You have likely heard of branched-chain amino acids being manufactured in sports nutrition products such as preworkouts and postworkouts. But did you know that there are other types of amino acids that may benefit overall health? Read on to learn how you can help customers improve their wellness with your next dietary supplement.
What are amino acids?
As described by Mark Becker in Vitamin Retailer, amino acids are compounds that combine to make proteins. When a person eats food that contains protein, their digestive system breaks that protein down into amino acids, utilizing those amino acids to carry out different responsibilities throughout the body.
Why does the body need amino acids?
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein—more like the building blocks of life. They cause chemical reactions, build neurons, connective tissues, and neurotransmitters in the brain, transport nutrients, and support overall health. A deficiency in amino acids can lead to decreased immune system function, decreased mental clarity, delayed development in children, digestive issues, depression, and many other complications. Any which way you cut it, amino acids are 100% needed for human health to thrive, as they are used in nearly every system throughout the body?
What kinds of supplements are manufactured with amino acids?
Makers Nutrition has serviced countless vitamins and dietary supplements with a variety of amino acids. Clients have created products for working out, combining amino acids with electrolytes, products for muscle growth, and products for blood sugar management.
Types of Amino Acids
Essential: There are nine essential amino acids, which the body cannot produce on its own. The amino acids must be consumed through food and/or supplementation. These essential amino acids are histidine, Isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Here’s a bit about each.
- Histidine: helps blood cell production and tissue repair. The body metabolizes histidine into histamine, which is vital to the immune system, digestion, and reproductive health.
- Isoleucine: important to blood sugar moderation, energy levels, and immune health.
- Leucine: supports growth and repair of muscles and bones and helps wound healing.
- Lysine: aids in bone strength maintenance, injury recovery, and the regulation of enzymes and antibodies. It might also have antiviral properties.
- Methionine: in combination with nonessential amino acid cysteine, methionine works to keep skin, hair, and nails healthy. It also supports the proper absorption of zinc and selenium, as well as the removal of heavy metals, such as mercury and lead.
- Phenylalanine: promotes the body’s use of enzymes and proteins. The body converts phenylalanine to tyrosine, an amino acid required for specific brain function and important to the synthesis of some hormones.
- Threonine: needed for strong teeth and skin and helps metabolize fat. It also shows some promising effects for individuals with depression, anxiety, and indigestion.
- Tryptophan: necessary for proper growth in infants and a precursor of melatonin and serotonin, which respectively regulate sleep, mood, pain, and appetite.
- Valine: crucial for mental focus, valine also helps muscle coordination and the stabilization of emotions. Today, it is used in dietary supplements for tissue repair, muscle growth, and energy promotion.
Nonessential: the body naturally produces these amino acids, so your customers do not need to rely on food or supplementation for them. These include, but are not limited to alanine, asparagine, and glutamic acid.
Conditional: these amino acids are produced only under specific circumstances, particularly when the body is dealing with stress or illness. Conditional amino acids include arginine, cysteine (as mentioned above), glycine, ornithine, and serine.
Areas of Health Your Brand Can Target
Amino acids are important to many different regions of the mind and body. Here are a few to help guide the next amino acid supplement you manufacture with Makers Nutrition.
- Digestive Health: while histamine helps the digestive system, L-glutamine is also beneficial to the body in supporting intestinal health. L-glutamine can help people with IBS, as tissues found in the intestine use L-glutamine as a fuel source to function optimally.
- Sleep Support: Amino acids like histidine and tryptophan plays a big part in helping people get to sleep easier, which is critical to overall wellness. Without sleep, our bodies are out of tune, and nothing can work as it should.
- Weight Management: Two major amino acids to note here are threonine for metabolizing fat, and methionine for detoxification.
- Mood Regulation: Tryptophan here again—this essential amino acid produces serotonin, which keeps your customers feeling happy. However, if something is off-balance, they might need supplemental tryptophan to promote the smile factor.
Amino Acid Possibilities
These are just four specific areas on which your private label brand can focus with an amino acid-rich dietary supplement. While Makers Nutrition adheres to strict Quality Control procedures, we know that no matter how beneficial supplement ingredients may be, people have conditions that go beyond supplemental intervention. Therefore, we suggest you list on your label something along the lines of “consult a doctor before taking this or any dietary supplement.” It is important your customers consult with a licensed physician prior to take a product that may negatively affect their health.
Amino Acids for Better Wellness
The gears should be turning for what your private label supplement brand can offer—for both those who currently take vitamins and dietary supplements, and those who have yet to experience their advantages. The body’s systems work in unison, and if your customers eat a balanced diet, and take supplements that offer what they need, then they are that much closer to better wellness altogether.
Best Private Label Nutraceutical Supplement Manufacturer
If you are already partnered with a service provider, we strongly encourage you to dig a little deeper and research the company manufacturing your supplements and vitamins. With competition so high in the nutraceutical industry, it’s not unusual to find a supplement manufacturing company posing with credentials that simply aren’t valid.
Makers Nutrition, on the other hand, is voluntarily audited twice annually to ensure we are maintaining the safest, most qualified modes of production. Unlike other supplement manufacturers, we ensure that everything is handled under one roof in a way that not only meets but exceeds your high standards. You can visit this link to learn more about our qualifications, certifications, and awards.
Client Care and Custom Supplement Manufacturing
Our Product Specialists are knowledgeable and well-trained to assist in all your supplement manufacturing needs. While every employee at Makers Nutrition prioritizes client care, your Product Specialist and Account Manager are the representatives who will be walking you through the process step by step. Unlike custom supplement manufacturers who leave you in the dark, we don’t play the guessing game. You know at which point in the process your product is at all times. We address your questions about MOQs, our capabilities, and shipping options as soon as we can. Want a quote? Our goal is to overwhelm you with outstanding client support, so your supplement business has its best chance at success. Makers Nutrition handles all the headaches before they happen. If you want to be one step ahead of other private label brands, then choose the team that has your back.
Sources
- Becker, Mark. “Amino Acids: Critical For Overall Health.” Vitamin Retailer, Dec. 2021, pp.36-37.
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/essential-amino-acids