In food ingredients, glycine is a white crystalline substance that somewhat resembles sugar, and its sweetness is about one-third that of sucrose.
In the human body, as a simple amino acid, it helps transmit nerve signals and is also a component of collagen, a precursor to creatine and heme. It has many unexpected functions in our body.
Since the human body can synthesize some glycine from raw materials, unlike certain amino acids that cannot be synthesized and must be obtained from food, many people believe that this amino acid is not necessarily required in our daily diet; it falls between essential and non-essential. I disagree with this view; on the contrary, I believe we need to ensure adequate glycine in our food and supplements to fully utilize its functions in maintaining our health.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6627940/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20093739/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6153947/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5732413/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24144057/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2852991/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6627940/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167623/