Amino Acids, the Alphabet of Life

Alpha Modular Nutrition

Amino Acids The Alphabet of Life

Alpha Nutrient Formulas

Free and pure l-form amino acids are provided in Alpha AAX.

AAX contains a complete set of the nine essential amino acids, complemented by 10 of the non-essential amino acids. Amino acids are the real nutrients derived from proteins by digestion of food. Amino acids do not trigger immune responses.

Sources: amino acids are individually added to an AAX and are certified as 100% pure, l-form amino acids - i.e. no source or production contaminants.

The amino acids in Alpha Nutrition Formulas are manufactured by a pharmaceutical process in high tech production faculties in Europe. Their manufacture is similar to the production of antibiotics and other pure nutrients. They are not extracts and are not derived from a food source..

The preparation of each amino acid is chosen for the optimal solubility in water - this provides quick mixing and maximum nutrient absorption. No hydrolyzed proteins are used in Alpha Nutrition formulations. The formulas are hypoallergenic and have been tolerated by people with extreme sensitivity to many if not most foods.

Cheaper formulas that contain proteins powders are common in the market place. Hydrolysed proteins are also common and these are manufactured from cheap food proteins such as cows milk and soy. Acid hydrolysis is the usual process - skim milk powder or soy flours are heated with acids under pressure to break down the proteins. Hydrolysed protein powders are sometimes labeled deceptively as "amino acids" and amino acid values are listed. You have to read the fine print or contact the manufacturer to realize that these are hydrolysed proteins and not pure amino acids.

From our point of view, hydrolysed proteins are risky food products. We would not ingest or sell hydrolysed proteins from any source.

Pure amino acids are more expensive than protein powders, and hydrolyzed proteins but remove the possibility of immune responses and other disease-causing processes that are associated with eating food proteins.

Alpha Nutrition Series:

Alpha ENF is the complete nutrient set

Alpha PMX* is the complete nutrient set minus the safflower

oil with increased amino acids.

Alpha VMX is a subset of the nutrient mix - the electrolyte, vitamin & mineral modules.

Alpha DMX is a a subset of all the nutrient modules without carbohydrate or fat.

Order Alpha AAX at secure online store

Alpha AAX Ingredient List:

Amino Acids: l-leucine, l-lysine HCl, l-phenylalanine, l-arginine, l-aspartic acid, l-glycine, l-isoleucine, l-glutamine,-methionine, l-proline, l-threonine, l-alanine, l-tyrosine, l-valine, l-serine, l-histidine, l-glutamic acid, l-tryptophan, l-cystine

Alpha AAX Information

More on Amino Acids and Proteins

Amino acids are the alphabet characters of body proteins. Proteins are chains of amino acids linked together like beads on a necklace. The individual amino acids fall into two groups: the essential AA's, which must be ingested, and the non-essential AA's, which can be synthesized in the body and need not appear in the food. A total of 9 amino acids are considered essential, while another 11 or so can be synthesized from the essential amino acids.

There are other amino acids that appear in nature that are not included in protein structure. These odd amino acids appear especially in plants, where they may have roles as insect deterrents. An occasional non-nutrient amino acid may be useful in the food supply, as an accessory nutrient -taurine is a prime candidate.

Essential amino acids : Histidine, isoleucine, Leucine, lysine, methionine phenylalanine, threonine tryptophan, and valine

Nonessential amino acids: Alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine

Possible accessory nutrient amino acids: Taurine, l-ornithine, l-carnitine

Life is an exercise in molecular synthesis and control. The programs, which determine what we are and how we function, are coded in DNA molecules, housed in the nucleus of every cell. The DNA code consists of strings of 64 alphabet characters that specify amino acids in-groups of three characters (codones). A single character is a base pair that is visualized as the rung on a ladder, twisted into a helix.

The entire range of cellular procedures of life consists of stringing amino acids together. The DNA alphabet (blueprint) is first translated into enzyme synthesis. Enzymes, in turn, orchestrate and control the synthesis of all molecules (construction procedures). This is an elegant, simple plan that permits the evolution of great complexity.

Molecular synthesis takes the form:

DNA---->RNA----> Enzyme Proteins

enzyme

Molecule 1 + Molecule 2 ---------> Products

vitamin + mineral cofactors

The amino acid sequence is read from the DNA molecule and transferred to the protein synthesis machinery in a cell by transfer RNA.

Protein synthesis centers are known as Ribosomes. Ribosomes develop an RNA template for the protein to be manufactured and draw free amino acids from the cellular pool into an orderly sequence. The ordered amino acids are then linked by enzymatic action to form another protein. The link between amino acids is as a peptide bond. The "Amino" of amino acids is a nitrogen-hydrogen group, NH2.

Every amino acid has NH2 at one end and COOH, the acid, at the other end. The peptide bond links the NH2 with the COOH like this: -CO-NH-OC-

When the peptide bond is made, a surplus of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom is removed - H2O, or water. We use a 3-letter abbreviation of the amino acid name to write an amino acid sequence which is the primary structure of a peptide or protein: Gly-Leu-Gly-Try-.is a 4 amino acid sequence.

Short chains of amino acids are peptides; longer chains are polypeptides. Even longer chains are proteins. Peptides assume information characteristics at 3 or more AA lengths. As the AA chain elongates, its shape becomes more complex and more meaningful. A typical globular protein has about 350 amino acids. The long amino acid chains of proteins are folded into a shaped object. The shape is known as the tertiary structure of the protein.

Protein shape is information. The shape may determine where the protein can go in a cell or which biological membrane will let it pass. The shape determines its structural role. The shape of a protein is also its identity. Shape ID is recognized and remembered by the immune system and is the basis of the body's immune defense. A small error in the DNA code results in a large manufacturing error. The study of individual enzyme defects has given us insights into the control of molecular assembly. If a single gene, encoding the procedures for a single protein, is defective, the protein is missing or does not function properly.

Amino Acid Requirements & Intolerance

The need for specific amino acids is difficult to determine. There is a wide range of needs and tolerances among different individuals. Amino acids appear to be relatively easy to obtain in adequate amounts, even on simple vegetarian diets with no meat, fish, eggs, or milk, if different vegetables are combined. Mixing a legume with a grain or with a tuber should provide a complete amino acid mixture, as well as a good variety of vitamins and minerals.

Protein-deficiency anxiety is not well founded in affluent countries. Some of the non-essential AA's may become essential if their synthesis is blocked by enzyme deficiencies. In order for protein synthesis to proceed, all the amino acids must be supplied at the same time. Since we are mammals, all mammalian proteins tend to have the same set of AAs as our own. Plant proteins may be deficient in lysine, threonine, and tryptophan. Vegetables should be combined to achieve a complete the AA set. Corn or maize, for example, is deficient in lysine, although many years of corn-breeding research have produced hybrid corns with increased lysine content. The substitution of the newer corn hybrids may eliminate protein malnutrition where corn is a staple.

Some patients on very limited diets (rice and a few vegetables alone, for example) remain well, at least for several months although their food may be appear to be deficient in essential AAs. A minimal diet presents minimal problems to one's metabolism. A protein deficient diet may be better tolerated than a protein excess diet. The missing amino acids are supplied from internal reserves as protein is recycled every day.

If you look at RDA values for protein, you get the wrong idea that amino acid intake level has to the same as protein intake but we believe that a daily intake of 25 grams of free form amino acids will be adequate most of the time. RDA protein values are approximations based on eating food. The proteins in foods have to be digested into dipeptides and free amino acids before nutrients are available and protein digestion is incomplete Some percentage of food protein is wasted in the digestive tract.

The trick is that if amino acids arrive in high concentrations, the liver is obligated to destroy most of them; so that high protein intake is wasteful if you want the amino acids to be utilized as protein building blocks and as neurotransmitter substrates.

You have to know that the body recycles amino acids and becomes every efficient when protein intake is low; the loss of amino acids can drop to about 2 grams per day.

You have to know that amino acid proportioning is relevant to how amino acids are admitted to cells and how they are utilized. The concept of protein quality is used to express the idea that all the 9 essential amino acids have to be present before any of them can be used to make proteins.

On the positive side of the equation, if a completely available, precisely engineered amino acid set is available, the total daily requirement is lower the RDA values for food protein intake As a rule of thumb we recommend calculating the RDA protein requirement in Grams and supplying 30 % to 50% of that value as Alpha AAX, a blend of amino acids (available separately in Alpha AAX or combined with other nutrients in Alpha ENF, Alpha PMX, Alpha BMX and Alpha DMX.)

Alpha AAX is available in 500 Gram Jars. $82.00 (Canadian) plus shipping.