Amino acids

Amino acids are like the body's small building blocks that are needed to build proteins. Just as letters form words, amino acids can be linked together to form proteins. There are 20 different amino acids that the body uses, and each amino acid has its own unique property and function. Think of amino acids as different colors in a toy box. You can use different colors to build different things, just like you can use different amino acids to build different proteins. Some amino acids the body can make itself, while others we must get from the food we eat. Proteins are very important for our body, they help repair tissues, build muscles, transport substances in the body and much more. So, amino acids are like the little puzzle pieces that fit together to build proteins, and proteins are like the important Lego building blocks that keep our bodies going!