What is the difference between taking BCAAs and protein? and is it necessary to take both together?
BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids… They are amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Necessary to be taken together? You’re referring to supplementing then no.
Are you only supposed to take BCAAs when you do fasted workouts? Obviously neither are necessary, but I am just curious.
[quote]illadelphia91 wrote:
Are you only supposed to take BCAAs when you do fasted workouts? Obviously neither are necessary, but I am just curious. [/quote]
Just depends on who you talk to and what strategy/style of fasted training you are doing, what time you are training, etc… There is more information on BCAA and training fasted on the leangains website.
[quote]Booker T wrote:
What is the difference between taking BCAAs and protein? and is it necessary to take both together?[/quote]
Look at it like this: BCAAs as being broken down protein. That means it will be easier for the body to absorb and put to work building new muscle, etc.
You do not have to take both together. However if you combine protein with l-leucine ( which is a BCAA ) it will spur increased protein synthesis allowing for better utilization ( overly simplistic way of looking at it ). In this instance it would be great to mix them.
It is not always easier for the body to absorb BCAAs instead of protein. This is for many reasons - one of which is that the amino acid transport requires sodium as a cofactor.
Thanks a lot for clearing that up corstijeir
Booker T, to add to what Corst said, amino acids make up proteins. Some are very small and some are much larger. As an example, Growth Hormone is a protein made up of 191 amino acids linked together.
There are 22 amino acids, 10 of which are considered “essential” (meaning that we can’t make them and that we have to get them through the diet). Three of these are Branched Chain Amino Acids, and their of special interest because they’re metabolized in muscle and not the liver.
To grow muscle, you need all the amino acids ingested or produced over the course of a day. However, we know that feeding the muscles large amounts of BCAAs in particular, facilitates additional growth.
Should you sip or chug your protein after a workout? I’ve heard you should take atleast 20 minutes to finish your protein shake in order to make sure it all gets absorbed, similar to a regular meal. Any thoughts?
[quote]Booker T wrote:
Should you sip or chug your protein after a workout? I’ve heard you should take atleast 20 minutes to finish your protein shake in order to make sure it all gets absorbed, similar to a regular meal. Any thoughts?
[/quote]
My thought is to not over analyze everything. Just drink it in a reasonable time and forget about it.
[quote]Booker T wrote:
Should you sip or chug your protein after a workout? I’ve heard you should take atleast 20 minutes to finish your protein shake in order to make sure it all gets absorbed, similar to a regular meal. Any thoughts?
[/quote]
Maybe if your entire environment is optimized* and you are trying to make that 1% difference then this would matter otherwise drink it they way in which is most comfortable for you.
*protip: it’s not
[quote]DiddlySquat wrote:
[quote]Booker T wrote:
Should you sip or chug your protein after a workout? I’ve heard you should take atleast 20 minutes to finish your protein shake in order to make sure it all gets absorbed, similar to a regular meal. Any thoughts?
[/quote]
My thought is to not over analyze everything. Just drink it in a reasonable time and forget about it.[/quote]
I agree with DS. Definitely getting into the weeds and minutia here.
are 3 eggs a day bad for your heart? would eating 3 eggs daily result in a high blood pressure? I’ve done research but im getting mixed results.
[quote]Booker T wrote:
are 3 eggs a day bad for your heart? would eating 3 eggs daily result in a high blood pressure? I’ve done research but im getting mixed results.[/quote]
no
BCAA’s stand for branch chain amino acids. There are three BCAA’s that have “branched” noncontinuous links of carbon bonds. These include the amino acids isoleucine, leucine and valine. They have the advantage of absorbing very fast, when compared to whole protein, and carry with them high amounts of protein synthesis signaling (tell body to build muscle).
Now that’s not to say you should forget whole protein. The reality is, the body uses 20 amino acids in which to build muscle, 9 of which it cannot produce and therefore it is “essential” that you get them through your diet. They are called essential amino acids. Proteins, such as whey, have all 9 essential amino acids. The disadvantage is that they take a little longer to fully absorb than BCAA’s. To not include them would be a big mistake though, as your body requires all 9 essential amino acids to keep a proper nitrogen balance and to build and repair muscle tissue.
The strategy then should be to always focus on getting in complete proteins, esp. post workout. This really is all that is required as, whey contains BCAA’s along with every other needed amino acid. If you have the money and want to try to get an added edge, take BCAA’s directly post workout. It’ll take about 6 min for them to absorb and begin their protein synthesis signaling, at which point, you can eat your complete protein along with the rest of your meal to supply the full array of essential amino acids for repair.
[quote]Booker T wrote:
are 3 eggs a day bad for your heart? would eating 3 eggs daily result in a high blood pressure? I’ve done research but I am getting mixed results.[/quote]
I eat eggs every day and my blood tests are just fine. They are a great source of protein. If I am out of the house, I’ll take two hard boiled and eat them whenever I get hungry.