What are BCAAs? In fact, it’s a muscle-boosting and performance-enhancing aid. This compound may also help with weight loss and reduce fatigue after intense exercise.
There are more than 20 different amino acids in our bodies that help in protein synthesis in the body. Among them, there are 9 essential amino acids that cannot be made by the body. You only supplement through diet. Of the 9 essential amino acids, there are 3 branched chain amino acids BCAA. So let’s find out what BCAA is, its role in the body and the benefits that BCAA brings.
What are BCAAs?
BCAAs are a series of essential amino acids that the body cannot synthesize on its own, and can only be obtained through eating or using supplements/functions. BCAAs consist of three amino acids: leucine, isoleucine and valine.
How do BCAAs work?
BCAAs make up a large portion of the body’s total amino acids. This compound represents about 40% of the essential amino acids in the human body and 18% of which is found in muscle.
In contrast to most other amino acids, BCAAs are mainly broken down in the muscles, not the liver. Therefore, this compound plays an important role in energy production during exercise.
BCAAs help produce energy during exercise
Leucine in BCAAs is responsible for assisting the body in stimulating muscle protein synthesis, commonly known as muscle building. This compound is also involved in the regulation of blood sugar by conserving sugar molecules and the liver and stimulating the cells that take up sugar from the blood.
What’s more, BCAAs will help reduce feelings of fatigue after exercise by reducing serotonin production in the brain.
Of the three amino acids, leucine is believed to have the greatest impact on the ability to build muscle protein. Meanwhile, isoleucine and valine have been shown to be more effective in generating energy and regulating blood sugar.
What are the benefits of BCAAs?
Through research and application processes, BCAAs have proven to bring the following benefits:
Increase muscle mass
After having a clear understanding of what BCAAs are, most people who supplement with BCAAs want to increase muscle mass. According to many studies from the American health organization, BCAAs have the ability to activate enzymes responsible for building muscle.
Several other studies have also shown that BCAA supplementation is effective in increasing muscle mass, especially if there is a higher ratio of leucine to isoleucine and valine.
BCAAs can also help prevent muscle soreness after exercise. This compound works by lowering blood levels of the enzymes creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase.
These are enzymes that limit muscle damage. This improves recovery and provides some protection against muscle damage.
BCAAs can help increase muscle mass
Enhance fat burning ability
BCAA’s branched chain amino acids can help prevent weight gain and boost fat burning. In fact, studies show that people who consume an average of 15g of BCAAs/day from their diet are 30% less likely to be overweight or obese than those who consume an average of 12g/day. .
If you’re trying to lose weight, BCAAs can help your body get rid of unwanted fat more effectively.
In another study, with weight training, for about 8 weeks, if they supplemented with 14g of BCAAs/day, they lost 1% more body fat than those given 28g of whey protein/day. What’s more, the BCAA group also gained 2kg more muscle.
Reduce complications in liver disease
Supplementing with BCAAs may be effective in improving liver function and reducing the risk of complications in people with liver disease.
According to many health experts, for patients with liver disease, BCAA supplements offer more benefits than other supplements in reducing the severity of cirrhosis.
Another recent study of patients undergoing liver surgery showed that: Supplementing with an abundant amount of BCAAs has the potential to improve liver function, reduce complications and shorten hospital stays.
Supplementing with BCAAs may also be effective in reducing fatigue and improving sleep quality and cramping in populations with liver conditions.
Helps improve liver function
What is the effect of reducing fatigue during exercise of BACC?
Whether muscle fatigue occurs sooner or later depends on many factors. It all includes exercise intensity, duration, environmental conditions, and nutritional content.
This happens because corn uses BCAAs during exercise, causing blood levels to drop. When blood levels of BCAAs decrease, levels of the essential amino acid tryptophan in the brain increase. Tryptophan inside the brain converts to serotonin, a chemical thought to contribute to fatigue during exercise.
Meanwhile, BCAAs can help support physical and mental fatigue. Studies report BCAA users have up to 15% less fatigue levels than those taking a placebo. In another study, the group taking BCAAs exercised 17% longer before exhaustion, compared with the placebo group.
Relieve muscle pain
The effects of BCAAs can help reduce muscle soreness. Muscle soreness during exercise is a result of the accumulation of biochemical end products, which means that the muscles will become more acidic (due to a build-up of lactic acid). This usually goes away within minutes or hours of a workout.
There is a type of muscle pain called delayed-onset myopathy (DOMS) that involves damage, inflammatory reactions, and edema within the muscle fibers. This usually occurs 12 to 48 hours after exercise.
DOMS reduces the muscle’s ability to generate force, causing the training process to be interrupted. Many people apply different methods such as muscle relaxation, ice, massage, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to improve the condition. And more recently using branched chain amino acids BCAA.
Researchers from the UK tested athletes who consumed a total of 20g of BCAAs per day with two doses of 10g per day and showed positive signs in muscle recovery. It is thought that BCAAs help reduce levels of creatine kinase, which is involved in post-workout muscle soreness and damage.
Control blood sugar
Branched-chain amino acids play an important role in glucose regulation. They are continuously released from the liver and other internal organs to skeletal muscle to maintain blood sugar levels. When the body has enough of these amino acids in the body, it improves glucose absorption and increases insulin sensitivity in healthy people.
These essential amino acids play a large role in blood sugar production during exercise. This is important when you’re exercising in a fasted state or on a calorie-restricted diet.
Eating a balanced diet of carbohydrates, high protein, and amino acids during and after exercise produces an insulin response. This helps transport amino acids into cells to repair muscle damage and build muscle tissue.
How to use BCAAs properly?
Additionally, BCAA supplements are generally considered safe, with generally no side effects for the majority of users. Studies on the safety of consuming higher amounts of BCAAs are rare.
However, studies show that a total BCAA intake between 15-35g per day appears to be safe for everyone.
The best time to take a BCAA supplement is before and/or after a workout. For those who are trying to build muscle can also use in the morning and before going to bed.
If you’re not using commercially available products, you can also supplement your BCAAs with protein-rich foods like eggs, meat, dairy products, or a powdered supplement. During training, nutrition is always a key factor for you to achieve your desired fitness goals.
In addition, for foods containing Amino Acids found in BCAAs, you can find them in:
- Legumes (such as black beans, red beans, green beans, white beans, pinto beans, peas, soybeans, chickpeas, etc.). There are up to 13,000 different types of beans that you can easily add to your daily menu.
- Types of seaweed
- Good carb foods like wheat, barley, barley
- Almonds and oil-containing almonds such as walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, cashews, etc.
- Jelly
- Eggs such as chicken eggs, duck eggs, fish eggs
- Milk and dairy foods such as cheese, yogurt
To maintain health and healthy body shape, in addition to supplementing with adequate nutrients for your body, you should build a scientific exercise and sports regimen. Download the increaseheightblog.com app to schedule a workout with professional coaches, check in at more than 100 clubs/gyms, or join thousands of classes with just one touch. Try and experience the wonderful thing that increaseheightblog.com brings to you.
Reference source
BCAA Benefits: A Review of Branched-Chain Amino Acids https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bcaa Accessed: 13/3/2020
Hi everyone, I’m Tony Scotti, an expert in the field of height increase with many years of experience researching and applying height increase methods, and have achieved promising results. I have created increase height blog as a personal blog to share knowledge and experience about what I have learned during the process of improving my own height.
