Laparoscopic gastric bypass provides better results (Reuters)

Reuters - Performing gastric bypass surgery to reduce the weight of morbidly obese patients using a laparoscopic method, rather than the conventional more invasive "open" abdominal method, reduces postoperative complications, the need for a second operation, and shortens hospital stays, new research shows. Nevertheless, laparoscopic gastric bypass is more expensive.

We have all heard of amino acids, but what do they do? For starters, amino acids are needed to maintain, restore and repair damaged muscles, tendons, breaks in the skin structure, and all tissues like the ligaments, the tissues of the organ systems, the various glands, and keratin structure like hair and nails.

Low levels of amino acids in the body can also create long term infection, physiological trauma or stress. The evidence of an amino acid deficiency in the body is usually checked by most nutritionally oriented doctors through blood tests that can help determine the bio-chemical and physiological status of a person.

Most of the amino acids needed in the human body are manufactured in the liver, which produces about eighty percent of the amino acid requirements. Amino acids that are classed as essential make up the other twenty percent of our necessary requirements. This is where your diet is important in that it contains these essential amino acids.

What are amino acids exactly? They are the basic structural building units of proteins. They form short polymer chains called peptides or longer chains called either polypeptides or proteins. The process of such formation from an mRNA template is known as translation, which is part of protein biosynthesis. Twenty amino acids are encoded by the standard genetic code and are called proteinogenic or standard amino acids.

Other amino acids contained in proteins are usually formed by post-translational modification, which is modification after translation in protein synthesis. These modifications are often essential for the function or regulation of a protein; for example, the carboxylation of glutamate allows for better binding of calcium cations, and the hydroxylation of proline is critical for maintaining connective tissues and responding to oxygen starvation. Such modifications can also determine the localization of the protein, e.g., the addition of long hydrophobic groups can cause a protein to bind to a phospholipid membrane.

The amino acids in a protein are held together by chemical connections called peptide bonds, this is called the primary structure of a protein molecule, and the very structure of proteins determines the essential role they play in the body. Therefore, every single protein in the human body is unique in the chemical sequencing and arrangement of bonds and biochemical breaks.

All proteins have very specific duties in the body and fulfill a specific function of the body - the work of any single protein is thus not interchangeable with that of another protein at any time - this high specificity of proteins enables similar proteins to do very different types of functions in the human body. All the proteins consumed in the food are not used directly by the body - they are first digested down to basic amino acids.

Some amino acids function as neurotransmitters or are precursors to the formation of such compounds. These functions can include functional roles in the brain like receive or transmitting messages to and from the nervous system. Amino acids playing these roles some can bypass the blood brain barrier and gain entry into the central nervous system - the blood brain barrier helps in the maintenance of the health of the brain, it is also involved in fine tuning the chemistry and the operation of various processes of brain body communication. Some types of amino acids help aid in communication between the nerve cells and the other parts of the body. Certain amino acids also support the function of many vitamins and minerals - aiding them in performing specific roles as required in the body.

The entry for the appropriate ailment can be consulted to get recommended dosages of any of the amino acids. The ideal way of supplementation is to take amino acids in a complex combination form, instead of using any individual amino acid for longer than one month, using a mixed amino acid complex as a supplement will enable the body to receive adequate and balanced amounts of all the amino acids needed by the body.

One should ideally use the amino acid supplements at least an hour and a half just prior to or following the daily meals. The supplement can be taken first thing in the morning or may be used near bedtime - these timings are ideal for full absorption of the supplement in the body. Taking any single amino acid supplement longer than three months is not recommended, but may be carried out under the supervision of a doctor experienced with nutritional use of such supplements. When taking any individual amino acid as a supplement it is also advisable to take mixed amino acid supplements along with the single amino acid doses on an empty stomach at a different time of day.

R. Fredriksen is the Vice President of Nutrition Dome, a leading provider of Jarrow Formulas, Pioneer Nutritional Formulas and other quality supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.nutritiondome.com.

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