BCAA Benefits: A Review of Branched-Chain Amino Acids.
If you are in the fitness regime you may have heard of BCAA powder or tablets as supplements for pre-workout requirements. BCAA's uses for building muscle mass are among its top benefits that users look for.
First, your body can use them as building blocks for protein and muscle. They may also be involved in regulating your blood sugar levels by preserving liver and muscle sugar stores and stimulating your cells to take in sugar from your bloodstream.
What’s more, BCAAs may help reduce the fatigue you feel during exercise by reducing the production of serotonin in your brain.
What are BCAA's?
The proteins that compose the human body are made of 20 different amino acids (9 essential amino acids + 11 non-essential amino acids). The function and shape of each protein vary depending on the number, type, and combination order of its amino acids. All 20 amino acids are needed to build the body, but essential amino acids cannot be synthesized in the body and must be acquired from food. The essential amino acids that are converted to energy in the muscles are called "BCAA (branched-chain amino acids)."Bcaas consists of three essential amino acids:- Leucine.
- Isoleucine.
- Valine.
These amino acids are grouped together because they are the only three amino acids to have a chain that branches off to one side. Like all amino acids, BCAA's are the building blocks your body uses to make proteins. Bcaas are considered essential because, unlike nonessential amino acids, your body cannot make them. Therefore, it is essential to get them from your diet.
Benefits of branched-chain amino acids "BCAAs".
BCAAs make up a large chunk of the body’s total amino acid pool. Together, they represent around 35-40% of all essential amino acids present in your body and 14–18% of those found in your muscles. Contrary to most other amino acids, BCAAs are mostly broken down in the muscle, rather than in the liver. Because of this, they are thought to play a role in energy production during exercise.
1. Increase muscle growth.
2. Decrease Muscle Soreness.
3. Reduce exercise fatigue.
4. Prevent muscle wasting.
5. Benefit people with liver disease.
One of the most popular uses of BCAA's is to increase muscle growth. The bcaa leucine activates a certain pathway in the body that stimulates muscle protein synthesis, which is the process of making muscle.
In one study, people who consumed a drink with 5.6 grams of BCAA's after their resistance workout had a 22% greater increase in muscle protein synthesis compared to those who consumed a placebo drink.
That being said, this increase in muscle protein synthesis is approximately 50% less than what was observed in other studies where people consumed a whey protein shake containing a similar amount of BCAA's.
Whey protein contains all the essential amino acids needed to build muscle. Therefore, while BCAAs can increase muscle protein synthesis, they can’t do so maximally without the other essential amino acids, such as those found in whey protein or other complete protein sources.
BCAA's can help decrease muscle soreness after a workout. It’s not uncommon to feel sore a day or two after a workout, especially if your exercise routine is new. This soreness is called delayed onset muscle soreness (doms), which develops 12 to 24 hours after exercise and can last up to 72 hours.
While the exact cause of doms is not clearly understood, researchers believe it’s the result of tiny tears in the muscles after exercise. BCAAs have been shown to decrease muscle damage, which may help reduce the length and severity of doms.
Several studies show that BCAAs decrease protein breakdown during exercise and decrease levels of creatine kinase, which is an indicator of muscle damage, in one study, people who were supplemented with BCAAs before a squat exercise experienced reduced doms and muscle fatigue compared to the placebo group.
Therefore, supplementing with BCAAs. especially before exercise, may speed up recovery time.
Just as BCAAs may help decrease muscle soreness from exercise, they may also help reduce exercise-induced fatigue.
Everyone experiences fatigue and exhaustion from exercise at some point. How quickly you tire depends on several factors, including exercise intensity and duration, environmental conditions, and your nutrition and fitness level.
Your muscles use BCAAs during exercise, causing levels in your blood to decrease. When blood levels of BCAAs decline, levels of the essential amino acid tryptophan in your brain increase.
In your brain, tryptophan is converted to serotonin, a brain chemical that is thought to contribute to the development of fatigue during exercise. In two studies, participants who were supplemented with BCAAs improved their mental focus during exercise, which is thought to result from the fatigue-reducing effect of BCAAs.
However, this decrease in fatigue is unlikely to translate to improvements in exercise performance.
Bcaas can help prevent muscle wasting or breakdown. Muscle proteins are constantly broken down and rebuilt (synthesized). The balance between muscle protein breakdown and synthesis determines the amount of protein in muscle.
Muscle wasting or breakdown occurs when protein breakdown exceeds muscle protein synthesis. Muscle wasting is a sign of malnutrition and occurs with chronic infections, cancer, periods of fasting, and as a natural part of the aging process.
In humans, BCAAs account for 35% of the essential amino acids found in muscle proteins. They account for 40% of the total amino acids required by your body. Therefore, the BCAAs and other essential amino acids must be replaced during times of muscle wasting to halt it or slow its progression.
Several studies support the use of bcaa supplements for inhibiting muscle protein breakdown. This may improve health outcomes and quality of living in certain populations, such as the elderly and those with wasting diseases like cancer.
BCAAs may improve health in people with cirrhosis, a chronic disease in which the liver does not function properly. It’s estimated that 50% of people with cirrhosis will develop hepatic encephalopathy, which is the loss of brain function that occurs when the liver is unable to remove toxins from the blood.
Liver cirrhosis is also a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer, for which bcaa supplements may also be useful. Several studies have shown that taking bcaa supplements may offer protection against liver cancer in people with liver cirrhosis.
As such, scientific authorities recommend these supplements as a nutritional intervention for liver disease to prevent complications.
6. Bcaas may lower blood sugar levels.
7. Bcaas may enhance weight loss.
Bcaas may also help maintain normal blood sugar levels. Leucine and isoleucine are thought to increase insulin secretion and cause your muscles to take in more sugar from your blood, thereby decreasing your blood sugar levels.
However, in practice, not all studies back up these effects. In fact, some even report potential rises in blood sugar levels, depending on the type of diet participants followed. For instance, when BCAA's are combined with a high-fat diet, consuming them in supplement form may lead to insulin resistance.
That said, many of these studies were done on animals or cells, which means that their results may not be totally applicable to humans. More studies are needed before strong conclusions can be drawn.
Branched-chain amino acids may help prevent weight gain and enhance fat loss. In fact, observational studies report that those consuming an average of 15 grams of BCAA's from their diet each day may have up to 30% lower risk of becoming overweight or having obesity than those consuming an average of 12 grams per day.
However, it’s worth noting that those consuming fewer BCAAs also consumed around 20 fewer grams of total protein per day, which may have influenced the results. If you’re attempting to lose weight, BCAA's may help your body get rid of unwanted fat more effectively.
Competitive wrestlers consuming a high protein, calorie-restricted diet supplemented with BCAA's lost 3.5 more pounds (1.6 kg) than those given a soy protein supplement over a 19-day study period. The bcaa group also lost 0.6% more body fat than the soy protein group, despite consuming equivalent calories and slightly less total protein each day.
That said, these two studies have some flaws. For instance, they provide little information about the composition of the supplement and of the diet followed, which could have influenced the outcomes.
The 3 functions of BCAA's?
If you consume BCAA's before exercising and use them as a source of energy, they will help you maintain your performance. Their main functions are as follows.
- Compose 30-40% of the essential amino acids that make up muscles.
- Prevent muscle proteins from breaking down.
- Used as an efficient energy source during exercise.
Foods are high in BCAA's.
BCAA's are found in foods and whole protein supplements. Getting BCAA's from complete protein sources is more beneficial, as they contain all the essential amino acids.
Fortunately, BCAA's are abundantly found in many foods and whole protein supplements. This makes bcaa supplements unnecessary for most, especially if you consume enough protein in your diet already.
Consuming protein-rich foods will also provide you with other important nutrients that bcaa supplements lack.
Luckily, there’s a large variety of foods that contain BCAA such as:
- Meat, poultry, and fish.
- Beans and lentils.
- Dairy items such as cheese and milk.
- Tofu and tempeh.
- Eggs.
- Quinoa.
- Nuts and seeds.
BCAA Side Effects.
BCAA side effects are associated with the question of when to take BCAA. In the case of a specific treatment or fitness regime, BCAA supplements can be taken orally for up to six months. It does not show notable side effects until the prolonged duration of intake. The possible side effects may include:
- Avoid taking BCAA foods or supplements pre or post-surgery:- It is best to avoid taking BCAA supplements during the surgery period or after surgery immediately because BCAA might intervene with glucose levels in your body. You may not be able to control blood sugar levels in your body so it is best to avoid it two weeks prior if you are scheduled for surgery around that time.
- Side effects for pregnant or lactating women:- There are no such safety guidelines for pregnant or lactating women who could use BCAA supplements so it is best to avoid it during pregnancy. BCAA side effects are not suitable for women in these periods of time.
- Side effects for chronic alcoholism:- For chronic alcoholic people taking BCAA may not be conducive as it can cause liver-related problems and increase the chances of damaging brain functions such as hepatic encephalopathy.
- Lowers blood sugar for children:- Taking BCAA-rich foods is ideally considered safe for children. But there have been studies that showed BCAA side effects such as leucine could lower blood sugar levels in children or infants. This is a condition called idiopathic hypoglycemia and the cause could be that BCAA leucine helps secrete insulin from the pancreas thus lowering blood sugar levels.
- Avoid if mental or physical conditions prevail:- If branched-chain components such as these amino acids are taken in large quantities then chances of seizures or mental impediments can occur. It is best not to use BCAA supplements if pre-conditions for seizures or other mental or physical impediments prevail.
4 Best BCAA For Bodybuilding.
1. MuscleBlaze BCAA Gold 8:1:1 with Higher Leucine, Electrolytes, and Glutamine (Fruit Punch, 450 g / 0.99 lb, 30 Servings).
2. Xtend BCAAs Powder for Adults (Pre-Workout, 7g BCAAs, 0g Carbs, Sugar & Calories, 3.5 Leucine, 2.5g L-Glutamine, 1g Citrulline Malate) - 402gm, 30 Servings (Watermelon).
3. Doctor's Choice EAA (Essential Amino Acids) BCAA for Intra-Workout/Post Workout 300 grams (Blueberry- 30 Servings), blue, Powder.
4. FAST&UP BCAA Blueberry Flavour Advanced BCAA Supplement with Glutamine, Citrulline, L-Arginine & Taurine -(450gm, 30 Servings).
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