Protein and Amino Acids: What Are They? Why Do We Need Them?

Protein is the building block for every cell in your body, and amino acids are the building blocks of protein! Proteins and amino acids help create and repair new cells, as well as, used for growth and repair of connective tissue, muscle, and skin!

There are 20 amino acids, and we need all of them to function at our top levels, but only 9 are considered essential and only certain types of proteins contain all 9!

What's the difference between essential amino acids and non-essential? Your body can't make the 9 essential amino acids (EAA), they have to be consumed via your diet, which means many of us aren't getting all the EAAs we need. The nine essentials? Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, and Valine. You can find them all in ESSENTIAL and REPAIR, but there's a difference in how they're received.

When you consume animal-based proteins, like our ESSENTIAL whey protein, you’re consuming some of the best sources of amino acids. Why? Animal proteins, like whey, are considered complete proteins that contain all the EAAs, unlike collagen powders that only contain 3 amino acids or pea proteins that are low in many aminos. In order for your body to use these EAAs, all 9 essential amino acids must be present and it has to break down the proteins first. Amino Acids are like burning a campfire. If you build with a strong base of logs (protein) and light it, the fire will burn strong and for a long time, but many times we need a fire starter (EAAs) to get everything burning faster. 

This is the same for our bodies, ESSENTIAL breaks down protein all day providing us with the energy and amino acids we need for longevity, while REPAIR is a quick influx of already broken down branched-chain amino acids at the time we need it to spark the recovery process and rebuild those muscles immediately. We can use one without the other, but sometimes it’s nice to give our bodies a little help in the breakdown process. 

Does your body need more essential amino acids? Grab ESSENTIAL if you need to add more protein to your diet and REPAIR if you need a little boost in your recovery!