Importance of Amino acids to build muscles

You’ve heard a lot about amino acids and how important they are for building muscle.

Amino acids are organic compounds primarily composed of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that combine to form proteins. Protein is a crucial macronutrient that we consume in our daily life.

But these building blocks of protein are responsible for many other critical systems and functions in the body, including neurotransmitter and hormone production, immune health, nervous system function, tissue repair, digestion, and reproduction.

Amino acids:

Improves workouts performance and recovery.

Helps in healing wounds and surgery.

Assists with the mood.

When you eat high in protein foods, the body breaks them down into amino acids. Your body needs 20 different amino acids categorized as essential, conditionally essential, or non-essential.

Animal-based food source

You’ll find amino acids in various foods, but there’s a catch: meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and other animal foods contain all nine essential amino acids and are considered complete proteins.

Plant-based food source

Some plant foods—including soy and quinoa—contain all nine essential amino acids, but there’s some debate over whether they have adequate quantities to be considered complete proteins.

Beans, grains, and nuts are also rich in certain amino acids but are low or lacking in others—called the limiting amino acid.

Here’s a guide to the best food sources of amino acids.