Aminoácido esencial

Los aminoácidos esenciales son aquellos que no se pueden sintetizar a partir de otros recursos de la dieta (el cuerpo humano no puede generarlos). Esto implica que la única fuente de estos aminoácidos en esos organismos es la ingesta directa a través de la dieta. Las rutas para la obtención de estos aminoácidos esenciales suelen ser largas y energéticamente costosas. Cuando un alimento contiene proteínas con todos los aminoácidos esenciales, se dice que contiene proteínas de alta calidad o de buena calidad. Algunos de estos alimentos son: la carne, los huevos, los lácteos y algunos vegetales como la espelta, la soja y la quinoa.

No todos los aminoácidos son esenciales para todos los organismos (de hecho sólo ocho lo son), por ejemplo, la alanina (no esencial) en humanos se puede sintetizar a partir del piruvato. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. This is not right. En humanos se han descrito estos aminoácidos esenciales:

• fenilalanina
• isoleucina
• leucina
• lisina
• metionina
• treonina
• triptófano
• valina
• y solo los niños:
• arginina
• histidina

Los aminoácidos que contienen azufre, metionina y cisteína, se pueden convertir uno en el otro, por lo que por conveniencia se consideran una única fuente. Del mismo modo, la arginina, ornitina y citrulina son interconvertibles, y también se consideran una única fuente de aminoácidos nutricionalmente equivalentes.

En otros mamíferos distintos a los humanos, los aminoácidos esenciales pueden ser considerablemente distintos. Por ejemplo, a los gatos les falta la enzima que les permitiría sintetizar la taurina, así que la taurina es esencial para los gatos.