Amino Acid Information

Arginine  Carnitine  Creatine  Cysteine  Glutathione  Glycine  Histine
Lysine  Methionine  Ornithine  Phenylalanine  Tyrosine

Arginine
Arginine increases the activity of natural killer cells (a certain type of immune fighter cell crippled by HIV infection). Because one of the ways in which the virus takes control of the immune system is by silencing these killing immune fighters, enhancing their ability to keep on killing would be a great benefit.

Researchers have also noted a deficiency of L-Arginine in some men with low sperm count and sperm motility problems. Researchers could actually cause men with normal sperm count and normal sperm motility to develop sperm count and sperm motility problems just by feeding them a diet low on L-Arginine and restore them just by adding the Amino Acid back into their diets. The enhanced genital blood flow probably facilitate sexual arousal in women, too. Recommendation: Take 3-4 grams daily for at least 3 months to assess your response.

Carnitine
Vital Amino Acid/Coenzyme Involved in Fat Metabolism, Energy Production, and Muscle Utilization Carnitine plays an important role in fat metabolism and energy production. It helps the body convert fat into energy.

Without sufficient Carnitine, the fat molecules are denied entry into the mitochondrial (little powerhouses of chemical activity inside the cells) furnace and return to the blood, causing an increase in triglycerides. Therefore, it is thought that L-Carnitine deficiency might damage the heart because oxidation or burning of fatty acids is a major source of energy for the heart muscle. Vitamin B6 is necessary to convert the amino acids, Lysine and Methionine, into Carnitine.

Acetyl L-Carnitine is better absorbed and more active than plain Carnitine, it can refresh mental energy, improve mood, slow the aging of brain cells and impede the advance of Alzheimer's. By energizing and balancing the central nervous system, it also strengthens our defenses against infections and immune problems.

Deficiency and Excess Signs: fatigue, weariness; poor liver, heart, & kidney function

Creatine
The amino acid Creatine is produced naturally in humans where it is converted to Creatin Phosphate in muscle tissue. Its function is to convert ADP to ATP to replace the ATP consumed during exercise. When the supply of Creatine Phosphate is exhausted, muscle fatigue occurs. Many people are achieving significant benefits by adding Creatine to their daily nutrition regimen.

Improved Performance
Creatine has been shown to extend peak athlete performance for longer periods during high intensity exercise. It helps shorten the time necessary for the body to generate replacement Creatine Phosphate, reducing muscle recovery time between high intensity activities.

Helps Rebuild Lean Muscle Mass
Inactive (dystrophic) muscle has by nature low levels of Creatine. Supplementation with Creatine enables the muscles to work harder during training and therapy to help rebuild itself to its normal state.

Correct Creatine Deficiencies
Disease or age-related Creatine deficiencies in the brain, retina, testes and heart can be improved with the supplementation of Creatine, helping to restore a more active, normal lifestyle.

Cysteine
Cysteine has a two-fold role in HIV. It has been shown to slow down the reproduction of of immunodeficiency viruses in the laboratory and is necessary in staving off attack by free radicals. A deficiency in Cysteine results in  your body not being able to make as much glutathione to protect your tissues from free radicals.

Master Protein Builder & Gut Restorer
From treating intestinal maladies to calming addictive urges, few other substances offer as much nutritional medicine.

To recovery from any of a variety of illnesses and injuries, the body needs certain proteins. No matter which are needed, all can be made with the help of L-Glutamine.

The immune system primary source of energy is Glutamine. The need for fuel skyrockets when we're under stress, subjected to trauma, or injury. Many forms of cancer deplete the body of Glutamine--one reason that people with the disease lose lean tissue and muscle mass. It also shields the liver from chemotherapy's toxic side effects and might strengthen the cancer-killing ability of certain chemotherapy drugs.

It also helps the body create other important nutrients such as glutathione, Glucosamine and Vitamin B.

In human research studies Glutamine appears to blunt the cravings and addictions, such as for alcohol and sugar.

In treating obesity, Glutamine, in addition to preserving lean tissue, which contributes to burning off fat, the amino acid helps cleanse the body and liver of waste products that are created by fat metabolism. It's also a readily available, carbohydrate-free energy source if you drastically cut your calorie consumption.

Recommended Dosage
To stimulate the immune system you'll need 5-20 g daily.
To counteract the desire for alcohol or sugar, 1-3 g daily.  Take it as soon as the urge comes to mind.
To maximize gains from a weight-lifting program take 5 g daily.
As much as 40 g a day have been prescribed for inflammatory bowel disease, leaky gut syndrome, wound healing or recovery from a long hospital stay.  High dosages are very safe and have no side effects.

Glutathione
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)
Just about everyone knows about the antioxidants--at least the ones that mainstream medicine and food manufacturers promote. There's beta-carotene, of course, as well as vitamin C and vitamin E. You obtain them by eating fresh fruit, vegetables, and all of those specially marked fortified foods. Although knowing about the trio is better than nothing, it is nevertheless important to be aware of the other nutrients that populate the antioxidant world. It certainly would be important for the medical mainstream to be aware of them.  One of the best antioxidants is an amino acid called glutathione. I'm not alone in considering it one of the most powerful cancer-curbing, age-slowing nutrients ever discovered. However, because of the way the body metabolizes and manufactures related nutrients, glutathione cannot be discussed apart from N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a form of the amino acid cysteine. NAC raises glutathione levels in the body, something that even oral supplements of glutathione itself cannot do.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF DISEASE RISK
The prevalence of a wide spectrum of illnesses rises and falls directly with the amount of glutathione the body holds. Name a major disease, and chances are that research has determined that a lack of glutathione is one of the causes. People with cancer, for example, usually fare far worse when their glutathione readings are low. Among older people, lower levels are closely associated with greater risks of heart diseases,
diabetes, and arthritis. Conversely, taking NAC supplements corresponds to improvements in blood pressure, body fat, and the cholesterol ratio. Additionally, no other antioxidant works so dramatically to reverse blood clotting inside blood vessels.

AIDS. Glutathione's apparent ability to resuscitate a frail immune system and, at least in the test tube, suppress the HIV virus has attracted the attention of researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and across Europe.  Since people with AIDS have extremely reduced amounts of the nutrient in their bodies, and since glutathione suppresses the HIV virus in test tube studies, a clinical trial was suggested.  The first such study reported that the group with extremely low T helper cell counts who were given 3-8 grams of NAC daily had double the number of two-year survivors as the untreated group. Sadly, the article reported, no companies were willing to fund further trials.

Detoxification. Mainstream medicine acknowledges NAC for one indication: it is the generally accepted treatment for a type of liver failure that sometimes results from acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning. This ability to detoxify some chemicals makes it a lifesaver against certain drug overdoses and toxic metal poisoning.

Heart Disease. NAC is becoming an indispensable heart supplement for reasons entirely separate from glutathione. Perhaps better than any other therapy, nutritional or pharmaceutical, it eliminates the cardiovascular threat posed by lipoprotein(a), a product of cholesterol metabolism recognized only within  the last few years as an independent risk factor in heart diseases. In doses of 2-4 grams a day, NAC brings lipoprotein(a) down to a less threatening level. Traditional medicine has yet to introduce a treatment for dealing with this hazard.
NAC reduces hypertension by relaxing blood vessels and improving blood flow. It might also be useful in treating congestive heart failure. It works well in conjunction with the heart drug nitroglycerin; the combination opens up the blood vessels three times greater.  During the initial treatment of an evolving heart attack, Australian cardiologists have discovered quite recently that a dose as high as 15 grams allows more of the heart muscle to remain intact than was the case in those who were not treated.

Breathing Problems. NAC helps you cope with respiratory impairments in several ways. Conventional medicine uses it widely in inhalants to ward off asthma attacks.  It's effective against simple colds and bronchial infections, too, complementing vitamin C by working to break up mucus. In a dosage of 1.8 grams a day, NAC was shown to help people with pulmonary fibrosis. And it may prove to be the treatment of choice in the often fatal adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Colitis. The colon tissues of Crohn's and ulcerative colitis patients are depleted in glutathione, proportionately to the severity of the condition. 

Women's Hair Loss.   One of the consequences of the nation's low-fat obsession is a lack of sulfur, and one of the consequences of a sulfur insufficiency, particularly for women, is hair loss. NAC is one of the best of a short list of sulfur-containing supplements, and dosages as high as 5 grams per day can stop hair from falling out. Sometimes the hair may even grow back. Eating more eggs and meat, our best food sources of sulfur, is also effective. Remember, however, that the nutrient may help only when the hair loss originates with a sulfur deficiency.  Supplements won't affect male pattern baldness.

SUPPLEMENT SUGGESTIONS
Researchers aren't asking whether we should try to raise our glutathione levels. We certainly should, because most of us, especially as we age, don't have as much as we need for optimum health. The more difficult question is how best to raise the concentration of glutathione in our tissues. The nutrient is abundantly available from fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats. In general, however, we don't eat enough of the right foods to make an appreciable difference. The body also manufactures it from a handful of nutritional building blocks, namely the amino acids cysteine, glycine, and glutamic acid, plus selenium and vitamins B2, and B6. The trick is to use all these building blocks, because consuming more glutathione may not be the answer. Scientists disagree whether or not glutathione-rich foods and glutathione supplements actually elevate the
level found in blood. Some test results failed to show any impact from doses as high as 3 grams, while other research concludes that the body does absorb the antioxidant. What accounts for the difference? Success, hinges on the method of supplementation.
It's quite possible glutathione capsules alone may be futile. The nutrient has a short shelf life and begins to lose its antioxidant ability when exposed to air. That which remains active at the time we swallow it would be broken down by the digestive system into its individual proteins before it could be absorbed intact. The most practical and reliable way to obtain the antioxidant is through supplements of its building blocks. A formula for an adult who is at high risk for recurrent cancer, because I consider it an absolute mandate to provide the full spectrum of antioxidant nutrition for such people. In addition to the "traditional" antioxidants, natural carotenoids, selenium, tocopherols and tocotrienols, vitamin C, and assorted flavonoids (Pycnogenol, grape seeds, bilberry, and turmeric are all glutathione boosters), try to create an optimal blood level of glutathione. Its a good idea to reply on the following supportive nutrients: NAC 3,000 mg, lipoic acid 300 mg, selenium300 mcg,  riboflavin 100 mg, pyridoxine 200 mg and L-glutamine 3,000 mg.
The dosage is usually divided into three equal portions and taken near meals. For those with less urgent conditions, the dosage is one-third or one-half; in treating advancing cancer, consider doubling the dosage.

Glycine
 

Histine
 

Lysine
Although best known as a very effective herpes treatment, Lysine is no single purpose supplement.

Deserves recognition for its help in preventing osteoporosis and cataracts, preserving muscle tissue and helps you in recuperating from stress. In addition, it maintains energy levels and keeps the heart strong by providing the ingredients to make the amino acid Carnitine.

Lysine is one the essential amino acids that the body cannot make on its own, but most people obtain it from consuming animal proteins in meats. Therefore vegetarians and low-fat dieters may not get enough.

Cooking a protein food along with sugar and the process of milling (processed foods) destroys Lysine.

Lysine has been used by many cold sore sufferers for years as a treatment to prevent recurrences. It reduces both the number of number of outbreaks as well as lessen their severity in some people.

It becomes an ally with Arginine in strengthening our immune system. With proline and Vitamin C, it may reverse the artery-blocking effects of lipoprotein, thus helping in treating heart disease.

When used as a preventive treatment, you should avoid nuts, chocolate, seeds, cereal grains, gelatin, carob, and raisins and eat more meat, milk, fish, chicken, beans, eggs, and Brewer's Yeast.

Methionine
 

Ornithine
 

Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine (PA) is the primary building block for neurotransmitters that promote alertness, a positive disposition, and, perhaps, pain relief. According to several comparative studies, imipramine, one of the major antidepressant drugs, isn't as effective as PA.

A fair amount of research backs the use of PA to alleviate arthritis aches, back pain and menstrual cramps. It slows down the body's breakdown of endorphins and other natural painkillers, so their effect will last longer.

Some studies have concluded that L-Phenylalanine can promote skin repigmentation, helping to diminish the blotches caused by vitiligo.

Recommended Dosage
To overcome lethargy, depression, fatigue, pain or to suppress appetite, try taking 250-1000mg before mealtime. If you don't notice a difference, match the dosage with Tyrosine before concluding that it doesn't work for you.
Note that PA is capable of raising blood pressure or pulse rate.

Tyrosine
This amino acid works better than the majority of antidepressant drugs, costs less and helps all of us think better when we're under stress.

Our reserves of the neurotransmitters that allow us to fend off stress, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, depend on Tyrosine. It also supplies a message-relaying brain chemical, L-dopa, whose deficiency is associated with Parkinson's disease.
Recommended Dosage
For the millions of people who are not clinical cases of depressive illness yet experience fatigue and melancholy as everyday symptoms, 1000-2000mg daily is a reliable treatment. Higher doses should be given under a doctor's observation because it may increase blood pressure or pulse. It's best to take Tyrosine on an empty stomach, along with some Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C.