Amino Acids For Weight Loss

February 28, 2024

Amino Acids For Weight Loss

With the rise of the health optimization and disease prevention movement, individuals are seeking diverse approaches to weight loss. While some in the health industry heavily advocate the "calories in, calories out" model, not everyone experiences the same outcomes, as many of the patients I work with can attest from firsthand experience. Individuals grappling with chronic inflammations, cellular damage, chronic stress, anxiety, clinical depression, Cushing’s disease, PCOS, Hashimoto's/Hypothyroidism, and other hormonal issues often encounter resistance to weight loss with these conventional methods. Identifying the unique underlying cause for each person is crucial for long-term sustainability and success. While each individual will require tailored modifications to meet their specific needs, one commonality among patients is the increased necessity for additional amino acids in their diet. Indeed, amino acids are recognized as vital components of nearly every meal, and researchers have suggested that different types of amino acids impact our bodies' basal metabolic rate in distinct ways

What are Amino Acids?

Amino acids are considered as the building blocks of proteins. These organic compounds have a potential to combine in different ways to give more than hundred thousand different types of proteins; however the human body is composed mainly of 8 types of proteins. Amino acids are classified mainly as essential and non-essential based on their consumption requirement by humans. Essential ones are those which must be supplied to the body through diet. These types are important for the normal functioning of the body and cannot be synthesized by the body itself. However, the non-essential amino acids, as the name indicates, are not needed to be supplied through diet because the body has the natural potential of synthesizing them. Biochemically, the amino acids can also be categorized as Branch Chain Amino acids (BCAAs) and Straight Chain Amino Acids. BCAAs usually fall in the essential amino acids type. Essential amino acids are clinically significant because if they are not furnished to the body in the normal range, the regular functions can be greatly altered causing pathological conditions.

 How Amino Acids Help in Weight loss?

The skeletal muscles of our body has a percentage weight of 40% which is made up of 70-75% proteins. To simplify this concept in a practical way, building the body mass by weight lifting and increasing the muscular weight of the body helps in losing body fat because the skeletal muscles require the most energy during physical activity. To compensate for this energy, the body melts down the fat in order to provide energy to the muscles. Since the intake of amino acids helps build proteins, it will increase your muscular strength resulting in fat loss from the adipose tissues. At the same time, the higher intake of proteins and amino acids induces a feeling of satiety, thus reducing the overall food intake.

A study conducted on rats presented the importance of amino acids while attempting weight loss strategies. The group of rats which received the essential amino acids showed an effective fat reduction as compared to those who did not. The amino acids helped them retain the lean muscle dissolving the fat molecules at a rapid rate.

This is just one aspect of where the caloric expenditure model of weight loss starts to fail patients. It lacks the emphasis on the important of protein/amino acid intake. Sustainability and consistency overtime is key and in order to achieve this amino acids are a must.

The Science Behind Amino Zen

LEUCINE* Top Ingredient in AMINO ZEN 

This is an essential amino acid found in high quality protein and is the key amino acid that drives muscle protein synthesis. It’s also a modulator of insulin signalling, a fuel for skeletal muscle, and a primary nitrogen donor for production of alanine and glutamine in skeletal muscle. In addition to muscle protein synthesis, Leucine also increases your ability to burn fatty acids (FAT FOR FUEL).

That all sounds well and good, but think about how you age. As we age, our muscles become less efficient at the critical processes of repair and replacement of existing proteins. This aging process is called anabolic resistance. We succumb to what’s known as sarcopenia, the gradual loss of our muscletissue. However, the good news, we can blunt or mitigate this aging process with the right choices of exercise and protein. This means Leucine is even more important as we get older, and it’s also why our protein intake, both quantity and quality, should increase with age. ** This is also why women around age 40 start to experience health symptoms – protein break down accelerates and to begin with they were not consuming enough protein.

LYSINE * Second ingredient in AMINO ZEN

This one, in addition to starting with the letter “L” and having two syllables and sounding kind of similar to Leucine, is another essential amino acid, which means you can only get it via your diet. Lysine plays a large role in synthesizing proteins within your body. Not only that, Lysine is also responsible for the proteins specifically in your connective tissues, tendons, which connect a bone to a muscle, and ligaments, which connect bones to bones at a section called a joint. Your tendons and ligaments are composed of a structural protein called collagen, and Lysine is instrumental in collagen formation. Lysine also forms the backbone of the molecule called carnitine essential to help your muscles burn fats for fuel.

METHIONINE * 8th Ingredient in AMINO ZEN

Finally, we come to an amino acid that has more than two syllables and doesn’t start with the letter “L” but is just as important as its friends. Methionine is responsible for making creatine (that thing you might think is a steroid because weight lifters love it, but it really isn’t a steroid and is one of the most researched supplements around). Methionine is also important for the synthesis or carnitine, which is instrumental in fatty acid oxidation (IE IF YOU WANT TO BURN FAT FOR ENERGY) and in the synthesis of another amino acid, cysteine, which leads to Glutathione, an antioxidant that helps with your immunity, detox, and for production of DNA and taurine. Methionine also plays a role in detoxification of metals like lead and mercury as well as protecting the cell from pollutants due to its sulfur side groups. Finally, methionine is always the first amino acid transcribed from mRNA so without enough of it, protein synthesis doesn’t even start. Methionine is often in low amounts in plant proteins, especially in legumes, lentils, and nuts.

What other roles do Amino Acids Play

As you're starting to grasp the pivotal role that protein and amino acids play, I'd like to underscore that their significance extends beyond merely building new muscle and facilitating weight loss. For instance, proteins are integral in producing antibodies, which play a crucial role in immune responses. When your body encounters a toxin or foreign substance, known as an antigen, antibodies defend you by combating them. Additionally, many hormones, such as insulin, are protein-based, while others, like thyroid hormones, rely on amino acids for their production and are transported by proteins. Thyroid hormones play a vital role in regulating blood glucose levels, metabolic rate, and can influence the secretion of growth hormones and bone health. It's worth noting that although all proteins consist of amino acids, not all proteins provide the optimal balance of amino acids required by your body. Understanding amino acids is key to comprehending your protein needs, and I'd like to highlight three of them for emphasis.

Your Takeaway:

We want to emphasize that it is very important to always choose whole food first. You can absolutely obtain an optimal level of proteins/amino’s through diet alone. In some cases supplementation may be helpful but remember you can never out supplement a poor diet. Lastly, as you get closer and close to your weight loss goal you are at increased risk of losing lean muscle mass so the leaner you get the more you need to consider if you are getting enough amino acids especially if you are also practicing intermittent fasting.

References:

Amino Acids For Weight Loss

Amino Acids For Weight Loss

With the rise of the health optimization and disease prevention movement, individuals are seeking diverse approaches to weight loss. While some in the health industry heavily advocate the "calories in, calories out" model, not everyone experiences the same outcomes, as many of the patients I work with can attest from firsthand experience. Individuals grappling with chronic inflammations, cellular damage, chronic stress, anxiety, clinical depression, Cushing’s disease, PCOS, Hashimoto's/Hypothyroidism, and other hormonal issues often encounter resistance to weight loss with these conventional methods. Identifying the unique underlying cause for each person is crucial for long-term sustainability and success. While each individual will require tailored modifications to meet their specific needs, one commonality among patients is the increased necessity for additional amino acids in their diet. Indeed, amino acids are recognized as vital components of nearly every meal, and researchers have suggested that different types of amino acids impact our bodies' basal metabolic rate in distinct ways

What are Amino Acids?

Amino acids are considered as the building blocks of proteins. These organic compounds have a potential to combine in different ways to give more than hundred thousand different types of proteins; however the human body is composed mainly of 8 types of proteins. Amino acids are classified mainly as essential and non-essential based on their consumption requirement by humans. Essential ones are those which must be supplied to the body through diet. These types are important for the normal functioning of the body and cannot be synthesized by the body itself. However, the non-essential amino acids, as the name indicates, are not needed to be supplied through diet because the body has the natural potential of synthesizing them. Biochemically, the amino acids can also be categorized as Branch Chain Amino acids (BCAAs) and Straight Chain Amino Acids. BCAAs usually fall in the essential amino acids type. Essential amino acids are clinically significant because if they are not furnished to the body in the normal range, the regular functions can be greatly altered causing pathological conditions.

 How Amino Acids Help in Weight loss?

The skeletal muscles of our body has a percentage weight of 40% which is made up of 70-75% proteins. To simplify this concept in a practical way, building the body mass by weight lifting and increasing the muscular weight of the body helps in losing body fat because the skeletal muscles require the most energy during physical activity. To compensate for this energy, the body melts down the fat in order to provide energy to the muscles. Since the intake of amino acids helps build proteins, it will increase your muscular strength resulting in fat loss from the adipose tissues. At the same time, the higher intake of proteins and amino acids induces a feeling of satiety, thus reducing the overall food intake.

A study conducted on rats presented the importance of amino acids while attempting weight loss strategies. The group of rats which received the essential amino acids showed an effective fat reduction as compared to those who did not. The amino acids helped them retain the lean muscle dissolving the fat molecules at a rapid rate.

This is just one aspect of where the caloric expenditure model of weight loss starts to fail patients. It lacks the emphasis on the important of protein/amino acid intake. Sustainability and consistency overtime is key and in order to achieve this amino acids are a must.

The Science Behind Amino Zen

LEUCINE* Top Ingredient in AMINO ZEN 

This is an essential amino acid found in high quality protein and is the key amino acid that drives muscle protein synthesis. It’s also a modulator of insulin signalling, a fuel for skeletal muscle, and a primary nitrogen donor for production of alanine and glutamine in skeletal muscle. In addition to muscle protein synthesis, Leucine also increases your ability to burn fatty acids (FAT FOR FUEL).

That all sounds well and good, but think about how you age. As we age, our muscles become less efficient at the critical processes of repair and replacement of existing proteins. This aging process is called anabolic resistance. We succumb to what’s known as sarcopenia, the gradual loss of our muscletissue. However, the good news, we can blunt or mitigate this aging process with the right choices of exercise and protein. This means Leucine is even more important as we get older, and it’s also why our protein intake, both quantity and quality, should increase with age. ** This is also why women around age 40 start to experience health symptoms – protein break down accelerates and to begin with they were not consuming enough protein.

LYSINE * Second ingredient in AMINO ZEN

This one, in addition to starting with the letter “L” and having two syllables and sounding kind of similar to Leucine, is another essential amino acid, which means you can only get it via your diet. Lysine plays a large role in synthesizing proteins within your body. Not only that, Lysine is also responsible for the proteins specifically in your connective tissues, tendons, which connect a bone to a muscle, and ligaments, which connect bones to bones at a section called a joint. Your tendons and ligaments are composed of a structural protein called collagen, and Lysine is instrumental in collagen formation. Lysine also forms the backbone of the molecule called carnitine essential to help your muscles burn fats for fuel.

METHIONINE * 8th Ingredient in AMINO ZEN

Finally, we come to an amino acid that has more than two syllables and doesn’t start with the letter “L” but is just as important as its friends. Methionine is responsible for making creatine (that thing you might think is a steroid because weight lifters love it, but it really isn’t a steroid and is one of the most researched supplements around). Methionine is also important for the synthesis or carnitine, which is instrumental in fatty acid oxidation (IE IF YOU WANT TO BURN FAT FOR ENERGY) and in the synthesis of another amino acid, cysteine, which leads to Glutathione, an antioxidant that helps with your immunity, detox, and for production of DNA and taurine. Methionine also plays a role in detoxification of metals like lead and mercury as well as protecting the cell from pollutants due to its sulfur side groups. Finally, methionine is always the first amino acid transcribed from mRNA so without enough of it, protein synthesis doesn’t even start. Methionine is often in low amounts in plant proteins, especially in legumes, lentils, and nuts.

What other roles do Amino Acids Play

As you're starting to grasp the pivotal role that protein and amino acids play, I'd like to underscore that their significance extends beyond merely building new muscle and facilitating weight loss. For instance, proteins are integral in producing antibodies, which play a crucial role in immune responses. When your body encounters a toxin or foreign substance, known as an antigen, antibodies defend you by combating them. Additionally, many hormones, such as insulin, are protein-based, while others, like thyroid hormones, rely on amino acids for their production and are transported by proteins. Thyroid hormones play a vital role in regulating blood glucose levels, metabolic rate, and can influence the secretion of growth hormones and bone health. It's worth noting that although all proteins consist of amino acids, not all proteins provide the optimal balance of amino acids required by your body. Understanding amino acids is key to comprehending your protein needs, and I'd like to highlight three of them for emphasis.

Your Takeaway:

We want to emphasize that it is very important to always choose whole food first. You can absolutely obtain an optimal level of proteins/amino’s through diet alone. In some cases supplementation may be helpful but remember you can never out supplement a poor diet. Lastly, as you get closer and close to your weight loss goal you are at increased risk of losing lean muscle mass so the leaner you get the more you need to consider if you are getting enough amino acids especially if you are also practicing intermittent fasting.

References:

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