Amino Acids

[CKDisforme]

I am wondering if supplemental use of AAs (capsule or pill) is worth taking with each meal. Are they effective?

 

[kingc_79]

bump

 

[Jandy]

Depends on what else your taking...

if it was the only think you were going to use, I'd say yes, but any whey worth the $ should have a very full amino acid profile as is

 

[faller]

Not worth it. Stick to protein powder and food.

 

[danielson]

i;ve always wondered if they stick in some special amino acids in there or something, as egg is supposed to be a perfect protein (all the smino acids you need in perfect proportions for growth)

unless they have proteins in them you dont need but are good. i'd just have an egg, they;re cheaper and have way more protein in them

 

[faller]

An egg would be a much better choice than the pills.
The pills generally don't have that much AA in them. I remember twinlab used to make HUGE pills so they would have enough AA in them to count!
Sometimes they use just protein powder and put it in a capsule, in which case buying the powder yourself is a lot cheaper. Sometimes they have free form amino acids in them instead. Although it would seem like these would be easier to absorb, the opposite is true (which is why glutamine peptides better absorbed than free form).

 

[CKDisforme]

thanks for your replys, yea I think I used them back in high school - I was reading from the diet that I am doing - currently- and that they had mentioned AAs so I thought I might try them - I use shakes as my supplemental protein and obviously the rest from whole food - but I will go with the majority on this one - and say goodbye to the AAs...

 

[SoreArms]

I've read that BCAA's are a good supplement when doing cardio to help avoid catabolysm. Can't exactly remmeber the explanation though, I hope some one can post up if they know

 

[faller]

The BCAA theory follows along the lines of BCAAs being metabolized by muscle rather than the liver. When doing cardio they, along with glutamine, drop first. A lot of the energy gels used in distance sports have added BCAAs in them to counter this. As BCAA levels drop, in the brain they are overpowered by tryptophan, so you get a rush of serotonin, causing drowsiness. This really happens only in larger cardio events though. Personally, I would use something like that endurox drink with carbs and protein all the time if I could afford it. Probably wouldn't kill me to make my own lol.