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Essential amino acids and essential fatty acids


Gurumanickam

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Out of the 20-odd amino acids that are required by the the body to make proteins, it is said that 9 amino acids are not synthesised by the body. So it is emphasized that these 9 amino acids must be compulsorily ingested from the food only, so that body is not deprived of them. Hence they are called essential amino acids.

 

My question is how and when we learnt that they are not synthesized by the body? What if some people are capable of synthesizing them in their body? How are we so sure?

 

The same goes for the essential fatty acids also.

 

I would like to know about the study/studies which concluded that they (9 essential amino acids and essential fatty acids) are really not synthesized in the body.

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William Cumming Rose, through experiments on selectively feeding rats, initially determined what was essential for them by noting their physiological progress with and without various aminos. This was then extended to humans. If a subject suffered in the absence of an amino it was clear that they were not making it themselves whereas others, when they were deprived, did not suffer negative effects. I think that's the basic idea.

Edited by StringJunky
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Thanks for the reply. This knowledge is at least 70 years old now. Were there any follow up research to Rose's?

 

How could a theory conducted on a homogenous group of students be extended to the whole human kind?

 

We have seen many a theory biting the dust like Koch's postulates in critical science. What negates an alternative theory which presumes that humans indeed are capable of synthesizing those essential amino acids?

 

Isn't it necessary that we need to have more scientific proofs for such conclusions. Perhaps we need to overhaul the list by revisiting them.

 

Are there any such studies currently on?

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Thanks for the reply. This knowledge is at least 70 years old now. Were there any follow up research to Rose's?

 

How could a theory conducted on a homogenous group of students be extended to the whole human kind?

 

We have seen many a theory biting the dust like Koch's postulates in critical science. What negates an alternative theory which presumes that humans indeed are capable of synthesizing those essential amino acids?

 

Isn't it necessary that we need to have more scientific proofs for such conclusions. Perhaps we need to overhaul the list by revisiting them.

 

Are there any such studies currently on?

That was the pioneering research, there will be many other experiments that will have confirmed/refined those original findings.

 

Here's a post on Quora by a molecular biologist on why we can't make the nine essentials.

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