Amino Acids

Amino acid molecules are the body’s building blocks for protein synthesis. Protein synthesis is critical for muscle growth and repair (including the heart muscle), general structural support, hormone function, digestion, enzyme production, immune system function (antibody production), fluid balance, energy production, and more.

Lysine, Methionine & Threonine

Lysine, methionine and threonine are three rate-limiting amino acids in the equine diet, meaning they are in short supply compared to the amount a horse's body requires for optimal protein synthesis. Additionally, the body cannot internally synthesize these, so we need to provide them supplementally.

Lysine, methionine and threonine are said to be the most commonly deficient amino acids in the equine diet out of all 21 amino acids, but I have found glycine to be amongst the most deficient amino acids, especially when we take into consideration the role of Glyphosate (more below).

Failure to provide enough of the rate-limiting amino acids can lead to impaired protein synthesis, having negative consequences for immune function, growth, performance and overall health. Examples of inadequate dietary protein can include but are not limited to, poor digestion, poor hoof growth, poor coat quality, loss of muscle mass, loss of topline, poor stamina / exercise intolerance, poor mane and tail growth, low milk production in lactating mares and more.

Our 3 + 1 Aminos blend provides your horse with optimal amounts of all rate-limiting amino acids - including glycine - and we use only the highest quality forms of these amino acids, including l-methionine instead of the lesser form but commonly used dl-methionine.

Lysine Benefit Highlights

• Supports bone health & development
• Helps the body absorb & assimilate calcium
• Helps form collagen, supporting healthy skin, tendons, cartilage & joints
• Supports a healthy immune system
  • Helps produce antibodies
• Can lower cortisol levels
  • Helps manage stress & anxiety
  • Supports Cushing’s disease / PPID (elevated ACTH)
    
• Support eye health
  • Enhances integrity of ocular tissues
• Blocks the activity of arginine which promotes replication of the herpes simplex virus (HSV)
• A precursor of carnitine which helps convert fatty acids into energy and lower cholesterol 
  

Methionine Benefit Highlights

• Supports a Healthy Metabolism
  • Helps break down fats & prevent them from building up in arteries
    
• Supports Detoxification | Antioxidant
  • An important precursor to production of glutathione (major antioxidant)
  • Methionine's sulfur group helps inactivate free radicals (toxins which can damage tissues & contribute to cancer development)
  • Supports elimination of heavy metals
• Supports Digestion
  • Supports intestinal function by improving intestinal integrity (reducing intestinal permeability / leaky gut), homeostasis & function.
  • Can help maintain gut morphology (nutrient absorption) & balanced gut bacteria.
  • Increases Digestive Enzyme Production (trypsin, amylase & chymotrypsin)
• Supports a normal inflammatory response (downregulating related mRNA levels)
• Supports Liver health
  • Can help prevent liver damage from medications & fat deposits in the liver
• Supports Brain health 
  • Some studies suggest that methionine plays a key role in neurological processes
• Support Nutrient Absorption
  • Helps the body absorb essential minerals, including zinc & selenium

Supports Creatine Production

• • Methionine is one of the three amino acids the body needs to produce creatine, which is essential for energy production & muscle repair / development. 

Methionine deficiency can lead to fatty liver, slow growth, weakness, edema, skin lesions & more. 

Threonine Benefit Highlights

• Supports Gut Health & Intestinal Integrity
  • Reduces gut permeability (leaky gut)
  • Supports nutrient absorption
    • Supports overall health, a strong immune system & structural integrity 
  • Helps produce mucin proteins which create a protective barrier in the intestinal wall
  • Helps minimize ulcers
• Plays an important role in collagen & elastin production, which provide structure to your skin & connective tissues, help form blood clots to prevent bleeding & more
• Supports fat metabolism
  

Plus 1 - The Importance of Glycine

Glycine is a critical amino acid, essential for numerous neurological, cognitive, musculoskeletal, and metabolic functions. It supports the body in breaking down and transporting nutrients such as glycogen and fat to be used as energy for our cells. It supports our muscular, immune, digestive, neurologic, metabolic and nervous systems and is found in particularly high concentrations in skin, connective tissues / joints, organs and muscle tissue.

Glycine & Methionine Supplementation

When supplementing with methionine, it's very important to consider sufficient glycine intake and stores, as glycine availability is critical for the methionine clearance process which helps avoid elevated homocysteine levels that otherwise lead to increased oxidative stress, cellular damage, cardiovascular problems and more.

With Glyphosate usage at an all time high in America, our stores of glycine are likely lower than ever, and I wouldn't risk supplementing methionine without glycine. 

Glyphosate (RoundUp) Masquerading as Glycine?

Glyphosate is the main ingredient / herbicide in RoundUp weed killer. Genetically modified organisms (GMO's) are not only heavily sprayed with Glyphosate, but they have it injected into their seeds when produced in the laboratory (RoundUp Ready seeds). GMO by-products are the main ingredients in most commercial feeds, balancers and many supplements, increasing horses Glyphosate exposure and very likely negatively impacting their glycine stores.

According to the research of Dr. Stephanie Seneff (Senior Research Scientist, MIT), Glyphosate is glycine amino acid, decorated with harmful chemicals. Being structurally identical (glycine's very simple structure has only a single hydrogen atom as its side chain), Glyphosate fits right into glycine's place and has the ability to replace our critical amino acid glycine with itself. If Glyphosate is successful at masquerading as glycine in the body, it can create a very long list of genetic disorders and inflammatory conditions, negatively impacting the body's cellular processes and lowering glycine stores.

Regarding minimizing Glyphosate exposure, it's important to be aware that Glyphosate is also found in vaccinations when third party tested for purity (related study: harms of injection vs. ingestion). Many farmers also spray RoundUp on the hay horses eat every day, so it's important to get to know your farmer whenever possible. If you feed alfalfa, a GMO crop, they can have Glyphosate exposure from here, as well. However, since Glyphosate is illegal to use on organic or wildcrafted crops, feeding your horse organically will greatly reduce the amount of Glyphosate they ingest and help maintain healthy glycine stores.

Glycine & Glycogen Conversion (PSSM)

When glucose (sugar) is consumed, it’s converted into glycogen for storage, to be used later by the body for energy. However, with PSSM, it gets stuck as glycogen and is unable to convert back into glucose to be used by the mitochondria, so it builds up / accumulates in the muscle tissues.

Why is this happening? What is paralyzing the glycogen, inhibiting it from its normal function?

Glycine is critical for glycogen conversion. The enzyme that regulates glycogen synthase, Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3), might be the busiest kinase in most cells, having over 100 known substrates to deal with. The key here is, GSK3 has a glycine-rich region, and deletion of this region will induce the nuclear accumulation of GSK3α. GSK3 is a metabolic sensor that restricts cell mass accumulation, but it cannot do so if it is missing the glycine-rich region.

Ultimately, by limiting our horses exposure to Glyphosate and providing them with ample amounts of pure glycine, we can better support their bodies in recovering these normal and absolutely critical processes. 

Glycine: Metabolic Syndrome, Blood Sugar Levels & Insulin Sensitivity

     Glycine is necessary for multiple metabolic pathways, including synthesis of glutathione (the body’s master antioxidant) and regulation of one-carbon metabolic pathways. Glycine can increase insulin sensitivity, improving insulin levels for insulin resistant horses. 

"Glycine supplements have been shown to stimulate a gut hormone that increases insulin’s ability to remove glucose from the bloodstream, potentially aiding in diabetes management and prevention.”

-Dr. Axe: Glycine: The Muscle-Building, Brain-Boosting Amino Acid

Glycine is considered a promising amino acid for improving metabolic health and is recognized as a relevant plasma marker for metabolic diseases associated with obesity.

Glycine & Cushing's Disease | PPID

Cushing's disease is rooted in degenerated neurons which negatively impact hormone production in the pituitary gland, such as overproduction of ACTH (AdrenoCorticoTrophic Hormone). Glycine supplementation can be supportive for Cushing's disease by crossing the blood brain barrier to strengthen and calm the nervous system (recovering degenerated neurons & improving cellular communication / synapses), reducing excessive cortisol output, and supporting a normal inflammatory response, including reducing inflammation in the pituitary. Glycine can also inhibit the growth of tumors, which Cushing's is said to include a tumor on the pituitary gland.

Glycine & Collagen

Glycine is the most abundant amino acid in collagen, making up one third of collagen's amino acid profile. It supports muscle growth and function, helps to heal the lining of the digestive tract, strengthens and restores bones, cartilage and other soft tissue, joints, organs, skin and more.

"Glycine has a protective effect in lung, brain, stomach, and intestine; participates in metabolic processes; modulates processes of the immune system such as tissue regeneration, decrease necrosis, sepsis protection; and finally, glycine is considered a genic expression modulator."

-Glycine: The Smallest Anti-Inflammatory Micronutrient

"Non-Essential" or Essential?

Technically, glycine is considered a 'non-essential' amino acid because our bodies are capable of synthesizing it… but only in very small amounts. Modern research indicates that glycine typically isn’t synthesized in sufficient quantities for optimal health or to support the body with chronic inflammation or diseases. 

For humans, including glycine-rich foods in our diets, such as organic bone broth and chicken skin, can supply us with glycine, but regular consumption still may not provide enough. This is where glycine supplementation can be very helpful.

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter

As an inhibitory neurotransmitter, glycine plays a critical role in decreasing the likelihood of action potential transmission, meaning it can help to calm an over-excited nervous system. Glycine supplementation can be supportive for various neurologic and psychiatric disorders, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, schizophrenia, mood disorders, sleep disorders (including equine sleep crashing) and more.

"Deficiencies in inhibitory neurotransmission (e.g., glycine) can result in excessive excitation or reduced inhibition within neural pathways, resulting in seizures and epilepsy disorders." 

-Osmosis from Elsevier; Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

Glycine Benefit Highlights:

• Supports a normal inflammatory response
  • Helps manage pain & inflammation
• Inhibitory neurotransmitter / Supports the nervous system
  • Calms nerves / minimizes anxiety
  • Helps regulate nerve impulses
  • Helps prevent ischemic strokes & seizures
• Supports normal cellular processes
• Anti-tumor properties
• Supports Cushing's disease
• Helps to regulate blood sugar levels
  • Helps manage insulin resistance & diabetes
• Helps balance electrolyte levels including calcium, chloride & potassium
• Support glycogen conversion (PSSM)
• Promotes lean muscle growth
• Helps prevent sarcopenia (muscle loss, muscle wasting or deterioration)
• Repairs & protects joints & cartilage
• Improves flexibility & range of motion
• Supports digestion
• Helps build the lining of the gastrointestinal tract
• Produces bile salts & digestive enzymes
• Strengthens the immune system
• Reduces risk for certain types of cancer
• Helps reduce allergic & autoimmune reactions
• Helps produce red blood cells
• Slows the aging process
• Helps fight fatigue
• Supports restful sleep
  • Can help minimize equine sleep crashing 
• Can improve mental / cognitive performance & much more!

3 + 1 Aminos

Ingredients: Glycine, L-lysine HCl, L-Methionine & L-Threonine.

Per Serving:

Glysine: 6 g

Lysine: 10 g

Methionine: 6 g 

Threonine: 4 g

Administration Instructions: 1 scoop (13 g), twice daily, for every 1,000 lbs of body weight.

Storage: Please store in a cool, dry place.