Are you an optimist, or a pessimist? Do you ever make bad decisions? The level of dopamine—created from the amino acid phenylalanine—in your brain could be influencing your ability to make good decisions. A recent interesting study from University College London investigated whether high levels of dopamine makes us unrealistically optimistic. Have you ever purchased […]

The next time you’re feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, consider adding L-glycine to your diet. A non-essential amino acid found predominantly in proteins, L-glycine is created in the body from another amino acid, serine. L-glycine has a variety of functions, such as protein production and as an inhibitory neurotransmitter.  It is because of the […]

Valine was discovered in 1901 by a German scientist named Emil Fischer. It is known as a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) along with leucine and isoleucine, and is one of 10 essential amino acids that our bodies require. Although our bodies are not able to synthesize valine, we are able to get our daily recommended […]

Carnitine is an essential amino acid, while carnosine is a non-essential amino acid. The term “essential” simply means that it is required through diet (by eating foods that have or produce carnitine) to obtain the amino acid, whereas non-essential means that your body can make the amino acid carnosine on its own. Carnitine vs carnosine […]