955 E Main Street, STE E83, Lexington, SC 29073 U.S. toll-free: 1-888-800-5582 International: +1 845-875-6155

Natural Home Cures Since 2004

Freeze-dried botanicals grown on our own farms.

Natural Home Cures products from left to right: Nopal capsules, prickly pear drops, and Nopal powder, with opened capsules and a powder scoop

Shop Now

NATURAL HOME CURES · NOPAL SCIENCE

Alanine
& Nopal

A building block for proteins, with a role in how muscles and the liver work together.

Explore the science
Illustrative anatomical teaching models showing the liver beneath the ribs and a separate upper-arm muscle
THE MUSCLE–LIVER CONNECTIONBuilding tissues.
Helping make fuel.

Alanine is one of the small building blocks your body uses to make proteins. Those proteins help build and maintain muscles, skin and other tissues.(1)

Your body can normally make alanine. That is what “nonessential amino acid” means: you do not have to get all of it from food.(2)

Alanine still has important jobs. Alongside its place in proteins, it helps connect the work of your muscles and liver. You also get alanine naturally from many everyday foods.

What Does Alanine Do?

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING TISSUES

Making proteins

Your body joins alanine with other amino acids to make proteins. These proteins help build and maintain muscles, skin and other tissues.(1)

A CONNECTION TO EVERYDAY ENERGY

Helping make fuel

The liver can use part of alanine to make glucose. Glucose is a sugar the body uses for energy, including fuel for muscles.(4)

MUSCLES, LIVER AND KIDNEYS

Handling waste

When amino acids are broken down, part of their material needs to be removed. Alanine helps carry this material from muscle to the liver, where it is prepared for the kidneys to remove.(3)

How Muscles and the Liver Work Together

Your muscles and liver work together to help keep fuel available. Alanine is one of the links between them.

As amino acids are broken down in muscle, some of the material travels to the liver as alanine. The liver can use part of that alanine to make glucose, which can then return to muscles and other tissues as fuel.(3),(4)

At the same time, the liver processes the part that needs to leave the body. The kidneys remove the resulting waste in urine. These are everyday tasks that help the body reuse useful materials and remove waste.(3)

Alanine in Everyday Foods

Fish, eggs, chickpeas, nuts and prepared Nopal pads
Alanine occurs in many everyday foods. The amount varies by food and serving size.

Here are some familiar food sources:

  • Roasted chicken
    Meat and poultry
  • A serving of fish
    Fish
  • Eggs
    Eggs
  • Dairy foods
    Milk and other dairy products
  • Lentils and chickpeas
    Beans and lentils
  • Nuts and seeds
    Nuts and seeds
  • Whole grains
    Whole grains
  • Leafy green vegetables
    Leafy vegetables
  • Cleaned cactus pads and sliced nopales
    Nopal cactus pads

The amount you get depends on the food and how much you eat. A varied diet supplies alanine alongside other amino acids and nutrients your body uses every day.(5)

How Much Alanine Is in Nopal?

Illustrative harvest scene with green Nopal cactus pads in a woven basket
Nopal pads are the cactus’s broad, flat stems.

USDA’s food database provides a useful reference for alanine naturally present in raw nopales, the edible cactus pads.(5)

NATURALLY OCCURRING ALANINE · RAW NOPALESAbout 50 mgper 100 g of raw edible cactus pads

USDA FoodData Central · “Nopales, raw”

The USDA entry lists 0.050 grams of alanine per 100 grams of raw nopales, equal to 50 milligrams. This gives an idea of the amount in fresh cactus pads.(5)

Alanine has been reported in studies of Opuntia ficus-indica cactus.(6)

The USDA value is a general food reference.

From Our Farms to Your Bottle

Illustrative Nopal cactus in a mountainous landscape

Our Nopal capsule story begins on our mountain farms in Mexico, where Opuntia streptacantha grows at about 8,200 feet in rich volcanic soil. Sunlight, temperature, and rainfall shape the living cactus.

We stay involved from growing through harvest and preparation of the capsules. This growing environment is part of the story behind each amino acid discussed here.

More Than One Amino Acid

Our capsules and powder bring together the naturally occurring compounds in cactus pads. They are whole botanical products, rather than isolated alanine supplements.

Explore the other Nopal articles to learn about its fiber, vitamins, minerals and other plant compounds. Each adds another piece to the story of this familiar cactus.

Natural Home Cures products from left to right: Nopal cactus capsules, prickly pear drops, and Nopal cactus powder

FROM CACTUS TO PRODUCT

Meet Our Nopal Cactus & Prickly Pear Family

Nopal cactus capsules, prickly pear drops, and Nopal cactus powder.

Explore Nopal Cactus →
The research behind this article

Source References

6 sources Show referencesHide references
  1. 01
    Nutrition referencePhysiology, Proteins.

    LaPelusa A, Kaushik R. StatPearls. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

    Full citation
    LaPelusa A, Kaushik R. “Physiology, Proteins.” StatPearls. National Center for Biotechnology Information.
    View source
  2. 02
    Research referenceL-Alanine.

    National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem, Compound CID 5950.

    Full citation
    National Center for Biotechnology Information. “L-Alanine.” PubChem, Compound CID 5950.
    View source
  3. 03
    Research referenceThe Glucose-Alanine Cycle.

    Felig P. Metabolism. 1973;22(2):179–207.

    Full citation
    Felig P. “The Glucose-Alanine Cycle.” Metabolism. 1973;22(2):179–207.
    View source
  4. 04
    Research referenceAlanine: Key Role in Gluconeogenesis.

    Felig P, Pozefsky T, Marliss E, Cahill GF Jr. Science. 1970;167(3920):1003–1004.

    Full citation
    Felig P, Pozefsky T, Marliss E, Cahill GF Jr. “Alanine: Key Role in Gluconeogenesis.” Science. 1970;167(3920):1003–1004.
    View source
  5. 05
    USDA food composition referenceNopales, raw — USDA FoodData Central.

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. SR Legacy, FDC ID 168571 (NDB 11963). Alanine: 0.050 g per 100 g edible portion, equivalent to 50 mg.

    View source
  6. 06
    Research referenceNopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease.

    El-Mostafa K, El Kharrassi Y, Badreddine A, et al. Molecules. 2014;19(9):14879–14901.

    Full citation
    El-Mostafa K, El Kharrassi Y, Badreddine A, et al. “Nopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease.” Molecules. 2014;19(9):14879–14901.
    View source