Amino acids

The concept of amino acids is closely related to proteins, this has led many people to assume that a vegetarian diet may present a shortage of this element, leading us to acquire them from supplementary sources. The truth is that all this is a mistake and could not be further from the truth.

Amino acids are a fundamental element for the maintenance of human life, the functions that they fulfill in our organism are essential, so we depend on them for the correct functioning of our body. Next, we will proceed to explain the fundamental aspects that distinguish them, characteristics and presence of the same ones during the realization of the vegetarian diet.

It is important that we know how to incorporate them through the consumption of foods rich in them, in this way we can enjoy a balanced diet rich in amino acids that will provide us with those elements that will keep us healthy.

What are amino acids?

Amino acids are a series of compounds that when combined form proteins. There are some amino acids that can be synthesized by the body itself, these amino acids are called "non-essential amino acids". On the other hand, others cannot be synthesized by the human body, so they must be acquired externally, these are called "essential amino acids".

A third classification of amino acids groups them into "conditional amino acids". These are essential to combat various ailments and diseases. Regardless of the type of amino acids, all of them are necessary for the organism, which does not mean that each food you eat must have representation of the three, but that through a balanced diet you should try to acquire them equally.

Importance of amino acids: Amino acids are one of the main responsible for the decomposition of the food we eat, when combined they allow the formation of proteins, influence the strengthening of the immune system and work as an accelerator of our metabolism. Amino acids, in turn, are determinant in the production and repair of muscle tissue, in such a way that they favor the growth of our body. They are producers of collagen, which means that they make a very important contribution to our skin and connective tissues.

Consequences of amino acid deficiency: The consequences associated with an amino acid deficiency in the body can be very harmful. They range from serious problems during growth and muscle formation, chronic digestive problems, malnutrition and various malformations in general. You must be careful not to fall in absence of these in your diets, in the case of children, the deficit of these can cause serious problems during their development, being irreversible in many cases. Presence of amino acids in food.

Vegetarian diet: Amino acids are present in different foods. Meat, eggs, fish and dairy products are very rich in amino acids. Legumes and nuts also function as natural sources of amino acids. That said, you will notice that the vegetarian diet does not present any problem to maintain a diet rich in amino acids, just consume more than 100 grams of legumes, a few nuts or some soybeans to meet your daily amino acid requirements.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the vegetarian diet is permissive towards the consumption of eggs and dairy products, so it will be easy to combine your diet with these elements to make it varied and equally nutritious. Consuming an egg at breakfast and half a glass of milk is more than enough to get all the amino acids you need. The options are very varied, so we can state without any doubt that the vegetarian diet is rich and varied in its sources of amino acids.