Memorizing Amino Acids

Essential, conditional, non-essential, oh my! So many amino acids to memorize.

As I’ve been studying for my registered dietitian (RD) exam, I’ve come across some helpful ways of remembering things on other sites whether RDs, med students, professors, you name it. I appreciate these resources and wanted to add to the deck. I decided today to share how I remember the amino acids (AA) for the exam so that others too can use this trick as a resource, and I can practice writing them out again!

First, I’ll list below the acronyms of each. Then following the list, I’ll explain more about each one to help you memorize them even more.

Essential Amino Acids. PVT TIM HLL / “Private Tim Hall”.

1. P – phenylalanine
2. V – valine
3. T – threonine
4. T – tryptophan
5. I – isoleucine
6. M – methionine
7. H – histidine
8. L – leucine
9. L – lysine

Conditionally Essential Amino Acids. ACGGPT.

1. A – arginine
2. C – cysteine
3. G – glutamine
4. G – glycine
5. P – proline
6. T – tyrosine

Non-Essential Amino Acids. ASAGA / “A saga”.

1. A – alanine
2. S – serine
3. A – asparagine
4. G – glutamic acid / glutamate
5. A – aspartic acid / aspartate

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Now if having those acronyms is enough for you to remember, you can stop right here.  If you’re still struggling, here’s my trick to remembering all of these. Keep in mind, this is just how my brain works. It might not work for you or it may seem too complicated, but “sounds like” and “associating things” together or with something else silly helps me. If it doesn’t work for you, leave it. Try something else! No harm.

Essential Amino Acids. We need to get these from our diet because our bodies cannot make them or make them in sufficient quantity. There’s nine.

Use the acronym PVT TIM HLL (“Private Tim Hall”, every is word abbreviated into three letters.) I didn’t come up with this one, I heard it in college. I remember that this acronym goes with the essential AA’s because it is “essential that we have soldiers”.

1. P – phenylalanine
2. V – valine
3. T – threonine
4. T – tryptophan
5. I – isoleucine
6. M – methionine
7. H – histidine
8. L – lysine
9. L – leucine

There’s other amino acids that start with P and T, so here’s how I remember which ones go with this Essential AA category:

First, I associate Proline and tyrosine together by thinking “pro-” sounds like you’re “pro” or “for” something; it’s “positive”. So it gets paired with tyrosine because “tyr” sounds like “tyrant” which is negative. A tyrant is cruel and negative. So PRO and TYR go together – the positive and the negative.

In their category, (which is the conditionally essential AA’s) they are the only two AA’s that start with a “p” or “t”. In the PVT TIM HLL acronym, there’s 1 “p” and 2 “t”‘s, so it can’t be proline or tyrosine because they stick together as the only AA’s that start with a “p” or “t” in their category.

Now for the AA’s that start with the letters “p” or “t” and go in the PVT TIM HLL acronym (for the essential amino acids). The only other AA that starts with “p” is phenylalanine. The other “t”‘s are tryptophan and threonine. (Threonine can be #3 on that list [in other words the T in PVT] to help you remember because three and threonine sound the same.)

Conditionally Essential Amino Acids. Under most conditions, the body can make these, but in some situations (various physiological or pathological states) it is not possible and it becomes essential to get them via diet. There are six.

1. A – arginine
2. C – cysteine
3. G – glutamine
4. G – glycine
5. P – proline
6. T – tyrosine

This is the one I found hardest to make relatable. I use the acronym ACGGPT. It’s a stretch, but here goes. We already established the P and T at the end of the acronym are for proline and tyrosine (read above for explanation).  So for the ACGG, I say: “Arg! There’s a cyst on MY glute! Icing on the cake!”

• Arg triggers me to remember arginine.
• Cyst triggers me to remember cysteine.
• MY glute (short for “my glutes) triggers me to remember glutamine. (I emphasize MY glute so I remember it’s glutaMINE versus glutaMATE. Glutamine IS conditionally essential and glutamate in non-essential.)
• Icing triggers me to remember glycine because icing and glycine kinda sound alike.

The “icing on the cake” is just supposed to be a continuation of ranting/ complaining about having a cyst on your bum. Gross, I know, but the sillier the better for memorizing in my book.

Lastly, Non-Essential Amino Acids. These can be formed in the body in sufficient amounts so is it not essential that we ingest them via diet. There are five.

ASAGA is the acronym I use, or “a saga”. I remember that the ASAGA AA’s are NON-essential because I think” sagas or drama are NOT essential to life”. No. More. Drama. Baby!

1. A – alanine
2. S – serine
3. A – asparagine
4. G – glutamic acid / glutamate
5. A – aspartic acid / aspartate

I remember this by first thinking “A Saga” so I get all my letters.  Then I say “Alan, seriously? More asparagus?” C’mon, mate!”

• Alan triggers me to remember alanine.
• Seriously triggers me to remember serine.
• Asparagus triggers me to remember asparagine.
• Mate triggers me to remember the last two which end in “-mate” and “-tate”. They’re also the two acids: glutamate/ glutamic acid and aspartate/ aspartic acid.

So there you have it! A way to memorize the essential, conditionally essential, and non-essential amino acids. I hope this is helpful to some of you! I know it will seem wildly complicated to others. You gotta go whatchu gotta do! Study whatever way is going to work for you.  Good luck!!

Have questions, comments, or your own tips for memorizing? Add them in the “Rate, Review, Comment” section below!