W
hile valine is one of the eight essential amino acids, it is also one of the branched-chain amino acids that are found in the muscles of the body in high concentrations. With valine being both an essential amino acid and a branched-chain amino acid, it is even more important for your body to get the recommended dosage because of the variety of reasons that your body needs valine.
One of the main reasons that valine is needed in your body is because it has a stimulating effect on your body. If your body wasn’t being stimulated it would be hard to find the energy to do things, so without the valine you would find it more than easy to sit around the house doing nothing. Valine also is needed for muscle metabolism. Valine is also used to repair and grow tissue, but it also helps keep the nitrogen levels in your body in balance.
As a branched-chain amino acid, valine is used as an energy source for your muscles. Being used as an energy source helps your body preserve glucose because the valine is being used instead of the glucose to provide energy for your body to move. Something else that is nice about valine is that it can help repair some of the damage from alcohol addiction, which is odd because amino acid deficiencies are quite common among addicts. Studies have been done that have shown valine has reversed some of the brain damage that is caused from alcoholism, but it has also helped reverse hepatic encephalopathy.
If you are suffering from a valine deficiency, you are most likely suffering from maple syrup urine disease, which means that your body cannot metabolize leucine, isoleucine, and valine. The best way to determine if you are suffering from maple syrup urine disease is if your urine smells like maple syrup, hence the name of the disease. Having a valine deficiency can also affect the covering of your nerves, which are called myelin.
Not only can problems be caused by too little valine in your daily diet, but you can also suffer from too much valine in your daily diet. If you take too much valine, whether it is through supplements or your daily diet you are going to notice some serious side effects. The two biggest side effects that you will notice are a crawling sensation on your skin and hallucinations. To prevent these side effects from occurring you should not take more than the recommended dose of valine.