In their search for safe therapeutic substances scientists have recently turned to the 20 or so tiny fractions which make up protein, the amino acids. Here they have found some which have amazing healing powers and which have the ability to alter safely many aspects of the body's functioning. For example, two amino acids, tryptophan and phenylalanine, are some of the most amazing versatile nutrients which we consume. In fact, they are absolutely vital for life itself! Tryptophan is a natural sleep enhancer, a most effective tranquilizer (in certain circumstances), a safe pain killer, and useful appetite modifier. Phenylalanine is a potent pain reliever (in one of its two basic forms), a modifier of appetite, and an antidepressant. In all of these roles the way in which either of these substances is taken supplementally, and their occasional combination with other nutrients, are important in ensuring the achievement of satisfactory therapeutic results.

All of these effects and functions result from the biochemical activity of these fractions of protein and with very few exceptions which will be explained, they are completely safe for personal supplementation. Unlike so many drugs, which can achieve similar results, they are relatively harmless substances which are a normal part of the economy of the body; which the body is used to processing and dealing with every single day; which, when used in a precise manner, can assist in healing a wide variety of health problems.

Since they are almost always safe, amino acids lend themselves to self-prescription in appropriate conditions which will be outlined.

Meeting a deficiency or pharmacological action ?

In therapy which uses nutrients such as vitamins or amino acids there are two possible mechanisms involved. The supplement is either having an actual pharmacological effect, or it may be making good a deficiency which was creating, or aggravating, the condition being treated.

In the first case we are therefore using the substance, be it vitamin C, calcium or an amino acid such as tryptophan, in order to create a biochemical change which will help the body or alter the symptoms. Wherever nutrients are used in this manner there should be a basic understanding of the fact that unless underlying causes of health problems are also being dealt with, the use of a substance, no matter how safe, in order to merely treat symptoms, is probably only a short-term approach.

As an example let us consider a painful condition. If phenylalanine were used to control pain then it is highly likely that the pain would be significantly eased or would disappear entirely. the fascinating pharmacologically induced biochemical events which allow this to happen will be explained in due course. This easing of pain may satisfy the desire to be relieved of unpleasant symptoms, but would it be good for the body, and safe for the individual involved?

The answer must be - not always. Pain is a symptom which warns of underlying problems which require attention, and if the pain is merely suppressed, the ongoing problem would continue and the results could be disastrous. For example, if appendix pain is suppressed it does not stop the appendix from ultimately bursting, with possibly fatal consequences; if an arthritic joint pain is suppressed it does not alter the damaged joint surface, which would become increasingly irritated with additional use made possible by relief from the warning pain.

Moving away from the example of pain, let us look at another common symptom which can be treated efficiently, but without regard for its causes. If tryptophan is used to induce easy sleep, where insomnia is the result of a hectic lifestyle, poor nutrition or emotional disturbance, without anything being done about the root cause, then improvement would be only short-term. Again, if phenylalanine or tryptophan is used to treat depression, without anything being done to ascertain the causes, be they aspect of lifestyle, diet, emotional problems etc, then again the best interests of the patient would not be served, and almost certainly additional problems would arise in time.

If tryptophan or phenylalanine is used to alter the way we choose our food or the amount we eat (as they both can be) by sending appropriate messages to the brain, we would probably lose weight as desired, However, if the causes of overweight are other than a simple poor choice of food, then the basic problem would remain unaddressed.

All of these examples show how vital it is that causes are dealt with, and not just symptoms. However, there is no reason why symptoms which are bothersome and incapacitating, be they pain, insomnia, depression, excess weight or anything else, should not be treated symptomatically as long as causes are also considered and dealt with.

This theme will be repeated throughout this book, and possible alternative courses of action discussed that might be used as well as those helpful substances and the many other amino acids which we shall be examining.

What about medication and treatment of disease ?

Since it is agreed that causes are paramount, and that symptomatic treatment is only part of the way in which we should deal with health problems, it is worth re-emphasizing the difference between the use of these natural substances and drugs, which also attack symptoms.

Drugs are seldom, with very few exception, natural parts of the economy of the body. When aspirin, for example, is given for pain control it causes a variety of chemical changes to occur, some of which are desirable in that pain is relieved, while others are undesirable in that they actually harm the body. This is true of ALL drugs, without exception: there is no such thing as a completely safe drug. They all work by altering normal body processes, sometimes with severely undesirable complications. When we speak of a substance altering the body processes, in any way, we refer to the pharmacological use of that substance.

Broadly speaking, pain-killing drugs are divided into the steroid drugs and the non-steroid, anti-inflammatory (known as NSAIDS, which stands for Non-steroid, Anti-inflammatory Drugs) and other forms of pain killing drugs. All of these have produced fatalities and serious health problems in their wake, and many have been withdrawn from general use because of these side-effects. Others continue to be used since the therapeutic advantages produced, in terms of symptoms controlled, seems to doctors, in many cases, to outweigh the potential dangers. Phenylalanine, on the other hand, acts in a completely different manner as a pain relieving agent. Rather than 'killing' pain this substance merely slows down the normal breakdown, in the body, of naturally occurring pain killers (endorphins etc.) produced by the body itself, and so the beneficial effects achieved are not 'bought' at any cost to the overall health of the person involved. This will be explained in greater detail in later sections. At this point it is only necessary to have an appreciation of the fact that amino acids are (with a few specific exceptions which will be explained) safe, and not potentially dangerous in the way drugs are, even when they are being used pharmacologically.

Amino acids when used as described in this book do not involve toxic substances. They are fractions of the normal protein foods we eat every day. Amino acids are part of our daily lives, and by selectively ingesting a greater concentration of one or other, or a combination, of these, at appropriate times, we can safely help relieve many undesirable symptoms, while hopefully at the same time paying attention to the reasons for the problem.

Deficiency

When we take amino acid supplements we may often be making good a deficiency of the substance, or be correcting the balance between a number of nutrients, and in this way we may be helping to relieve symptoms. In this case, the action produced by the supplementation is not pharmacological, but rather a replenishing of a needed substance. (Act of Restoration - Structure/Function Claim under DSHEA Act of 1994) (Tom OBrien, NC)

One thing is certain in medicine, drugs are not a natural part of the economy of the body and therefore can never be replacements for deficient substances. The body is never deficient in aspirin, for example, although it may well be deficient in an amino acid, or have an imbalanced ration between a number of these, or between other essential nutrients, due to amino acid deficiency or imbalance.

We have become used to the concept of using certain nutrient substances in a therapeutic or preventative manner. For example, vitamin C is commonly used for its beneficial effect in infections such as influenza; B complex vitamins are commonly used to help in a variety of nerve problems; calcium is used to assist in replenishment of bone when there exists decalcification (osteoporosis for example), or for its prevention. Amino acids are nutrient substances, just as minerals and vitamins are, and have at least as large a range of beneficial characteristics.

Why we may sometimes be 'short' of amino acids

It is legitimate to ask the question, 'why should we ever be short of adequate amino acids, considering the amounts of protein consumed?' The answer is not a simple one but requires that we examine a number of factors which can interact to produce deficiency in the midst of plenty. Professor Jeffrey Bland has coined the phrase 'the undernutrition of overconsumption', and this is to an extent a factor. In contrast to many underdeveloped countries where malnutrition is the result of underconsumption, not enough to eat, in many industrialized countries a different form of of malnutrition, caused by overeating, exists. More specifically it arises partly as a result of eating devitalized, over-refined and adulterated foods, and partly as a result of a number of conditions which mitigate against adequate digestion of what is eaten.

In order to be utilized by the body the amino acids derived from food have to be in what is termed their 'free' form. In other words, they need to be 'unlocked' from chains of protein in which form they exist in our food and are consumed. In protein, as it eaten in the form of eggs, meat, nuts etc., the 20 amino acids are present in the particular ratios characteristic of that food or substance, and it is in the digestive process that these are broken down into their individual components, for absorption by the body and ultimate resynthesis in the system to build new cells, tissues and organs. If, for whatever reason, then the body cannot build up the new tissues it needs for health and efficiency. Thus, in an ocean of protein being consumed, there may be too little of the very substances of which protein is made, the individual amino acids.

'Water, water everywhere, yet not a drop to drink'. Thus spoke the Ancient Mariner who, surrounded by water, could not find a drinkable drop. Modern man with his vast intake of protein-rich dairy foods and meat products is often in the same position in relation to the amino acids upon which his body and life depend.

Why? The Digestive Factor (Enzymega - Digestive Enzymes)

One of the reasons for this is the often inadequate quantity or efficiency of the digestive juices produced in the stomach and pancreas, when pancreas fails to produce essential protein digesting enzymes . Excessive demands upon any organ in the body can in time lead to its abilities becoming exhausted.

The pancreas produces the so called proteolytic enzymes, such as trypsin, chymotrypsin etc, for protein digestion. It also has the major task of producing insulin with which the body attempts to control sugar levels in the bloodstream. When this particular function breaks down diabetes occurs. Diabetes is all too common in modern society, and is related directly to overconsumption of fats and sugars. If proteolytic enzyme production by the pancreas is inadequate then amino acid breakdown is faulty, and as a result the body will have a serious lack of the raw materials from which to make more enzymes, and so the cycle repeats itself and worsens with time. Poor digestion leads to poor amino acid breakdown, which leads to worse digestion.

Other substances which harm the pancreas, apart from sugar and fats, are alcohol, coffee, cigarettes and a number of drugs. Apart from aberrant insulin production, other symptoms which might become apparent when pancreatic function is impaired are recurrent gastritis and frequent allergic type reactions, related to incompletely digested substances being absorbed into the bloodstream.

If at the same time protein intake is high, there are even greater demands being made on a compromised digestive system with the pancreas laboring even harder, in vain, to produce substances it is unable to produce.

Other digestive imbalances, including the all too common inadequacy of the gastric secretions of hydrochloic acid or pepsin, can result in similar incomplete digestion of proteins, and therefore in poor free amino acid presence in the 'pool' of amino acids from which the body draws the raw materials with which to reconstruct and constantly renew itself.

The allergic factor

The whole process of incomplete digestion is key to understanding many allergic problems. These may result from partially digested substances (and toxic debris associated with bacteria which interact with them) crossing into the bloodstream and causing reactions with the immune (defense) system of the body. A wide range of physical and mental symptoms can often then result.

Summary of protein digestion

In brief, the pattern of digestion by which the body is supplied with adequate amino acids in their free form (no longer still in chains) is as follows.

Entering the mouth in large chunks, protein needs to be chewed sufficiently to reduct the portions to fragments so that the surfaces of these portions are accessible to the digestive juices. If chewing is poor, then the protein is less likely to be broken down into its constituents later on in the digestive process. In the stomach a variety of juices, such as hydrochloric acid and pepsin (an enzyme), work on the protein, and about 15 per cent of it should be digested by the time the food moves on to the small intestine.

As we have noted above, if hydrochloride acid or the proteolytic enzymes are short supply even this modest amount of digestion will be absent. It is a fact that as we grow older so our production of hydrochloric acid decreases, and it is estimated that by the age of 60 fully a third of individuals no longer secret any stomach acids at all. The protein intake of such people may be prodigious but their actual absorption will be very limited.

Having reach the small intestine it is vital that a correct degree of local acidity be present so that specific enzymes can uncouple the amino acids from each other. If the acidity is incorrect because of digestive problems, or if the enzymes required to 'unhook' the amino acids are deficient, then only partially digested proteins will be left.

This will lead to bowel putrefaction, and a great deal of gas will be formed and toxic substances (by-products of this putrefaction induced by bowel bacteria on partially digested protein) will be absorbed into the bloodstream.

If, however, the digestive juices are working well, on well chewed protein, and the residue reaches the small intestine to be worked on by a plentiful supply of correct enzymes which then unhook the individual amino acids into their free form, these are then absorbed into the bloodstream where they form a pool of reserve material for use in the sound construction of new body tissues and substances, either on there own or a combination with factors such as minerals and/or vitamins.

From the above it should be quite clear that we cannot ensure the presence of amino acids in the body simply by eating adequate protein. Whatever the reasons for the inadequate digestion of protein, it is obvious that there can be an actual deficiency in certain amino acids due to one of the following factors:

 incomplete breakdown of proteins in the digestive system.

 inherited abnormalities in the biochemical mechanisms of the body

 a poor diet.

Biochemical individuality

This term refers to our own particular idiosyncratic needs for certain nutrients, which are now established scientifically. Thus one person may require five to seven times as much calcium or vitamin C as another in order to remain in good health, while another person may require three or four times as much vitamin A and/or zinc. We are told that we require certain levels of nutrient intake to maintain health. These figures (RDAs, for recommended daily allowances) relate to averages and, thus far, in extensive testing, very few people have been found who fit the average for ALL nutrients.

Professor Roger Williams of Texas University has declared that we all have unique biochemical requirements, which relate both to acquired and to inherited factors.

This means that for each of us, the quantity of each nutrient in our diet is different. Indeed, from the range of almost 50 substances which should be present in our diet (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, essential fatty acids etc.) and which are essential for life, there are requirements which are different for each of us. And so we each need different amounts of amino acids, just as we need different amounts of vitamins, mineral, essential fatty acids or trace elements.

How we can measure amino acid imbalances

It is possible to study amino acid levels and ratios (the relationship of amino acids to each other in quantitative terms) by analysis of urine, serum and other tissues. Such amino acid 'profiles' have shown definite patterns which relate to different conditions, so that it is now possible to give certain amino acids as supplements for various chronic fungal infections such as Candida Albicans. Thus amino acids can be used to supplement deficiencies, by giving one or other of these as a means of restoring normal levels or ratios, and therefore normal function.

In these cases, although part of the real cause of the problem is being taken care of, the reasons why deficiency of the substance exists still needs to be ascertained and dealt with, if possible (it may sometimes relate to genetic abnormalities which cannot be corrected). In other cases, as discussed earlier, amino acids are prescribed in order to achieve a pharmacological effect, there being no evidence of amino acid deficiency. Here the cause of the problem is not being addressed and without this happening real health, as opposed to relief of symptoms, cannot be regained.

We shall now pass on to look at the nature and composition of amino acids.

 

2. ABOUT AMINO ACIDS

Amino acids can best be described as the construction blocks from which protein is made. Just as in a child's construction kit the pieces come in different shapes and sizes and yet fit together to make something recognizable, so the more than 20 amino acids each have unique characteristics, and yet are capable of being fitted together into an almost limitless variety of proteins.

Protein is formed by the joining together, into chains, of amino acids and thus far over 100,000 different proteins have been identified in nature, which are the result of variations in the pattern in which the chains are constructed.

The human body alone contains over 50,000 different forms of protein. The total presence of amino acids in the body represents fully three quarters of the body's dry weight (this is excluding the water content). Most of the amino acids in the body can be manufactured out of just eight other amino acids, which are all essential in the diet. This means that our diet has to allow the acquisition of free amino acids for life to continue.

These 'essential' amino acids are critically important to life and health, for out of them the body makes the other amino acids, as well as many of the vital components which keep the body working, such as the enzymes, neurotransmitters, mucopolysacharides etc., not to mention blood, muscles, organs and bones from which we are constructed.

When only a short chain of amino acids is joined together, in a particular sequence, it is called a peptide. When the chain is long it is called a protein.

The amino acids themselves are constructed from a combination of the following elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and in some cases sulphur.

Every amino acid comes in two forms, a 'left-handed' (L) and a 'right-handed' (D) form. These two forms are identical in every respect except for the conformation of the sub-units of which they are composed. That is to say, although chemically they contain the same elements, in precisely the same quantities and in the same sequence, they are the mirror image of each other, just as the human left hand has the same construction as the human right hand and yet they are different (a right hand cannot wear a left-handed glove for example). Protein chains cannot be formed from a combination of L and D amino acids.

The body is constructed almost without exception from the L forms of amino acid. However, the D forms, which occur in nature, are often found to have therapeutic value and, as we shall see later, the D form of phenylalanine is a particularly valuable asset in treating pain.

The essential amino acids which are required by the adult body (children have slightly different needs, as we shall see) to make the other amino acids as well as the proteins of the body are: L-tryptophan, L-isoleucine, L-lysine, L-threoinine, L-leucine, L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, L-valine. Henceforth we shall drop the 'L' prefix so that it can always be assumed that a named amino acid is in the L form. D forms, or combination of D and L forms, will be clearly described as such. From these raw materials, which are essential elements in the diet, the body synthesizes the other amino acids (non-essential) which are cysteine, cystine, tyrosine, arginine, alanine, glutamic acid, proline, hydroxyproline, glutamine, histidine aspartic acid, glycine, serine, asparganine, carnitine.

Recent research, however, has questioned the concept of essential and non-essential amino acids. Arginine for example is known to be in short supply in children, and may therefore be considered 'essential' for them, because the young body is incapable of manufacturing adequate amounts of the other essential raw materials, as an adult body can. Histidine is also considered necessary in the diet of infants, whereas it is not considered by all experts to be an essential amino acid for adults.

Furthermore, it is now known that, under certain conditions, any amino acid can become essential. Such a situation may arise when demand for it is increased under certain conditions of stress (intense heat or cold, shock etc) or illness (fever) or during pregnancy, for example. Drugs or toxic factors can also put undue strain on the normal levels of particular amino acids, which would transfer them from a non-essential to an essential status. Three are also a variety of inherited anomalies which can lead to deficiencies, and/or excesses, of amino acids in the body. The so-called branch-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) account for the bulk of such problems.

Professor Jeffrey Bland, a noted American researcher into nutrition, calls normally non-essential amino acids, which become essential, 'contingent', and describes histidine in this was, especially in allergic situations where large amounts of the substance histamine, which derives from the amino acid histidine, is utilized by the body.

Under certain specific conditions all amino acids are therefore potential essential for bodily health to be maintained.

Amino acids in digestion

As we have seen in Chapter 1, presence of a substance in the diet is not of itself enough, for until the amino acid, locked into the food, is broken down by digestion in its single free form, the body cannot use it. Thus, simply telling a person to eat foods containing the amino acid which is required is not enough.

Free form acids must be provided in supplement form, in order to ensure therapeutic results.

Some common proteins are rich in certain amino acids and poor in other. The least well supplied amino acid in any particular food is called the 'limiting' amino acid.

Amino acids do not work in isolation, but are dependent upon vitamins and minerals in order to form body tissues such as bone and muscle, hormones and enzymes. For example, the amino acid tyrosine needs to combine with iodine for the thyroid hormone thyroxin to be created: thyroxin cannot be manufactured without both these substances.

The over-emphasis of nutritionists on the importance to health of vitamins and minerals has distracted attention from the amino acids. As already mentioned, this is largely because of the widespread assumption that if there was enough protein in the diet then we would automatically get all the amino acids we needed. However the body requires daily at least 20 times as much in amino acid intake as it does in vitamins, and about four times as much as the minerals. This requirement has to be in the form of free amino acids to be of any value, not protein in undigested lumps. It is only when we have an efficient digestive function that such a breakdown of protein can occur, releasing an adequate supply of free amino acids.

In good health, the body is constantly breaking down many of its own constituent cells for recycling, as well as ingested protein from food. Both of these tasks require the presense of specific enzymes in order to uncouple the amino acids from the chains into which they are linked as proteins. If a particular enzyme is deficient, then this uncoupling task is to properly accomplished and free amino acid deficiency will occur, causing in turn further enzyme deficiency, and even poorer subsequent protein breakdown.

The other functions of amino acids

Amino acids also play a vital role in a number of body processes such as the urea cycle, the complex process whereby ammonia is detoxified from the body. Ammonia is a constant product of muscle metabolism and nitrogen use in the body, and we would die were it not metabolized adequately. Amino acids achieve this, arginine and ornithine being mainly involved.

Another body cycle called the citric acid cycle (or Krebs cycle) is related to the expiration of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and the potential for production of energy, and for counteracting excessive acidity, via a complex interaction of amino acids and other substances. The complexities of the interactions between the citric acid cycle and the urea cycle, and manifold dangers caused by faults in these systems, are beyond the scope of this book. However, they are worth a mention in order to further emphasize the importance of amino acids, which are crucial in these life preserving functions of detoxification and energy production.

Apart from being the primary construction material for tissue, bone, organs, hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes etc., amino acids are the raw material from which the genetic coding material of every cell in the body, DNA, is constructed. They are also a vital part of the immune system, the body's defense mechanism.