If you go to a gym or do any other sport, surely at some point you have heard something about BCAAs, right?
BCAA comes from the English acronym – Branched Chais Aminoacids, which in free translation into Spanish means branched-chain amino acids
Simply put, amino acids are the parts that make up proteins.
In a more formal explanation, we can say that amino acid is an organic molecule that contains an amine group and a carboxyl group.
Some amino acids can also contain sulfur. The most important form of amino acids, the alpha-amino acids, which make up proteins, usually have as their structure a central carbon to which four groups are attached: the group of amines (NH2), the carboxyl group (COOH), hydrogen, and a characteristic substitute for each amino acid (remember chemistry classes in high school?).
Amino acids join through peptide bonds to form peptides and proteins. In order for cells to make their proteins, they need amino acids, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by the body itself.
With this explanation in mind, we will see when to take BCAAs, how to do it, and what they are for.
What is BCAA?
First, we need to define some concepts to clarify what BCAA is. There are two types of amino acids, and they are as follows:
- Nonessential amino acids: or dispensable, are those that the human body can produce. They are: alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine;
- Essential amino acids are those that cannot be produced by the human body. Therefore, they are only acquired by ingestion of food, vegetables, animals, or supplements. They are phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, histidine, and valine.
- Of the nine essential amino acids, there are three called BCAAs: isoleucine, leucine, and valine.
- These 3 amino acids are known to increase performance during physical exercise, being an important strategy to reduce training-induced muscle damage.
What are BCAAs for?
The BCAA is of special interest to athletes, bodybuilders, and practitioners of physical activity in general because it is metabolized in the muscles. They can be used to produce energy or to build new proteins.
Although complete protein sources (such as meat) contain BCAAs, research has shown that additional supplementation can be beneficial. Let’s see why:
- Saving glycogen and improving body composition
- Studies indicate that GAEC, in addition to acting as a stimulant during exercise. It is known that during prolonged physical activity the muscle collects BCAAs from the bloodstream to oxidize them and generate energy.
- In this sense, amino acid supplementation could lead to increased performance by providing the muscle with substrates that decrease the need for glycogen breakdown.
- It is speculated that BCAA supplementation could also indirectly promote anabolism (increased muscle mass) by modulating growth hormone, insulin, and testosterone, thereby improving body composition.
- In this regard, this supplement can also mitigate protein breakdown and the risk of exercise-induced muscle damage.
- Improvement of central fatigue
- BCAA supplementation has also been extensively studied, depending on the role of these amino acids in installing the core structure of fatigue during prolonged exercise.
- Fatigue can be defined as the set of manifestations produced by prolonged work or exercise.
- Central fatigue, specifically, is that mediated by the central nervous system, which is closely related to the transport and metabolism of tryptophan to the brain.
- What happens is that this transport is carried out by means of amino acids, and that is why the supplementation of branched-chain amino acids is important in these cases, because they “enter” the competition to make this tryptophan transport more efficient, which then it would improve the influx of it to the brain, reducing the feeling of fatigue!
- Gaining strength in old age
- Plasma concentrations of BCAAs comprise more than 1/3 of the essential amino acids for skeletal muscle contraction. With training, BCAA intake produces significant improvements in muscle strength and dynamic balance ability among older people.
BCAAs for professional athletes
A study published in Nutrition in 2017 evaluated the accumulating evidence on the effects of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage.
What this study concluded was that BCAA supplementation is better than passive recovery or rest after various forms of exhaustive exercise. The advantages related to the reduction of muscle pain and the improvement of its function due to the attenuation of muscle strength and loss of muscle power after exercise. Therefore, the quality of these effects can be applicable to elite sport.
Take BCAAs and glutamine
You have probably heard about glutamine supplements for athletes on more than one occasion. The most common recommendation is to take them after training, like the rest of bcaa.
There is usually a bit of confusion about this, glutamine is not something different from bcaa, it is one of the 20 amino acids that help synthesize protein in our body. For this reason, many protein supplements often contain a certain dose of glutamine as well.
In addition, it has other functions in our body such as maintaining the acid-base balance in our kidneys and thus having a neutral PH.
Types of BCAAs
As for the form of presentation: powder, liquid, or capsules, you can choose the one that best suits you.
Another point is when looking for this supplement to buy, you can find several BCAAs with different ratios, such as 2: 1: 1, 4: 1: 1, and so on.
This means that in the composition of its BCAA it has 1g of leucine, 500mg of isoleucine, and 500mg of valine. This “differentiated” ratio that we find on the market only increases the amount of leucine.
An investigation developed by the University of Baylor, in Texas (USA), revealed something curious.
A study was done with a group that used only leucine, a group that used BCAAs in the ratio 2: 1: 1, and a third group that took a placebo after a leg workout The study concluded that the leucine group performed better than the placebo group, but the 2: 1: 1 group had the highest protein synthesis of all groups.
Additionally, using a BCAA that has a much higher proportion of leucine can interfere with increased energy and fat loss. Some very high leucine BCAAs provide only 500 mg of isoleucine and valine. This amount is not enough to maximize muscle protein synthesis.
