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[caruga]

Does phenylalanine have any role outside of being a precursor to tyrosine?  If not then I wonder then why they don't say tyrosine is the essential nutrient rather than phenylalanine.

[abelard lindsay]

L-Phenylalanine is a direct precursor to Phenethylamine which is the body's natural TAAR1 receptor agonist.  It's broken down pretty quickly by MAO-B.  

 

From Wikipedia:

 

In a resting state, phenethylamine is synthesized in catecholamine neurons from l-phenylalanine by aromatic amino acid decarboxylase at approximately the same rate as dopamine is produced.^[27] Because of the pharmacological relationship between phenethylamine and amphetamine, the original paper and both reviews suggest that phenethylamine plays a prominent role in mediating the mood-enhancing euphoric effects of a runner's high, as both phenethylamine and amphetamine are potent euphoriants.^[2][25][26]