BCAA's

[Psychoeric210]

Maybe it's just me, but I have been seeing more and more BCAA supplements being advertised. I have never taken BCAA's supplemented, other than what was in each serving of my protein powders. Well, my question is, how much supplemented BCAA's are needed generally, when to supplement them, and Does being on or off cycle change that amount? Also on *********, I see they sell something called BCAA structured peptides...seems new....but I never trust overhyped advertisements.

[Turkish Juicer]

The big deal about BCAA is that the three amino acids that make up for the structure do not require liver protein synthesis, hence they get into the blood stream fast, help recover the muscle fibers that are subjected to hypertrophy. This also means BCAA supplements are liver friendly, hence motivating some BBs to lean towards BCAA concerning amino acid supplementation, since they know they can get the rest of their amino acids from natural sources.

Being on or off the cycle is supposed to change the amount. Why would you want to take less while on gear? You are supposed to increase your daily protein intake drastically while you are on gear, what would be the point of juicing otherwise?

In the last result, BCAA works. Therefore, I would not call it an overrated supplement. I do not know about the BCAA structured peptides though, my experience comes from micronized pure BCAA powders.

[Psychoeric210]

Thanks TJ. I was thinking the same thing as far as on cycle. So I guess it wouldn't hurt to up my intake supplement it sounds. I didn't see a sticky on BCAA's, but browsing from my non-smart phone sucks but I do what I can. lol. Thanks for the info.

[Turkish Juicer]

You will certainly benefit from upping your daily protein intake while on gear, whether this protein comes from BCAA or Whey or natty sources like beef, pork, chicken, eggs. They are all made of amino acids, building blocks of muscle.

Your welcome.

[manonfire]

I was taking Bcaa and I didnt notce a difference so I go off of it maybe I should try it again

[Awesome_Archy]

You will certainly benefit from upping your daily protein intake while on gear, whether this protein comes from BCAA or Whey or natty sources like beef, pork, chicken, eggs. They are all made of amino acids, building blocks of muscle.

Your welcome.

I have been told that BCAAs aren't really worth it unless you're on a low cal diet. Any truth to this?

[Psychoeric210]

I have been told that BCAAs aren't really worth it unless you're on a low cal diet. Any truth to this?

I've heard that before too, and also, I always see "BCAA's" sold and then I see leucine sold right next to it.....is there a reason why we would need more leucine than the others???

[Turkish Juicer]

I have been told that BCAAs aren't really worth it unless you're on a low cal diet. Any truth to this?

This is an insubstantial claim IMO.

BCAA's are a source of high BV protein just like Whey, Casein, Beef Aminos and etc.

How does one correlate between BCAAs being worth their price and being on a low calorie diet anyway?

Do not believe everything you hear.

[Turkish Juicer]

I've heard that before too, and also, I always see "BCAA's" sold and then I see leucine sold right next to it.....is there a reason why we would need more leucine than the others???

The three branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), leucine, isoleucine and valine, are dietary essential amino acids which play critical roles in protein structure as well as muscle-protein synthesis.

Therefore, people who supplement with BCAAs usually do not also take Leucine on top of it, since BCAA typically includes it.

I am not sure about what you are asking here but I doubt the conclusion you should leap to is that ''we would need more leucine than the others'' when you see BCAA and Leucine supplements shelved right next to one another.

[Turkish Juicer]

Lastly, one can supplement with 10gr of EAA, a similar amount of BCAA or 3.2gr of leucine PWO instead of 20gr of whey since it is shown to be enough to maximize or saturate protein synthesis with these AA supplements. There are numerous studies showing that such a dosing protocol of either supplements yield the same results as far as muscle-protein synthesis is concerned.

This is exactly why you pay more for a BCAA, EAA or leucine supplement on a gr basis and hence it would be premature to say BCAA is a rip off.

You get what you pay for.

[Awesome_Archy]

Thanks Turk always willing to clear things up.

[Turkish Juicer]

I am one of those people who advocate AGAINST glossy products in the supplement market. Marketing tactics of the supplement industry is one of the most vicious of all, once a muscular pro is photographed and photoshopped while chugging an overpriced creatine product like Cell-tech, it becomes the easiest task for even a reasonable person to fall for the over-priced product due to the dramatic ad.

I have loudly spoken AGAINST hyper-marketed so called ''new generation'' creatine and nitric oxide products that are practically useless to me and many other experienced users of basic BB supplements, as I will continue to do so.

However, when it comes to very basic products like BCAA, EAA, Creatine Mono, these are all amino acids that have been proven to work (although Creatine may not work for some people), both in studies (not necessarily conducted by supp. companies) and in personal experience. Therefore, it would be unfair to categorize these supplements along with the hyper-marketed glossy ones, one needs to know how to separate bad apples from the good ones when they are all in the same basket.

Again, on a gr basis, you are not really paying more for BCAA or EAA compared to how much you are paying for a designer whey. Instead of 20gr whey intake PWO, intake of 10gr EAA yields about the same results concerning muscle-protein synthesis. I have gone through phases of where I stopped taking 25gr of whey PWO for various reasons and replaced it with 12gr of BCAA. Guess what? I did not get any smaller, nor my weights went down.