ive heard differing opinions, the bottle of pure aminos that I bought doesn’t say anything about taking them on an empty stomach, but ive heard otherwise in a few different places. I personally don’t like taking supplements on an empty stomach, but I will if it will increase the effectiveness. Also are EAA’s hard on the stomach? I had some gastritis issues in the past due to over consumption of alcohol, so I eat super clean these days and don’t even look at alcohol, but im not sure if EAA’s are hard on the stomach?
2 questions:
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Are you not getting enough protein?
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Do you train fasted?
If the answer to bother questions is no, then I’m not sure you need to supplement with EAAs.
Of course, a lot of those mixes are quite tasty 
and it can’t hurt to get more aminos in. If you’re concerned about digestion, I’d take a looks at the artificial sweeteners used. I find that some of those ( especially aspartame) really mess with my stomach
@Voxel do you have any links to back me up or am I wrong
There’s plenty of sources speaking to various supplements efficacy but they tend to be circulated by the companies that sell them.
At any rate, EAAs intra-workout aren’t mandatory but it’s probably going to be better to use them than not. If consumed as a powders dissolved in a liquid I cannot imagine any resulting gastric distress occurring (sweeteners being the exception).
If none of the following considerations apply,
an intra-workout feeding is not needed at all.
- Your workouts are longer than 60 minutes.
- You train on an empty stomach (fasted).
- It has been three to five hours since your pre-workout meal.
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Follow John Meadows’ advice (I do):
Yea I figured they aren’t necessary, but I picked up some perfect amino in pill form as I saw a sale and got sucked into buying them for that reason. Now I don’t want them to go to waste. My workouts are pretty intense, but only last about an hour. Looking back I wish I got the powder as it is probably easier on the stomach and easier to digest. None the less I don’t want them to go to waste, but I just wanted to see what the general consensus was on having to take them fasted as to not lose their effectiveness as I’d rather not have that be the only thing in my stomach as I’ve always been told not to take pills on an empty stomach. Maybe a carb source only? I think it’s just protein to avoid taking the aminos with is what I’ve heard. Plus the big fella in the video said it was ok to take with Gatorade so I’m guessing taking them with carbs is ok.
Thanks for the responses!
I get that. Best thing is just to try. No distress? Great. Some distress? Toss them, or give them away.
Next time. Or just stick with whey if that is something you can handle. EAAs are superior intra-workout, but not on the wallet. Taste better though.
Their effect isn’t negated by having food in your stomach. That said, the ideal time to take them will probably be at the start of your workout regardless of whether or not you’ve had a meal beforehand.
Aminos are protein. The only reason to avoid taking them with protein is because you are already having protein. But you could say, get 10g of EAAs from pills and 30g of protein from whey in an intra-workout shake without issue.
Ok your points make sense. I’ll give them a whirl before my workout and see how my stomach handles them. Maybe I’ll just save them for when I’m in a pinch. Thanks for the reply.
I use Kion EAA’s (pill form) and take them on an empty stomach about 20-30 mins before I eat carbs (right before I leave to go to the gym). Protein & fat in particular effect the absorption of them. I love them.