Supp Question: Single Amino Acids (BCAA) vs. Complete NEAAs vs. EAAs

[DK II]

What is your take on this, i have supplemented with BCAA over a longer time but to me, taking a full profile amino acid supplement seems to be much better in any regard.

What about Glutamine, Arginine and so on? Single aminos or EAA? Single aminos PLUS sth else?

[YoungBlood]

I've never even bothered with taking one particular AA at a time, like Arginine. I've done Glutamine, but always used that with meals- or did that really matter for your question? I can't say I really noticed too much with Glutamine, though some swear by it.
I saw one time that Mike Matarazzo loved his BCAA's and so I tried Optimum Nutrition's BCAA powder, and that was good. I could noticeably feel the effect it had on me recovery wise. Again I did take this with a meal though, and each meal had something like tuna, steak or eggs to make a complete protein too.
I do the Milos style shakes, and I love the way I'm able to train with those.

[Montague]

I was taking ON’s BCAA powder with carbs right before & during my workouts with decent results.

Recently, I switched to liver glandulars.
They have a full spectrum of essential (including your BCAA’s) & non-essential amino acids.
I like the fact that the aminos are naturally occurring rather than added or manufactured.

I take them frequently throughout the day so there are always aminos in and entering my blood.
That’s one less powder I have to measure out as part of my “pre-WO ritual.”
I even sometimes take them with a meal if I’m not satisfied with its nutritional quality.

It’s also a bit impractical and expensive to mix & consume BCAA powder several times per day.
And being that beef liver is so highly nutritious naturally, it’d be a shame to neglect such large parts of it by extracting only select AA’s. Even aminos aside, the whole food form of liver contains other important nutrients like heme iron, folic acid, and the important B vitamins 6 & 12.

[tbombz]

meat and dairy protein is tops... with ample amounts of them in your diet adding in more single or paired amino's wont do much to help growth... youc ould get a small benefit by adding in some bcaa's or leucine in between meals if your going long periods without whole food.

[DK II]

meat and dairy protein is tops... with ample amounts of them in your diet adding in more single or paired amino's wont do much to help growth... youc ould get a small benefit by adding in some bcaa's or leucine in between meals if your going long periods without whole food.

Yes, that was what i experienced as well.

But thanks for the idea of adding BCAA to whole meals, i don't really know if that would be beneficial though. Probably a good idea for vegetarians, but when you have a steak and a glass of milk, the additional BCAA won't do much i guess.

[tbombz]

Yes, that was what i experienced as well.

But thanks for the idea of adding BCAA to whole meals, i don't really know if that would be beneficial though. Probably a good idea for vegetarians, but when you have a steak and a glass of milk, the additional BCAA won't do much i guess.

thats not what i meant, i meant that if your going a long time inbetween meals, that taking a bit of bcaa or leucine IN BETWEEN meals might give a little benefit.

[DK II]

thats not what i meant, i meant that if your going a long time inbetween meals, that taking a bit of bcaa or leucine IN BETWEEN meals might give a little benefit.

I got that, do it all the time, i was referring to Montague's post.

Sorry, my bad.

[Mr Anabolic]

I know many guys that take every supplement under the sun, but their training is sub-par.  They look like shit of course.

You need to train BALLS TO THE WALL in order to obtain maximum benefits from amino acids and most other supps.  Anything less and you're just wasting your money.

[DK II]

I know many guys that take every supplement under the sun, but their training is sub-par.  They look like shit of course.

You need to train BALLS TO THE WALL in order to obtain maximum benefits from amino acids and most other supps.  Anything less and you're just wasting your money.

That goes without saying.

[wavelength]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=5607091

and to sum it up:

The benefit of supplemental BCAA on top of a protein-sufficient diet is basically an optimistic hypothesis.

It's not that it's anything harmful or counterproductive, it just hasn't been repeatedly demonstrated in the research as effective when a fair (isonitrogenous) comparator is used.

There's a single study done (the Scivation-funded one that's on its way to JISSN)  that lends support to BCAA supping on top of a preexistent high-protein intake. But, there are obvious limits to a single-study evidence base for any claim.

[DK II]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=5607091

and to sum it up:

Nice, thanks.

[JasonH]

Why do people need to take in BCAA's in tablet or powder form at all?

As long as you're having whey protein powder shouldn't that be enough seeing as it contains all BCAAs?

[YoungBlood]

Why do people need to take in BCAA's in tablet or powder form at all?

As long as you're having whey protein powder shouldn't that be enough seeing as it contains all BCAAs?

BCAA's are in any complete protein. Steak, chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, etc...they are part of the EAA's, but many people ingest more BCAA's because they play an important part in muscle breakdown, or I should say an important part in preventing muscle from breaking down. And you can't get BCAA's in the same amounts from eating, as you can from supplementing. That's why it's called "supplementing," because you don't rely on them as you do regular food.

[Bobby]

Why do people need to take in BCAA's in tablet or powder form at all?

As long as you're having whey protein powder shouldn't that be enough seeing as it contains all BCAAs?

all hype, i doubt anyone would notice a difference if they replaced their bcaa with whey. I don't bother with shit like that, just food and the occasional shake