The Amino Acid Building Blocks Your Brain Uses Every Day
Read time 5 mins
Why most focus supplements include one building block โ and why get dopa includes both.
Most supplements which aim to help focus, contain an amino acid calledย L-Tyrosine. If you look, you'll see it on label after label. Often, it's listed prominently, sometimes at a dose which looks impressive on paper.ย ย
But there's an important step that comes before L-Tyrosine. It's a step that most formulas skip entirely. It's not because the science isn't there, but because it's one ingredient further back in the process, and therefore it's another additional cost on the ingredients bill of materials.ย ย
That step uses the amino acid L-Phenylalanine.ย ย
In this article we take a look at both amino acids; what they are, how the body uses them and why both matter. We will also see how the relationship between them tells you something important about how a formula to support cognitive function is designed.ย ย
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First: what do we mean by amino acid?ย ย
Amino acids are often called the raw materials of the body. They are a variety of chemical molecules which our bodies use to build proteins, produce enzymes, and synthesise the compounds that our brains need to function correctly. They include the chemical messengers such as hormones which are involved in focus, drive, and mood.ย ย
The human body works with 20 different amino acids, and these tiny molecules build the enormous variety of human proteins and enzymes which make up our bodies. Our bodies can produce nine of these amino acids. The other eleven are often called the essential amino acids and because the body cannot make them from scratch, they must instead come from food or food supplements,ย ย
L-Phenylalanine is one of these essential amino acids, and as we have said, your body cannot produce it. So, it must come from what you eat or take as a supplement.ย
L-Tyrosine is what is usually termed a conditionally essential amino acid, because under normal conditions, the body can synthesize the L-Tyrosine it needs from L-Phenylalanine.
But sometimes, perhaps in periods of high cognitive demand, stress, or when dietary intake is insufficient, the body may not be able to keep up with the demand.ย ย
The distinction between the two is important. One is an essential amino acid sourced from our diet and one is produced from the other by the body.ย ย
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The process, step-by-stepย
The body converts amino acids sequentially. We can think of it like a production line rather than a single machine, where each step depends on the step before it being properly supplied.ย
L-Phenylalanine comes first. Remember, we take it in from food and supplements. The body then converts it into the L-Tyrosine amino acid. L-Tyrosine itself is then used in a number of further vital processes โ processes that our brains rely on for motivation, focus, and mental drive.ย ย
For each conversion step to take place requires specific B vitamins which work as cofactors. Of particular importance here is B6, and this is why the B vitamin complex in the formula matters so much alongside the amino acids themselves. It's not just one ingredient doing the work, it's a system where the different parts work together.ย
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โ L-Phenylalanineย ย
Essential amino acid โ must come from food or supplementation. Our bodies cannot generate it.ย ย
โ L-Tyrosineย ย
Produced from L-Phenylalanine. Used by the brain in the production of key chemical messengers involved in focus, drive, and motivation.ย ย
โ B vitamins (B6 in particular)ย ย
These are important cofactors that help make each conversion step possible. Without them, the raw materials sit unused.ย ย
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If L-Phenylalanine is in short supply, what happens? Right at the first step of the process, the body has less raw material to work with. Even if L-Tyrosine is supplemented separately, you have essentially stepped into the middle of a process that started without the right foundation.ย ย
This is why including only L-Tyrosine (as most supplements do) gives the body one piece of the puzzle, but not all the pieces it needs.ย ย
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Does the demand in my body for these amino acids change or increase?ย ย
Under normal, rested circumstances, an ordinary varied diet will provide enough L-Phenylalanine for our bodies to keep up with its conversion needs. But there are several common situations which can increase the demand for these amino acids significantly.ย
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โข High cognitive load: an extended period of concentration, tough decisions, or some complex problem-solving can all increase the brain's use of these chemical messengers.ย ย
โข Stress: both psychological and physiological stress can accelerate the rate at which the brain uses, and therefore needs to replenish, these compounds.ย
โข Poor sleep: much of the brain's internal maintenance and replenishment happens when we sleep. A night of disrupted sleep can have a significant effect on the next day's baseline.ย ย
โข A diet low in protein: L-Phenylalanine is mainly found in protein-rich foods. We have a risk of reducing supply if we skip meals, have a low protein intake or a restrictive diet.ย
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For people whose brains run fast and hard this increased demand is not occasional. It can be a consistent pattern of high demand, high output, often high stress. This is exactly the situation where ensuring the full supply of amino acids matters most.ย ย
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Why most supplements do what they doย
There are a number of cognitive supplements that include amino acids and the vast majority of these include L-Tyrosine only. There are several reasons for this.ย ย
Because L-Tyrosine is a step closer to the end of the process, the link between the ingredient and the outcome feels more direct. It's easier to write about it on a label. Then there is the cost. It is typically less expensive to source than L-Phenylalanine at equivalent doses.ย ย
Including both of these requires a larger formula with a larger capsule count, or a trade-off somewhere else in the product. Most brands make the trade-off and you end up with one building block, not two.ย ย
L-Tyrosine alone is not without value โ it does make a contribution. But if L-Phenylalanine is the first step in the process, stepping in only at step two leaves a gap right at the foundation.ย ย
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A useful analogyย
Have you ever made bread? A bread recipe might call for flour, water, yeast, and salt.ย ย
You have water, yeast and salt in abundance. But you're low on flour. Guess what, you can't make the bread without it. All the other components, no matter how good their quality, cannot compensate for the missing ingredient, the missing foundation.ย
Imagine that someone selling you their 'bread support' kit that includes water, yeast and salt. But they don't include flour because flour is bulkier, heavier to ship and more expensive per unit. So the kit gets sold without it. You could buy it separately, but most people won't.ย ย
L-Phenylalanine is the flour. L-Tyrosine is the yeast. Both are necessary. The process starts with the one which most supplements choose to leave out.ย ย
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How does all this work in practice?ย
get dopa includes both L-Phenylalanine at 400mg and L-Tyrosine at 400mg. Not because stacking amino acids is automatically better, but because the process the brain uses requires both entry points. Including only one is choosing not to support the first step.ย ย
It's worth noting that neither ingredient is a stimulant. Neither provide an immediate short term effect. They are raw materials of the kind that the brain uses continuously every day, not just when you need to focus hard.ย ย
This means that the effects of amino acid support build over time as levels stabilise. This is consistent with the broader approach to nutrition in the get dopa formula: build what the brain needs, rather than borrow against a reserve that it can't afford to lose.ย ย
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KEY TAKEAWAYSย ย
โข L-Phenylalanine is one of the key essential amino acids, the body cannot produce it. It must come from diet or supplements.ย ย
โข The body converts L-Phenylalanine into L-Tyrosine, which is then used in multiple processes which the brain relies on for focus, drive, and motivation.ย ย
โข B vitamins (particularly B6) are required as necessary cofactors at each conversion step. The amino acids and B vitamins work as a system.ย ย
โข Periods of high cognitive demand, stress, poor sleep and low protein intake all increase the rate at which the body uses and needs to replenish these amino acids.ย ย
โข Most cognitive supplements include L-Tyrosine only, the second step in the process, without supporting the first.ย ย
โข get dopa includes 400mg of each of these amino acids, because the process requires both entry points.ย ย
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NEXT IN THE SERIESย ย
Part 2 looks at B vitamins โ specifically why the form of a B vitamin matters more than the name on the label, and why a common variation in how the body processes certain vitamins is more widespread than most people realise.ย ย
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