What Are Some Good Sources of Amino Acids?

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, which are important for the building of muscles and cells. In this video, weight management specialist Caroline Apovian, MD, describes the three key amino acids, what they do, and the best food sources.

Transcript

00:00

Amino acids make up protein.

00:07

So in your diet you have protein, carbohydrate, and fat. So protein is very important for rebuilding

00:15

your muscles, your skin, your organs, your hair, and your nails. It's what we need to live. And the building blocks of protein are amino acids.

00:25

The three most important amino acids, in my opinion, are leucine, arginine, and glutamine.

00:31

They spell out lag, so if you're lagging, you need more of those. So leucine is primarily used to rebuild injured muscles.

00:41

So when you go work out, your muscle will be injured because you're working it out. You need leucine to rebuild it.

00:48

Arginine is a very important amino acid. It helps stimulate natural human growth

00:55

hormone, anti-aging hormone. So you need arginine in your diet to make sure that you have a lot of growth hormone around.

01:05

It also is important for your immunity, so to stave off infection, that's arginine. Glutamine is a super-duper amino acid

01:15

because it is conditionally essential when your gut cells die off.

01:22

So all of your cells are dying and rejuvenating, and in your gut, you have these cells that sit on the lining,

01:29

and when they're injured, for whatever reason, they use glutamine. Your muscles also use glutamine

01:36

So those are the three-- leucine, arginine, glutamine-- they spell out lag-- you need them. Where are you going to get those amino acids?

01:43

You don't have to worry about the names because they're in the foods that are high in protein. What's high in protein?

01:49

Eggs are a wonderful source of protein and other nutrients, so eat plenty of eggs per week.

01:56

They do not hurt you as was formerly thought. Other sources of protein are cheese, low-fat cheese,

02:05

low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt, very good sources of these amino acids and protein.

02:12

And animal sources of protein include meat, steaks, fish,

02:18

poultry. Make sure you choose the lean cuts of those items. And turkey is a hero because turkey has lots

02:25

of levels of arginine in it. And tryptophan, you need tryptophan to make serotonin and melatonin to help you sleep.

02:34

So turkey is a super hero in that regard. And then if you're a vegetarian, you're going to get a lot of these sources of amino acids