every time i take BCAA between meals about an hour later i get real tired kind of like a carb crash does anyone have a similar reaction?
[quote]brunottfn wrote:
every time i take BCAA between meals about an hour later i get real tired kind of like a carb crash does anyone have a similar reaction?[/quote]
have you changed your diet along with starting the BCAAs? for instance, if you started something like the “get shredded diet”…you just might be experiencing carb crashes themselves.
i can see know logical reason why BCAAs would make you feel tired. they arent even something that are going to make you feel different when you take them, so if youre thinking that, then maybe its something of a placebo effect.
It sounds like you aren’t eating enough… the BCAA’s aren’t able to act as a meal substitute?
The only thing I can imagine is that if they have kicked your muscles into anabolic mode then your muscles might consume a little more energy in that mode… lowering your blood sugar a little faster in the process.
BCAA’s do cause some amount of insulin release I do believe. So if you take enough of them and your blood sugar is allready fairly low I imagine they could cause low blood sugar.
I have the exact same effect. I’ve only started taking BCAAs this week, and only feel the sleepy (albeit, the nice, relaxed kind of sleepy) effect after ingesting BCAAs. The feeling takes full hold relatively quickly, perhaps within 30-45 minutes and I just want to lie down. But I’ve found that the feeling doesn’t prohibit me from getting in a full workout. I think I might just start taking it before bed and then, before a workout, add in some caffeinated supp.
i wish i knew why it happens.
Some questions to help diagnose:
How long do you wait between meals?
Are you eating hypo or hyper-caloric at the moment?
How many BCAA’s are you ingesting each time?
You didn’t mention it, but what brand of BCAA’s are you using? If they are the Biotest version, how long have you been taking them?
Do you drink Surge ever? If so do you get the same crash after that?
Do you ever get a similar crash after eating a P/F meal?
You mentioned the effects were similar to a carb crash- do you get those often? In the morning or the evening? Are you pretty carb sensitive or the opposite?
i take them 90 min after meals,eating hypocaloric,i dont crash when i eat low glycemic carbs,the brand is Biotest
As mentioned above, BCAA’s can cause an insulin surge not much different from eating carbs.
If it’s a problem, take them with a few capsules of Flameout or a tablespoon of olive oil. That’ll slow down the absorption a bit and temper the insulin surge.
[quote]TC wrote:
As mentioned above, BCAA’s can cause an insulin surge not much different from eating carbs.
If it’s a problem, take them with a few capsules of Flameout or a tablespoon of olive oil. That’ll slow down the absorption a bit and temper the insulin surge.
[/quote]could taking them between meals lead to fat gain like eating simple carbs?
[quote]TC wrote:
…
If it’s a problem, take them with a few capsules of Flameout …
[/quote]
one of my favorite mini meals…
bcaa’s and Flameout.
[quote]brunottfn wrote:
i take them 90 min after meals,eating hypocaloric,i dont crash when i eat low glycemic carbs,the brand is Biotest[/quote]
You didn’t really answer all of the questions. What you did answer says a lot though. You are hypo-caloric right now- which (I hope you actually know what that means) means you may not be taking in enough food overall in the day. Causing an insulin spike without much food in your stomach can cause a crash. The Flameout idea TC threw out is good, but really any healthy fats will work.
Also- I didn’t ask if you crashed after low GI carbs- most people don’t. I asked about Surge because I wanted to know if you crashed after Hi GI carbs.
As for the timing. How long to you go between meals? 90 minutes after may not be the best time for you. You may want to wait to take them until about an hour prior to your next meal. Or just shorten the time in-between meals, even if that means adding a meal.
[quote]brunottfn wrote:
could taking them between meals lead to fat gain like eating simple carbs?[/quote]
No.
they’re more insulinogenic than pure glucose