stated in fact one, but it is the amino acid sequence that leads to different shapes and functions of the protein.
3. Essential amino acids may also differ between species. For example, ruminants such as cows obtain amino acids via microbes in the first two stomach chambers.
4. An amino acid is an organic chemical. It consists of an a-carbon atom that is covalently bonded to four groups:
· A hydrogen atom
· An amino group
· A carboxyl group
· A variable R group
5. Amino acids also form peptides. A peptide is simply a short-chain amino acid linked by peptide bonds.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. What are the three types of amino acids?
Q.2. There are 9 essential amino acids that the body can’t make. Without them, the body’s cells would use their own proteins to obtain the missing amino acids. True or False?
Q.3. One of the essential amino acids histidine plays an important role in what function? Options are muscle metabolism, the regulation of energy, or immune function
Bonus Q. What meat contains high levels of the essential amino acid tryptophan which can make you sleepy and increase serotonin?
Bonus Q. What does the acronym BCAA stand for in terms of amino acids?
Mnemonic Recap
The 9 Essential Amino Acids Mnemonic – MI HiLLToP TV
(Picture yourself on a hilltop with your giant TV watching the latest animated movie on the 9 Amazing Amino Acids)
1. Methionine
2. Isoleucine
3. Histidine
4. Leucine
5. Lysine
6. Tryptophan
7. Phenylalanine
8. Threonine
9. Valine
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. What are the three types of amino acids?
A. Essential, nonessential, and conditional
Q.2. There are 9 essential amino acids that the body can’t make. Without them, the body’s cells would use their own proteins to obtain the missing amino acids. True or False?
A. True. This would eventually lead to the breakdown of muscles and organs.
Q.3. One of the essential amino acids histidine plays an important role in what function? Options are muscle metabolism, the regulation of energy, or immune function
A. Immune function
Bonus Q. What meat contains high levels of the essential amino acid tryptophan which can make you sleepy and increase serotonin?
A. Turkey. The tryptophan in the turkey is the sole precursor for serotonin production
Bonus Q. What does the acronym BCAA stand for in terms of amino acids?
A. Branched Chain Amino Acid. They are essential amino acids that include leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
Now, just speaking of amino acids. Very sadly, my uncle recently overdosed on protein powder. It just happened to be on his last day of training right before his very first bodybuilding competition. As I said, very sad; what a whey to go!
Word of the Week
humuhumunukunukuapuaa
[ hoo-moo-hoo-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-ah-poo-ah-ah ]
noun
either of two triggerfishes of Indo-Pacific coral reefs.
Example
The Triggerfish humuhumunukunukuapuaa contains all nine essential amino acids along with all other fish, beef, poultry, eggs, dairy, soy, quinoa and buckwheat
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
References
https://kids.kiddle.co/Amino_acid
https://greatist.com/eat/essential-amino-acids-only-facts-you-need-to-know#1
https://www.sparknotes.com/health/aminoacids/quiz/
https://www.footprints-science.co.uk/index.php?quiz=Amino_acids_and_proteins
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22243-amino-acids