EAA's > BCAA's

[transXisomer]

Originally Posted by AEN

Branch chain amino-acids or just Leucine?

In a previous entry of mine, I reviewed a study that compared the muscle protein stimulus of the essential amino acids (EAA) against a branch chain amino acid formula, that contained an equal amount of leucine compared to the EAA supplement. What that study showed, was that BCAAs could only stimulate protein synthesis for a short time(15-30mins) and then declined rapidly, while the EAA supplement kept protein synthesis stimulated for four hours. In a nutshell, this study and other show the presence of the other EAAs are needed to maintain the rate of muscle protein synthesis, stimulated by leucine.

The next study being reviewed looked at muscle protein synthesis(MPS) in rats and compared the rates brought about by various mixtures of amino-acids and glucose. For simplicities sake, we will just focus on the rates of MPS brought about by the leucine and glucose mixture compared to the BCAA and glucose mixture. The outcome showed there was NO difference in MPS between the two groups, with the researchers stating "the effect of the BCAAs can be attributed entirely to leucine, which had the same effect as the 3 BCAAs together, whereas isoleucine and valine had no effect"

Garlick PJ
The role of leucine in the regulation of protein metabolism
J Nutr. 2005 Jun;135(6 Suppl):1553S-6S.

This is true, also, you need ALL essential amino acids to complete protein synthesis, the amino acid that even starts protein synthesis, methionine, isn't one of the BCAA's but an EAA. You can actually get into a protein negative if you have a large imbalance of certain amino acids within the body.

in addition:

Well, there is this theory that if you don't take in ALL the EAA's (which include BCAAs) in a 1:1:1:1 etc ratio, that you actually can come up to a overall protein balance negative. Your body can't make EAAs, only the NEAAs, so that leaves nine amino acids you HAVE to ingest for your body uses. To make your skeletal muscle protein (proteins are classified having ALL 20 amino acids + usually over 50 amino acids lengths long) you still need the other EAAs even if you ingest tons of BCAAs. So if you ingested a ton of BCAA, and your body still needs the other EAAs, you still can't complete protein synthesis, and you sit in a overall protein balance negative till you get those in. So what I do is I add additional L-Tryptophan to my EAA cocktail (I think all on the market are missing the EAA L-Tryptophan) so that I am not missing an individual EAA, cause you need it anyway, your body can't make it.

For now I won't recommend anyone take just a BCAA or incomplete EAA product when all the EAA studies were done with ALL the EAAs, not missing L-Tryptophan like all the EAA products out (that I am aware of).

Essential amino acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by Wiki

Therefore, a balance of essential amino acids is necessary for a high degree of net protein utilization

Originally Posted by Wiki

The net protein utilization is profoundly affected by the limiting amino acid content (the essential amino acid found in the smallest quantity in the foodstuff), and somewhat affected by salvage of essential amino acids in the body.

[LBVT]

I just eat whole foods. I don't think EAA supplements are necessary at all.

[transXisomer]

Originally Posted by LBVT

I just eat whole foods. I don't think EAA supplements are necessary at all.

Maybe not necessary... however free form amino's behave differently in the body versus whole protein amino's.

[Right Hook]

Yeah I've been seeing this a lot lately. I think one of the big dawgs at Animal Nutrition has been preaching something similar. Might wanna see if their product contains L-Tryptophan...

[Right Hook]

Btw what EAA product are you using?

[mad dog]

Originally Posted by transXisomer

Maybe not necessary... however free form amino's behave differently in the body versus whole protein amino's.

You are exactly right but how much of a difference it actually makes in the real world i wonder.

[Lean1038]

2 Scoops of Purple Wrath intra workout has treated me well.

[mad dog]

Yeah i do use extend and it works great i just question some of these studies.

[transXisomer]

Originally Posted by Right Hook

Btw what EAA product are you using?

AEN Intrabolic (EAA's + Whey Hydrolysate + BA + Electrolytes)

Ive also used Primaforce Primal EAA, Just simple, pure EAA's. I however add l-tryptophan to it because from my knowledge, there is not one EAA product out there with l-tryptophan in it (besides intrabolic).

Originally Posted by mad dog

You are exactly right but how much of a difference it actually makes in the real world i wonder.

'How much a difference' is really dependant on what the individual does / and is looking for. Endurance athletes would benefit tremendously from intra-workout nutrient drinks.

Weight lifters get the benefit of increased protein synthesis, blunted catabolism, enhanced endurance, less fatigue, and faster recovery. If you are looking for gains of 10lbs of pure lean muscle a month, this category of product definitely won't do that now.

[Cooker]

Originally Posted by transXisomer

from my knowledge, there is not one EAA product out there with l-tryptophan in it (besides intrabolic).

FWIW - Supplement Direct EAA and Beverly's Density both have L-Tryptophan