Essential Amino Acids

Essential Amino Acids

The human body requires 20 amino acids to function properly. However, the body can synthesize only 12 of them. Therefore, the other 8 have to be supplied from food sources. These 8 amino acids are called "essential or indispensable amino acids." They have to be in balance, or the body cannot function normally.

The essential amino acids are the following:

1. Isoleucine 5. Methionine 2. Threonine 6. Leucine 3. Lysine 7. Tryptophan 4. Phenylalanine 8. Valine

The most important characteristic of the essential amino acids is that the quantity among them has to be in balance and proportionate. If one of them is in deficiency, the growth of the human body will be restricted.

There other 12 amino acids are called "non-essential amino acids": – Alanine, Serine, Glycine, Proline, Arginine, Tyrosine, Crystine,    Histidine, Ornithine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Taurine. Cryptomonadales contain high-biological value protein with a superior "complete" amino acid profile. It contains all 8 essential amino acids plus an additional 12 non-essential amino acids. These proteins are non-mucous forming and non-acid forming.

Lipid content in the plasma membrane of Cryptomonadales

Human cell membranes contain unsaturated fatty acids such as linolic acid, glycerin, and the compound of phosphoric acid and cholin. All this compounds are essential components of the cell membranes and nucleus membranes of human cells.

Balance of membrane lipids

Cryptomonadales has high amount of membrane lipids. Membrane lipids are made up of 50% phospholipids, 25% cholesterol lipids and 25% glycolipids. These three kinds of lipids always remain in the same proportion (50-25-25). Neutral fat, made of glycerin with three saturated fatty acids to form an ester, it not good for human's health. But membrane lipids are different. They are composed of glycerin with one saturated fatty acid and one unsaturated fatty acid. In the body this unsaturated fatty acid will convert into linoleic acid. Unsaturated fatty acids as found in olive oil or peanut oil are monovalent unsaturated fatty acids (such as olein). But the unsaturated fatty acids associated with membrane lipids are polyvalent unsaturated fatty acids. Peanut oil and coconut oil contain monovalent unsaturated fatty acids, which lack membrane lipids. They do nothing to decrease cholesterol in the blood, and will also cause damage to the cell membrane. Therefore the monovalent unsaturated fatty acids can cause unbalance membrane lipids.

Unsaturated Essential fatty Acids

When membrane lipids form the cell membrane, fatty acids will align into two layers. In between and surrounding areas are filled with protein molecules. If the membrane lipids are composed of saturated fatty acids the alignment will be too tight and there will be no interstice in the cell membrane for transportation of any substance. But if the membrane lipids contain unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acids, then part of the membrane will relax, meaning there will be some small openings for the substance to flow through. The human body cannot produce such kind of unsaturated fatty acid and therefore requires its provision from the food intake. This called unsaturated essential fatty acid is also referred to as vitamin F. According to nutritional concepts, these kind of essential fatty acids are emphasized to maintain good health. But more important is the balance between such fatty acids. Above all, if the ration is not well maintained, a person will not possess good health. The lipids of Cryptomonadales consist entirely of membrane lipids. Therefore, when Cryptomonadales is part of a person's nutrition, he will keep a good balance of membrane lipids and thus maintaining a healthy body.