THE HUMAN QUESTION #2971
What are amino acids used for in the human body?
Building stones in proteins
Explanation
Amino acids are chemical molecules containing at least one amine group and one acid group. One particularly important function of theirs is to serve as the building blocks of proteins. Out of 20 biologically active amino acids, the body can produce 12 itself. The other 8 are called "essential" for humans because they cannot be created from other compounds by the human body, and so must be taken in as food. Isloeucin, one of the eight, is found e.g. in egg, chicken, soy beans, cottage cheese, milk, cashews and pork.
Statistics
Answer time 0s (0s). 51% have previously answered correct on this question. The question was created 2008-12-26.