What Are BCAAs?
BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine and valine) can be derived from proteins in foods or supplements, and are broken down in your muscle, unlike other amino acids that are broken down in the liver.What sets BCAAs apart is their branched molecular structure, and this may contribute to their ability to be readily converted into glucose. This occurs once you exert too much effort and place unusual demands on the body, since protein can be broken down and burned as fuel, unlike in normal circumstances when carbohydrates are being burned. Nearly 10 percent of energy that drives your workouts comes from BCAAs.
How Dieting Can Cause Muscle Loss
Dieting is catabolic, which means it can lead to muscle breakdown, for several reasons. The leaner a body gets, the more likely it is to lose skeletal muscle as the body tries harder and harder to hold on to body fat stores. In doing so, a side effect is that the body will turn to muscle to satisfy its energy needs. Bad news for anyone interested in a hard body.
Dieting down will get you shredded, but it might also shave some size from your biceps. BCAAs can help protect your muscles against the catabolic effects of dieting!!!
Studies on BCAAs
Research has shown the potential health impacts of BCAAs. These amino acids were proven to be helpful in decreasing a person's risk for becoming overweight and obese, as seen in a February 2011 Journal of Nutrition study. A November 2015 Nutrients article also highlighted that increased amounts of dietary BCAAs were inversely associated with abdominal obesity.Other studies also supported BCAAs' role in exercise performance. According to a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in November 2008, a high-protein diet combined with BCAAs reduced fatigue among sailors who participated in a 32-hour offshore sailing race.Meanwhile, a September 2016 study published in the journal Amino Acids found that BCAAs, particularly leucine, helped speed up recovery from muscle damage by inhibiting excess inflammation. An October 2013 Metabolites article also recorded a significant correlation between an increase in BCAAs and insulin resistance.
BCAAs' Benefits and Uses
Assist with intensifying workouts — BCAAs help prevent tryptophan from being converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin inside the brain. This can be helpful since working out can raise serotonin levels and increase perception of fatigue, which can lead to a less intense workout. Other workout-related benefits of BCAAs include helping decrease fatigue during exercise and reducing muscle soreness after a workout.BCAAs are essential for bodybuilding, since these may promote muscle growth.
Increase Protein Synthesis
Branched-chain amino acids stimulate muscle protein synthesis, potentially more than a normal protein on its own. Protein synthesis is the metabolic process when your body makes new muscle protein, also known as gains.
Reduce Protein Breakdown
Increased BCAA levels also work in your favor by reducing the rate of protein breakdown. They do this by decreasing the activity of the protein breakdown pathway, and also by decreasing the expression of several complexes involved in protein breakdown. Increasing synthesis and decreasing breakdown will equate to muscle gain.
Have Better Workouts
Amino acid supplementation could also help you get a more intense workout. Branched-chain amino acids compete with the amino acid tryptophan for entry into the brain, where tryptophan can be converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin. During exercise, serotonin levels rise and can make you feel more fatigued, meaning you wont be able to push as hard. BCAA supplementation reduces the amount of tryptophan that gets through the blood-brain barrier, and therefore reduces the amount of serotonin produced. This might allow you to work harder, longer, and get more gains.
BCAAs may assist in regulating blood sugar levels and improving blood sugar metabolism.
Some research has also proven that BCAAs can both decrease and increase blood sugar levels depending on the circumstances.
BCAAs And Whey
Despite all these benefits of BCAA supplementation, there are many skeptics who say branched-chain amino acids are overpriced and you can just get them from whey protein. While proteins like whey are naturally rich in BCAAs, this isnt the most effective strategy for muscle growth or fat loss.The BCAAs in whey are peptide-bound to other amino acids. In order to raise BCAA levels in your body, they must be liberated through digestion and then absorbed into the bloodstream. Even though whey protein is relatively fast digesting, it still takes several hours for all the amino acids to be broken down and absorbed into the plasma.Branched-chain amino acids in supplement form, however, are free-form, require no digestion, and are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. They spike blood amino acid levels more quickly and to a much greater extent than peptide-bound aminos in proteins. Even a few grams of free-form BCAAs will spike BCAA plasma levels way more than 30 grams of whey protein. They can start working right away.
BCAAs And Glucose Levels
Branched-chain amino acids play an important role in regulating glucose. They are continuously released from the liver and other internal organs to skeletal muscles to maintain blood sugar levels. Having enough of these amino acids in the body can help improve glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity in healthy people.These essential amino acids are responsible for a large portion of blood sugar production during workouts. This is important to note if you work out in a fasted state or if youre on a calorie restricted diet.When you have a balanced carbohydrate, high-protein, and amino acid beverage during and post-exercise, this can induce an insulin response. The insulin response helps transport aminos into cells to repair muscle damage and build muscle tissue. Youre basically replenishing the anabolic building blocks that your body needs to repair itself post-workout and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.
Taking Branched-Chain Amino Acids Pre-Workout
BCAA supplementation should also be a regular part of your pre-workout routine. Since these amino acids bypass the liver and gut and go directly into your blood plasma, they can be used as an immediate energy source during high-intensity workouts. Valine and isoleucine are glucogenic amino acids, meaning they can be converted to glucose to give you energy. That can help you fight fatigue during your muscle-building workouts.
