Amino acids refer to the molecular structure consisting of both amine and carboxyl functional groups. Referred to as alpha-amino acids in Biochemistry, typically it is defined with the formula H2NCHRCOOH where R stands for organic substitute. Amino acids can be called as the building blocks of our life.

They get combined in an unlimited number of configurations to construct all the required proteins with which our body is built. There are essentially 20 common amino acids that keep us alive, healthy and energetic. If deficiency occurs in an individual amino acid, it may create serious problem to our health system. The name of these 20 common amino acids is as follows: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalaine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and valine.

Amino acids are the building blocks that make up proteins, and proteins in turn make up the largest part of our body weight second to water. "Non-essential" amino acids can be produced by the body, and "essential" amino acids must come from an outside source such as food or supplementation. Both types of amino acids have indispensable functions within the body.

The two-dozen amino acids present in the human body are among the most potent healing substances ever discovered. Essential amino acids include: Lysine, Valine, Tryptophan, Leucine, Phenylalanine and Methionine. Some non-essential amino acids include Glutamine, Proline, Glycine and Arginine.

Research has shown that Lysine (essential) helps the body to absorb calcium more efficiently. Mild calcium deficiency can cause nerve sensitivity, muscle twitching, irritability, palpitations and insomnia. Signs of severe deficiency include abnormal heartbeat, muscle pains and cramps, numbness, stiffness and tingling of the hands and feet, and depression. Many of these symptoms are associated with the feelings of stress.

Eric R. Braverman, M.D. and Andrew Weil, M.D., both researchers and authors, have described the importance of amino acids and supplementing with these vital building blocks in relation to stress and the physical and emotional consequences of such stress.

For example: Tyrosine, because of its role in assisting the body in coping physiologically with stress and building the body's natural store of adrenaline, is sometimes called the "stress amino acid". Tyrosine helps generate thyroxin (form of thyroid hormone) and melanin (skin pigment), and with B6 works to enhance the function of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland itself is vital to the proper functioning of metabolism.