Roles of Amino Acid Supplements

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) refers to three amino acids: Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. If taken as a powder, they are thought to play a role in muscle synthesis. BCAAs are an essential part of the human diet, and since you cannot produce them yourself, you must get them from food. Branched chain amino acids are actually present in all protein-containing foods. Red meat and dairy foods are particularly high in branched chain amino acids, but so are things like chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts and soy protein. Even if you're a vegetarian or a vegan, you are probably getting them from beans and rice or a grilled cheese sandwich. If you have a balanced diet and are consuming enough protein, you're likely consuming enough branch chain amino acid supplements. Of the three BCAAs, leucine is unique in that it initiates protein synthesis. During exercise, protein synthesis decreases as a result of the increased protein degradation and BCAA oxidation. Leucine has been found to stimulate muscle protein synthesis post-exercise. Combined with the aforementioned benefits of all the BCAAs, leucine can help an athlete increase their lean muscle mass. Based on this research, athletes that are trying to cut weight while preserving muscle mass can benefit from supplementation as well those who are trying to increase their lean mass and strength. Branch chain amino acid supplements compose 38 percent of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins and 45 percent of the preformed amino acids required by mammals. While BCAAs and their byproducts can reach toxic levels in the human body in rare cases such as certain metabolic disorders, it’s very difficult to achieve a toxic level in a normal, healthy person. In fact, branch chain amino acid supplements have been used in the treatment of burn victims as well as liver diseases.

One reason BCAAs are different from other amino acids is that they aren't degraded by the liver which every other amino acid is processed by the gut and the liver before being circulated throughout the body. Branch chain amino acid supplements head directly into the bloodstream. Typically, leucine and isoleucine are important for athletes since they're closely tied to muscle growth and energy production. Studies have connected BCAAs with reduced fatigue, increased post-exercise muscle growth and reduced levels of post-exercise muscle damage. However, many of these studies center around participants who either aren't eating enough protein or are fairly new to training. As for reports of reduced fatigue, there may be a very mild effect in highly trained individuals. It is likely that the anti-fatigue effects of branched chain amino acids only really apply to untrained or lightly trained people. In anti-fatigue effects, it is highly plausible that this will only apply to untrained or lightly trained persons doing prolonged exercise. There does appear to be a difference between trained and untrained persons and this is due to less tolerance to exercise-induced sedation.