The Hidden Power Of Amino Acids
What Are Amino Acids?
Free form amino acids are the basis of the Nutraceuticals found in the Vaxa Product Line. Remember, they are considered the first and most fundamental Biofactor of all life. So, let us turn our attention to the understanding of what amino acids really are and what they have to do with the health and welfare of our body and mind. As we do so, we will learn that amino acids are of treasured importance to our general health and overall welfare. We will learn how powerful these substances actually are, and how without them, life as we know it could not exist.
The Body’s Dependence on Amino Acids
Amino acids are the most important chemical substances known to life - and, indeed, they are the most abundant. Our body has about 20 times more amino acids than vitamins (which are in fact particular complex forms of amino acids) and approximately 4 times more amino acids than minerals. Amino acids are usually found attached and configured with one another. Joined together like this, they are called proteins; in fact, amino acids are the essential building blocks of proteins. As proteins, they constitute as much as three quarters of our body mass, with the exclusion of water.
The pattern of their configuration, i.e., the sequence in which they are arranged, yield a variety of different patterns and structures for some 50,000 different protein-parts of the body. Without amino acids, and all that they do, we simply could not live. Thus, amino acids are life sustaining; their supplementation is generally nontoxic, being less harmful than vitamins. They are a fundamental food, substances on which all common foods are made, and on which all life relies.
Amino Acids are vital to our HEALTH AND WELFARE. Either in their free form (singlets) or in small single-trained peptide chains (couplets), they are the critical substances which govern all life, being the fundamental constituent of all life. They are the crucial substances which allow us to function and exist. In fact, AMINO ACIDS will be to the HEALTH INDUSTRY what the “COMPUTER CHIP” was to the ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY. AMINO ACIDS are just that IMPORTANT AND REVOLUTIONARY.
Amino acid based supplements, the most powerful natural substances known to life, help promote what is being hailed within the scientific community as the greatest health advantage of our century. And we, here at Vaxa, are proud to play a part, if not help lead, in this activity.
Thankfully, today, because of advanced research and technologies, amino acids are cost effective to produce for the general public. But just 25 years ago, a small 150 cc bottle (about ½ cup) of an amino acid cost as much as $20,000.00. Because they were so extremely expensive, no one could afford to use them in research, or even begin to understand how powerful they really were, much less supplement their diet with them. Yet now, thanks to recent breakthroughs in manufacturing techniques, all of that has changed. Research has demonstrated how powerfully effective they are in governing the body’s welfare. And, like the “computer chip,” amino acids are finally inexpensive enough for the public to buy.
Also like the “computer chip,” the effectiveness of amino acids will be common knowledge and commonly used IN EVERY HOUSEHOLD IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD. Because of their superior safety and potency, their use will be more common than vitamins and effectively compete with many over-the-counter pharmaceutical remedies for a host of common ailments. So, let us see what all this excitement is about.
For years, the “switching mechanisms” that control brain function have not been known, or at most, poorly understood. Research efforts were directed to other endeavors. And generally, there wasn’t much interest among scientists to explore the area in a more determined manner. Lacking information, all sorts of erroneous ideas were pontificated about how the brain really worked. Most theories were grossly wrong.
Despite what common sense would dictate, it was generally assumed that the brain was relatively unaffected by nutrition and subsequent biochemical reactions. It was widely thought that the brain was an organ isolated from the body’s chemistry, and that little could be done to reprogram it. Thankfully, the leading edge of recent research has conclusively demonstrated this to be false.
Indeed, studies in Neuropsychology, as well as Orthomolecular Clinical Psychology, have shown that the brain is not isolated from the rest of the body, that brain function can be modified by a number of techniques, and further, is constantly being altered by its internal and external environments. Most importantly, we now know that specific dietary input can change specific brain function. This means that it is possible to reprogram brain function by the specific foods we choose or do not choose to eat.
The greatest power of change has been found possible through the addition of nontoxic, concentrated free form amino acid supplements to our diet. This has been shown to be more effective than simply changing the kinds of food we eat; simply correcting dietary deficiencies proved practically ineffective in securing immediate results. Through correct amino acid supplementation, we can change the way our mind works, and consequently, affect our body’s metabolism. This is indeed exciting.
Amino acids direct and allow the growth and reproduction of bone and tissue throughout the body. They control pathways which allow growth hormones to be released, allowing us to keep our youthful figures, remain muscularly toned, and keep us looking young. They expedite and ensure natural healing processes as well as regulate and enhance our sexualities. Amino acids are the primary substance of all genetic material, their existence being necessary for cell division, duplication and reproduction. They are the primary constituent of our muscle, our hair, our skin and literally every fiber of our body. They aid in the feeling of well-being, stabilize mood fluctuations and even make possible the inhibition of pain. They are intimately involved in whether we feel hungry or not, sleepy or not, sad or not.
Amino acids are also intimately involved in the metabolism of hormones and hormone excretion. Their presence and activity is mandatory for any glandular activity associated with the process of cellular rejuvenation. In their proper proportions, they allow youth to be prolonged. When the correct amino acids are not present, cells die and are not replenished. For you see, a poverty of amino acids is never tolerated long by the body; there are always consequences.
Unavoidably, the Immune System becomes compromised, and then aging is accelerated. Indeed, without the necessary amino acids, life cannot reproduce itself and grinds to a halt. Consequently, we become older before our time. Indubitably, if correction is not made, life fails. Without an abundant supply of amino acids, life simply cannot support itself. It’s easy to see, therefore, that procuring the necessary amino acids is an essential and indispensable prerequisite for good health and sustained beauty. Nothing can take their place.
The Effects of Amino Acid Deprivation
With increasing age, the process of obtaining the necessary number and weighted configuration of amino acids becomes a rather circular and frustrating problem. You see, not only does the body need a specific number of amino acids to make proteins, but it also needs the necessary amino acids to make the digestive enzymes which break down the proteins into the substances that it needs to rebuild itself, namely, more amino acids. Deadly competition ensues.
When there are insufficient correctly configured amino acids available, then normal protein metabolism and digestion is inhibited. Amino acids cannot be released from their bonds. As we become older, a quickening poverty of naturally configured amino acids is experienced. Such a scarcity begins to breed a multitude of problems. When they are not sufficient in number, major disruption of the body’s welfare becomes imminent. Specific brain switches cannot be thrown, superordinate (master) biochemical pathways cannot be initiated, and the body cannot help but embark on a pathway of accelerated aging.
What results is a general dampening, a losing of interest, of the immediacy and intimacy of life. The doldrums set in. We’re not as sharp as we used to be, life seems to begin to slip away from us, little hassles begin occurring more frequently and become annoyingly compounded. We don’t seem to sleep as well as we used to. We find ourselves becoming more easily upset at life’s little problems and we can’t handle things as well as we used to. We are more easily frustrated and there is a general feeling that we’re not the person we used to be.
Our youth seems further and further away than it should. We feel that we are losing command in subtle ways - ways that we can’t quite put our fingers on. We don’t seem to be able to concentrate like we used to. Things are more of a chore than they should be. And, sometimes, we are surprised as to how little we care about things anymore; we are surprised at how apathetic we are becoming. We may even become more easily unhappy, or susceptible to longer periods of sadness. And there are other changes. Our digestion becomes sluggish and uncomfortable. Our taste for food becomes dulled. Healing of wounds becomes slower. Our eyes lack the luster they once had. Our nails are more brittle. Our skin begins to dry out much more quickly. Sound familiar?
Now, don’t be mistaken. This is not just growing older, although this is usually how such symptomology is traditionally defined. Becoming older doesn’t mean that we have to physically fall apart at an accelerated rate. Nor does it mean a diminishing interest in life. It doesn’t mean that the exciting days of our youth are over or that “the best years of our life” are gone forever. No, not at all. Each day of our life has the potential of becoming better. In reality, the best days of our life are yet to happen.
Therefore, if you’re one who is plagued by the general dampening of life’s interests, it may not be due to an irreversible disease called growing older, but rather a handicapped biochemistry. Your eight-cylinder engine is probably running on only five cylinders. You may very well be experiencing a lack of amino acids in your life. Without these very special molecules, much of life’s excitement and beauty become dulled because our sensitivity to these things is slowly eroded. The psycho-biochemical mechanisms which allow such excitement and immediacy to be experienced, barely function in a chemical environment depleted of unattached, free form amino acids. Without these uniquely special, un-substitutable ingredients, you will become older faster, before your time.
The Hidden Role of Amino Acids
The brain, the most important organ of our body, ultimately controls every known biochemical pathway throughout the body, including the processes of aging and beauty. The brain contains as many as 100 billion nerves or neurons. These nerve cells interconnect with each other in an overwhelming melange numbering one quadrillion, and possibly more, as per our best estimates. Through many complicated steps, the brain sends complex messages and instructions to various parts of our body. These messages are chemical in nature and are called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit or send neuro-signals, or nerve impulses (hence: neuro-transmitter). They are chemical switches which actually turn on and turn off functions of the body, speed up or slow down biological processes, and govern the natural well-being of the body, all from within the brain itself.
Neurotransmitters then are actually chemicals, and they accumulate at the tip of each nerve cell. When instructed, these microscopic chemical sacs release their contents into the area between nerve cells working in a lock and key type of fashion. Enzymes (made from amino acids) in the area are also required to neutralize as well as catalyze neurotransmitter activity. The action caused by such neuro-biochemical action may ultimately give instructions for a muscle to contract, a gland to release its contents, or simply carry the message on to another nerve for further processing.
Neurotransmitters carry very specific instructions. Some promote feelings of thirst, hunger and satiety, whereas others promote those of sleepiness, alertness, anger and anxiety. Still others are known to be largely responsible for sexual interest, feelings of well-being and even euphoria. Many neurotransmitters have multiple purposes and function differently, yet specifically, when used in combination with each other. They are the chemical controlling agents of the body.
So, where do amino acids come into all of this? Well, amino acids are either THE neurotransmitters themselves, or are essential precursors (building blocks) to other neurotransmitters (i.e., they are an essential part of the biochemical pathways that manufacture neurotransmitters). Amino acids are indispensable. They allow our brains to both send and receive messages. Furthermore, amino acids must be present and in sufficient number throughout the entire central nervous system or messages cannot be communicated. The consequences of this cannot be overstated.
The body has no other way of communicating with itself than through neurotransmission. If the telephone lines are down, no one can talk to anyone else. Without an adequate supply of amino acids, nothing can be transmitted, no intracellular instruction can take place. One cell, or organ, becomes neurologically isolated from another. Messages which would normally prompt cellular rejuvenation are never sent. Consequently, cells grow old, becoming tired and worn, losing their natural healthiness.
Sources of Amino Acids
The body requires approximately twenty-two amino acids to fulfill our metabolic needs. Of these twenty-two, all but eight of them can normally be produced by our own biochemistry via the ongoing decomposition and synthesis of cellular body protein. These eight amino acids are called the essential amino acids because if they are not present nor in the right proportion, then normal protein synthesis is retarded or disastrously stops altogether.
Actually, recent research has revealed that all twenty-two amino acids are basically essential for health, but the Special Eight are thought to be particularly essential in that the body cannot possibly produce them from its own resources. Again, these eight essential amino acids cannot be manufactured within the body and must be acquired through diet. The sensitivity of protein metabolism and synthesis is such that if only one essential amino acid is absent, then the whole system falls apart. In order for the body to correctly synthesize protein, all the essential amino acids must be present.
Traditionally, we have believed that by simply including enough protein in our diet, the necessary amino acids would be supplied. After all, we have reasoned, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and by digesting, as well as re-configuring, other body protein, this should supply us with the pool of amino acids needed. However, recent research has found this to be false. Correcting dietary insufficiencies in and of itself will not correct amino acid deprivation. Even though food protein inherently contains all the amino acids required by the body, nutritional protein has to be broken down into its constituent parts before the body can make use of the materials.
Therefore, eating sufficient protein is not in itself a guarantee that the necessary amino acids will be supplied. Even though amino acids are the substances of which proteins are made, no matter how much protein we consume, the biological availability cannot be assured. This is extremely important to understand. Namely, that protein, be it sourced from food or cellular body protein, must be completely broken down into its constituent parts before it is of any use and value.
What this means is that as long as amino acids are coupled together with other molecules, they cannot be used to “turn on” and turn off the body’s switches. Amino acids must be found alone, or unattached to other substances, or in what we call free form (singlets) in order to be useful to the body. Yet another form of amino acids which is easily used by the body is that which herbal extracts often offer, namely amino acids in their short-chained form of 2-10 amino acids chained together (couplets).
Yet, all metabolic processes especially need the free form, unattached and uncoupled, amino acids, not protein, to function correctly. And as we have mentioned previously, no matter how much protein we consume, this in itself does not guarantee the biological availability of free, unattached amino acids (singlets). Protein has to be broken down completely to be of any value to the body’s metabolic needs.
And there is a further catch: there are no natural foods that supply amino acids in this separate and single form, absolutely none. Remember, amino acids are usually bound together and attached in large molecules called proteins. Nature supplies only one way to provide free form amino acids, that being the digestion and metabolism of protein within our very own bodies. If this process is in any way disrupted or inhibited, then the body will slowly deteriorate.
Again, the body’s requirements need a supply of unattached, free form amino acids to sustain health and youth. Nothing else will do. Emphatically, without amino acids configured in their free form, the body cannot function properly. Superordinate (master) biochemical pathways will become crippled because of the lack of free form amino acids in your system.
Problems in Assimilating Amino Acids
The process of healthy protein metabolism and digestion is to purposely break apart the bonds of protein molecules, releasing free form amino acids into the body to be used where and when needed. Normally, when in the natural process of transition from being a part of different proteins, amino acids act as “switches” for important, if not master, chemical pathways, turning them on and turning them off. And then, immediately after use, these free form amino acids are reabsorbed by recombinant genetic structures constantly being rearranged to make the “stuff” of which physical life is made.
This process works fine in our youth, but as we age, the natural ways of building up and breaking down of life’s materials are agitated. The orchestrated balance is disturbed. Although a healthy body is normally breaking down proteins into separate amino acids and then reassembling them into other needed protein structures, eventually this homeostasis is disrupted. The older we become, the more accelerated the process of breaking down cellular protein begins to exceed the constructive process of building up. Biochemical pathways become sluggish and untuned, not responding in harmony. Pathways which are specifically used to release amino acids from their bonds become unexercised and lack youthful rhythm, finally stalling altogether.
Free form amino acids then become more scarce with increasing years. When in short supply, any free form amino acids present within the body’s environment are quickly reattached to other proteins, too quickly to be used by other needy pathways. As we have learned, without the presence of free form amino acids, critical brain “switches” cannot then be thrown and important directions and biochemical messages are never sent to important parts of the body.
The lack of free form amino acids actually retards the healthiness and constructive rebuilding of the body. Without them, superordinate pathways (i.e., master or governing pathways) are rarely initiated. Normal processes are circumvented as the body begins to conserve for just the essential, lower-order, life-preserving pathways. Accordingly, higher order functions, i.e., life-enhancing functions, are not served.
As we become older, normal protein synthesis and metabolism is inhibited by a number of things, including poor diet, erratic patterns of sleep, unresolved stress, lack of exercise, developed food allergies, even environmental pollution. All of these problems can, and usually do, disturb digestive and metabolic processes. When the uncoupling of amino acids is inhibited, then the life-preserving free form amino acid, the fundamental ingredient of health and beauty, will not be found.
These problems become additive, one problem causing a host of others, each feeding on itself in a downward spiraling path of body decay and destruction, resulting in premature aging. In fact, there are a number of specific problems that can and usually do create difficulties, all of which could interfere with the process of separating one amino acid from another in a protein molecule.
For example:
- A general depletion or poverty of free form amino acids in the internal environment becomes a competitive event which discourages further oxidation (breaking down) of protein structures to take place.
- Because of increased competition, amino acid based enzymes cannot be synthesized or formed; without their presence the breaking down of protein is further retarded.
- Molecular sites then become preoccupied with free radicals (bits and pieces of broken molecules) retarding the cyclic reconstructive process from performing efficiently.
- With such increased competition for molecular building and transfer sites, fewer free form amino acids are able to pass through the semipermeable membrane (the brain-blood barrier) into the brain to act as the crucial “switches” that govern master biochemical pathways, like those that regulate the process of digestion.
- This impediment causes further allergic reactions to food, further interfering with normal protein digestion, while also further muddling molecular synthesis sites from being used efficiently, exacerbating the delayed release of free form amino acids within the body’s environment.
See how circular and multifaceted the problem becomes? And that’s not all. The results of poor digestion (i.e., the incomplete breakdown of food protein) in turn causes the dangerous formation of partial protein molecules called “free peptides.” These peptides are generally unusable substances which are treated as invaders by our body’s Immune System. These unwanted free peptides are eventually absorbed through the intestinal wall, causing inflammatory responses to specific organs and tissues.
Further, incomplete breakdown of protein also results in toxic putrification within the digestive tract which increasingly interferes with the efficiency of the digestive process. These resulting additively poisonous materials become inhibiting agents to the body which are destructively absorbed through the intestinal walls. In a sense, the body absorbs an invader and its poison, and then has to rid itself of both of them, which it is now hard-pressed to do because of such advanced deterioration.
Then, of course, these problems further compromise the efficiency of the digestive system, as well as inhibiting the normal metabolism and synthesis of cellular protein, making the release, as well as the biological availability, of free form amino acids almost an impossibility. Indeed, their numbers dwindle dramatically and at an alarming rate.
Bioavailability of Amino Acids
Vaxa's Nutraceuticals are free form amino acid based and as such exhibit a number of desirable biochemical properties. By their chemical nature, all free form amino acids, being quite small molecularly, on average exhibiting molecular weights between 75.0 mol.wt. and 200.0 mol.wt., are completely and immediately soluble in water and all organic liquids, and as such are directly absorbed into the body through the epithelial cells of the lining of the small intestine.
Therefore, no further digestion is necessary of any free form amino acid and they generally enter the bloodstream within 5-10 minutes after ingestion. Free form amino acids act as critically essential transfer agents within the gastrointestinal tract as well, selectively transporting needed peptides, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals into the bloodstream directly from the intestines.
So specialized are amino acids, and those other nutrients contained within Vaxa Nutraceuticals as cofactors and synergistic agents, that they are “ferried” across the cell walls of the intestine, and they have free and unencumbered access to the bloodstream. Moreover, free form amino acids have the highest priority regarding competition between other possible nutritional entities of neural switching sites within the body.
There are no natural foods which supply amino acids in their “free” or “uncoupled” form. Absolutely none. No other protein source, be it a predigested or partially broken protein source, can offer amino acids in their “free and unbonded form.” If not supplemented, all amino acids must be derived from food sources and broken down through the process of digestion.
Free form amino acids (as contrasted to those that are configured, or in peptide form, or are so-called predigested” proteins) are the most bioavailable form of pure nutrient known, more easily, efficiently, completely and quickly absorbed by all people no matter their previous health status or age. Only when an amino acid is in its “free” and “unbonded” or “uncoupled” form can it perform the remarkable functions that it does through the body’s biochemistry.
Vaxa's Source of Free Form Amino Acids
All free form amino acids used by Vaxa are pure crystalline, Pharmaceutical Grade and supplied by Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. of Japan - the world’s largest producer of amino acids. Free form amino acids are biologically “farmed” in a number of ways including controlled fermentation, enzymatic reaction, and now, mostly by direct organic synthesis of gene-configured bacteria, some species of which have been further specialized to produce specific amino acids.
All free form amino acids are found in their purified form as a white crystalline powder. Being a crystal, amino acids (by themselves) have a shelf-life of at least 10 years if kept cool and dry. Free form amino acids are generally unpalatable, sour tasting, very pungent, and sharply odoriferous. Although exceptionally powerful in the body, they are not classified as drugs but are considered Nutritional Food Entities/Supplements by the FDA and recently so classified by the United States Congress in the Dietary Supplement Law of November 1994