Amino Acids Summary Table

Amino Acids Summary Table

The following amino acid summary chart lists the 8 Essential amino acids, as well as the 12 Non-essential amino acids, along with amino acid symbol, amino acid abbreviation, acid or base, number of pathways, etc.

Other important amino acid precursors are also listed, plus their pathways.

Essential Amino Acids						(Body cannot make these amino acids, they must come from food or amino acid supplements.)
	Amino Acid	Sym.	Abbr	Min. Daily mg.	Acid Base Neu.	# of pathways - One Pathway	Generates	Works With (Against)	Augments
1	Isoleucine*	I	Ile	10	n	1 - threonine --> isoleucine	-	-	muscles
2	Leucine*	L	Leu	14	n	1 - keto-isovalerate --> leucine	-	-	blood, muscle, hormone
3	Lysine	K	Lys	12	B	2 - asparate --> lysine	-	calcium	herpes, triglycerides
4	Methionine	M	Met	13	n	7 - homoserine --> methionine	cysteine	selenium, zinc	hair, skin, chelator
5	Phenylalanine	F	Phe	14	n	3 - chorismate --> phenylalanine	tyrosine	B6	depression
6	Threonine	T	Thr	7	N	3 - aspartate --> threonine	glycine, serine	-	collagen, tooth enamel
7	Tryptophan	W	Trp	3.5	n	1 - chorismate --> tryptophan	niacin, seratonin	-	depression
8	Valine*	V	Val	10	n	1 - pyruvate --> valine	-	-	muscles
Food Sources: Fish - meat - poultry - cottage cheese - peanuts - lentils A= acid, B= base, N= Neutral, n= non-polar *= BCAA, Branched-Chain Amino Acids, all important in muscle recovery
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Non-Essential Amino Acids						(The body can make these amino acids from the above essential amino acids.)
	Amino Acid	Sym.	Abbr	Min. Daily mg.	Acid Base Neu.	# of pathways - One Pathway	Generates	Works With (Against)	Augments
1	Alanine	A	Ala	-	n	4 - valine pyruvate --> alanine	-	-	-
2	Arginine*	R	Arg	-	B	4 - citrulline --> arginine	polyamines, creatine	zinc (lysine)	immune, healing, muscles
3	Asparagine	N	Asn	-	N	3 - asparate and ammonia	-	-	CNS
4	Aspartic Acid	D	Asp	-	A	3 - glutamate --> aspartate	-	-	CNS, brain
5	Cysteine	C	Cys	-	N	4 - serine --> cysteine	homocysteine, taurine	B6, Vit.E	skin, hair
6	Glutamic Acid	E	Glu	-	A	3 - ketoglutarate --> glutamate	glutamine, GABA	B6	brain
7	Glutamine	Q	Gln	-	N	2 - glutamate --> glutamine	-	-	brain
8	Glycine	G	Gly	-	N	2 - serine --> glycine	glutathione	GABA, taurine	body protein
9	Histidine*	H	His	-	B	1 - histidinol --> histidine	histamine	-	blood, allergy, sex
10	Proline	P	Pro	-	n	4 - l-glutamine --> proline	hydroxyproline	Vitamin C	collagen, elastin
11	Serine	S	Ser	-	N	1 - phosphoglycerate --> serine	cysteine, glycine	choline	blood sugar
12	Tyrosine	Y	Tyr	-	N	2 - phenylalanine --> tyrosine	thyroxin, melanin	B6	thyroid
* = These are Essential for infants, since their bodies cannot produce them yet.
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Other Amino Acid Factors
-	Carnitine	-	Car	-	-	carnitine --> butyrobetaine -->	Lysine, methionine	Vitamin C	fat metabolism
-	Citrulline	-	Cit	-	-	argenine --> citrulline --> ornithine	Ornithine	zinc	urea cycle
-	Hydroxyproline	-	Hyp	-	-	proline --> hydroxyproline	-	Vitamin C	collagen
-	Ornithine	-	Orn	-	-	argenine --> citrulline --> ornithine	-	-	urea cycle
-	Taurine	-	Tau	-	-	methionine --> cysteine --> taurine	GABA, glycine	B6	heart, bile
The above are precursors for, or important products of, the 20 "true" amino acids listed above.
20	100	30	30	30	30	120 - 600	100	60	80

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This Vaughns Amino Acids Summary web page
was last updated on 2012-05-04.