The Effects of Amino Acid Deprivation:

With increasing age, the process of obtaining the necessary number and weighted configuration of amino acids becomes a rather circular and frustrating problem. You see, not only does the body need a specific number of amino acids to make proteins, but it also needs the necessary amino acids to make the digestive enzymes which break down the proteins into the substances that it needs to rebuild itself, namely, more amino acids. Deadly competition ensues.

When there are insufficient correctly configured amino acids available, then normal protein metabolism and digestion is inhibited. Amino acids cannot be released from their bonds. As we become older, a quickening poverty of naturally configured amino acids is experienced. Such a scarcity begins to breed a multitude of problems. When they are not sufficient in number, major disruption of the body’s welfare becomes imminent. Specific brain switches cannot be thrown, superordinate (master) biochemical pathways cannot be initiated, and the body cannot help but embark on a pathway of accelerated aging.

What results is a general dampening, a losing of interest, of the immediacy and intimacy of life. The “doldrums” set in. We’re not as sharp as we used to be, life seems to begin to slip away from us, little hassles begin occurring more frequently and become annoyingly compounded. We don’t seem to sleep as well as we used to. We find ourselves becoming more easily upset at life’s little problems and we can’t handle things as well as we used to. We are more easily frustrated and there is a general feeling that we’re not the person we used to be. Our youth seems further and further away than it should. We feel that we are losing command in subtle ways - ways that we can’t quite put our fingers on. We don’t seem to be able to concentrate like we used to. Things are more of a chore than they should be. And, sometimes, we are surprised as to how little we care about things anymore; we are surprised at how apathetic we are becoming. We may even become more easily unhappy, or susceptible to longer periods of sadness. And there are other changes. Our digestion becomes sluggish and uncomfortable. Our taste for food becomes dulled. Healing of wounds becomes slower. Our eyes lack the luster they once had. Our nails are more brittle. Our skin begins to dry out much more quickly. Sound familiar?

Now, don’t be mistaken. This is not just “growing older,” although this is usually how such symptomology is traditionally defined. Becoming older doesn’t mean that we have to physically fall apart at an accelerated rate. Nor does it mean a diminishing interest in life. It doesn’t mean that the exciting days of our youth are over or that “the best years of our life” are gone forever. No, not at all. Each day of our life has the potential of becoming better. In reality, the “best days” of our life are yet to happen.

Therefore, if you’re one who is plagued by the general dampening of life’s interests, it may not be due to an irreversible disease called “growing older,” but rather a handicapped biochemistry. Your eight-cylinder engine is probably running on only five cylinders. You may very well be experiencing a lack of amino acids in your life. Without these very special molecules, much of life’s excitement and beauty become dulled because our sensitivity to these things is slowly eroded. The psycho-biochemical mechanisms which allow such excitement and immediacy to be experienced, barely function in a chemical environment depleted of unattached, free form amino acids. Without these uniquely special, un-substitutable ingredients, you will become older faster, before your time.

The Hidden Role of Amino Acids:

The brain, the most important organ of our body, ultimately controls every known biochemical pathway throughout the body, including the processes of aging and beauty. The brain contains as many as 100 billion nerves or neurons. These nerve cells interconnect with each other in an overwhelming melange numbering one quadrillion, and possibly more, as per our best estimates. Through many complicated steps, the brain sends complex messages and instructions to various parts of our body. These messages are chemical in nature and are called “neurotransmitters.” Neurotransmitters “transmit” or send “neuro-signals,” or nerve impulses (hence: “neuro-transmitter”). They are chemical “switches” which actually “turn on” and “turn off” functions of the body, speed up or slow down biological processes, and govern the natural well-being of the body, all from within the brain itself.

Neurotransmitters then are actually chemicals, and they accumulate at the tip of each nerve cell. When instructed, these microscopic chemical sacs release their contents into the area between nerve cells working in a lock and key type of fashion. Enzymes (made from amino acids) in the area are also required to neutralize as well as catalyze neurotransmitter activity. The action caused by such neuro-biochemical action may ultimately give instructions for a muscle to contract, a gland to release its contents, or simply carry the message on to another nerve for further processing.

Neurotransmitters carry very specific instructions. Some promote feelings of thirst, hunger and satiety, whereas others promote those of sleepiness, alertness, anger and anxiety. Still others are known to be largely responsible for sexual interest, feelings of well-being and even euphoria. Many neurotransmitters have multiple purposes and function differently, yet specifically, when used in combination with each other. They are the chemical controlling agents of the body.

So, where do amino acids come into all of this? Well, amino acids are either “THE” neurotransmitters themselves, or are essential precursors (building blocks) to other neurotransmitters (i.e., they are an essential part of the biochemical pathways that manufacture neurotransmitters). Amino acids are indispensable. They allow our brains to both send and receive messages. Furthermore, amino acids must be present and in sufficient number throughout the entire central nervous system or messages cannot be communicated. The consequences of this cannot be overstated.

The body has no other way of communicating with itself than through neurotransmission. If the “telephone lines are down,” no one can talk to anyone else. Without an adequate supply of amino acids, nothing can be transmitted, no intracellular instruction can take place. One cell, or organ, becomes neurologically isolated from another. Messages which would normally prompt cellular rejuvenation are never sent. Consequently, cells grow old, becoming tired and worn, losing their natural healthiness.

Sources of Amino Acids:

The body requires approximately twenty-two amino acids to fulfill our metabolic needs. Of these twenty-two, all but eight of them can normally be produced by our own biochemistry via the ongoing decomposition and synthesis of cellular body protein. These eight amino acids are called the essential amino acids because if they are not present nor in the right proportion, then normal protein synthesis is retarded or disastrously stops altogether.

Actually, recent research has revealed that all twenty-two amino acids are basically essential for health, but the “Special Eight” are thought to be particularly essential in that the body cannot possibly produce them from its own resources. Again, these eight essential amino acids cannot be manufactured within the body and must be acquired through diet. The sensitivity of protein metabolism and synthesis is such that if only one essential amino acid is absent, then the whole system falls apart. In order for the body to correctly synthesize protein, all the essential amino acids must be present.

Traditionally, we have believed that by simply including enough protein in our diet, the necessary amino acids would be supplied. After all, we have reasoned, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and by digesting, as well as re-configuring, other body protein, this should supply us with the pool of amino acids needed. However, recent research has found this to be false. Correcting dietary insufficiencies in and of itself will not correct amino acid deprivation. Even though food protein inherently contains all the amino acids required by the body, nutritional protein has to be broken down into its constituent parts before the body can make use of the materials.

Therefore, eating sufficient protein is not in itself a guarantee that the necessary amino acids will be supplied. Even though amino acids are the substances of which proteins are made, no matter how much protein we consume, the biological availability cannot be assured. This is extremely important to understand. Namely, that protein, be it sourced from food or cellular body protein, must be completely broken down into its constituent parts before it is of any use and value.

What this means is that as long as amino acids are coupled together with other molecules, they cannot be used to “turn on” and “turn off” the body’s switches. Amino acids must be found alone, or unattached to other substances, or in what we call “free form” (singlets) in order to be useful to the body. Yet another form of amino acids which is easily used by the body is that which herbal extracts often offer, namely amino acids in their short-chained form of 2-10 amino acids chained together (couplets).

Yet, all metabolic processes especially need the “free form,” unattached and uncoupled, amino acids, not protein, to function correctly. And as we have mentioned previously, no matter how much protein we consume, this in itself does not guarantee the biological availability of free, unattached amino acids (singlets). Protein has to be broken down completely to be of any value to the body’s metabolic needs.

And there is a further catch: there are no natural foods that supply amino acids in this separate and single form, absolutely none. Remember, amino acids are usually bound together and attached in large molecules called proteins. Nature supplies only one way to provide free form amino acids, that being the digestion and metabolism of protein within our very own bodies. If this process is in any way disrupted or inhibited, then the body will slowly deteriorate.

Again, the body’s requirements need a supply of unattached, free form amino acids to sustain health and youth. Nothing else will do. Emphatically, without amino acids configured in their “free form,” the body cannot function properly. Superordinate (master) biochemical pathways will become crippled because of the lack of free form amino acids in your system.