Amino acids are actually just protein but in a form that our bodies can use. Your body is like its own processing plant that takes in raw materials and transforms these materials into usable forms.
Because our bodies are made up of fats, carbohydrates and protein, we need to keep replacing them by eating those types of foods which are all readily available from meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and dairy…which is just about all the food we ever need to survive and survive well.
When you eat fats, proteins and carbohydrates these large molecule foods need help from your body if it is to absorb nutrients contained within that food. Before it can do this your stomach needs to break these foods down into much smaller units through a process called digestion.
Digestion causes fats to be broken down into fatty acids; carbohydrates break down into smaller glucose molecules and protein breaks down to amino acids. Because each food type is different, they all have their own specific enzyme to help make this digestion successful. Protein requires the enzyme called “protease” to help break it down into amino acids.
But like anything else, all proteins are not created equal. There are 10 different amino acids that our bodies can produce by itself. The other 10 need to be supplied by the foods we eat. (These are called “essential amino acids“). Sometimes it can be unclear as to what are essential and non-essential amino acids because some acids can be used to make other amino acids.
The quality of that protein, let alone all food, will determine the amount of amino acids available to be supplied to your precious body. When a protein can supply all of the essential amino acids that your body needs and in the right proportions, then it is called a “complete protein”. As per Wikipedia, there are 9 amino acids that you need to supply your body with.