Glycine
Glycine
Glycine facts
- Glycine can be a conditionally essential amino acid
- Serine and threonine are used to make glycine
- Glycine functions as a building block of protein in the body
- Glycine is formed from serine
While glycine is not an essential amino acid most of the time (essential amino acids are required in the diet as the body cannot manufacture them), there are certain special circumstances which makes it conditionally essential; this means glycine becomes an essential amino acid under special conditions, especially when intake of the essential amino acid serine and threonine are very low.
Glycine, just like all the other amino acids, is one of the building blocks of all proteins in the body, which not only include muscles, but also all the other proteins required for normal function of the body.
Glycine can be formed by the essential amino acid serine, as required by the body, so in normal circumstances, it is not necessary in large quanities in the diet.
