Aspartic acid is a nonessential amino acid, meaning that if your do not include this nutrient in your diet, your body can make sufficient amounts of it. Dietary sources include protein foods, such as meat, fish, eggs, and soybean products.
Aspartic acid is essential to the process of chelating, or holding, minerals to make them easier to assimilate, digest, and utilize, as in calcium, potassium, and magnesium aspartate.
Found in its highest quantities in the brain, aspartic acid increases neurologic activity. Doctors find it in higher amounts in people with epilepsy and in lower amounts in those suffering from depression.
Aspartic acid is not as important as two other amino acids — tryptophan and taurine — for mood disorders, but often is added to complex formulas for these ailments and for immune system weakness.
Aspartic acid, which is available in all protein foods, forms aspartame when it’s combined with phenylalanine (another amino acid). Aspartame is the commonly used artificial sweetener that can be a mild irritant to the nervous system.
Doctors don’t recommend aspartic acid supplements for regular use, especially for children, who generally have more sensitive nervous systems.
Key uses of aspartic acid:
Clinicians include aspartic acid in some natural programs for depression and immune function.
Aspartic acid aids in energy production from carbohydrates and in RNA and DNA formation.
Aspartic acid aids in liver detoxification from drugs and chemicals.
Aspartic acid increases resistance to fatigue.