To send a link and summary of this article to a friend, click here . As it turns out, these claims are more than somewhat exaggerated. The key to a better bod can t be found in any pill. But that doesn t mean that you should forget about amino acids .
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.
Twenty of them combine to form the 50,000 to 100,000 different proteins in the body. Nine amino acids are classified as essential because your body is unable to produce them and you must get them by eating foods that supply them. They are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine , phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan , and valine. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, and soy are considered complete proteins because they provide us with all nine aminos. The other 11 amino acids that scientists have studied are considered nonessential.