I use it on carb up days in order to keep my protein low and my food is moderate fat, and very high carb.
I think the orange flavor sucks, much prefer the grape bubblegum
Good product, no question
Resurrecting an old thread here because I’m just now getting an interest in EAA’s as replacement for proteins for cutting purposes.
From the thread and others I’ve read (not on T-Nation forums), it appears the following have been reported:
-
Replacing whole protein meals with EAA’s have been successful for many who have experimented with the protocol over a span of 30 days or so. The concurrent reduction in protein elimination calories was replaced with equivalent carb and fat calories for those experiments that appeared successful. One experiment involved having one whole meal a day WITH whole proteins. The experiments appeared to be from highly trained individuals though one admitted that the gains could be from muscle memory.
-
Humapro itself was used in some of these experiments, but there is one where only an EAA matrix from another company was used and the same results were noticed. Conclusion: there was nothing particularly special about Humapro that one couldn’t achieve with another effective EAA matrix. Caveot: this one result however did not replace all whole proteins with EAA; this is the one experiment where 1 whole protein meal was included during the day.
-
Humapro seems to be a ripoff of the Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP) that was the rage in Europe a few years ago. The theory there was that someone “found” the proper essential amino acid proportions that the human body needs without extras of anything. This means there is very little waste in terms of extra fillers, additional aminos, etc. As the theory goes, any “additional” aminos on top of the “proper” amounts will simply go to waste. Humapro is available in both powder and tablet form; MAP is only available via tablet. Both are REALLY expensive.
I’m a MAG-10 user exclusively at the moment, and I personally attest to its effectiveness for me. However, the question of just using EAAs instead of full spectrum proteins (whether from food, protein powders, or di-tri- peptides) has some interesting applications, especially where very low calories are wanted but keeping lean muscle. Many will outright consider this theory utter bunk, but I believe many of these folks are saying that out of regurgitating opinions of others. In other words, they really haven’t tried it. Of course I’m speculating.
An interesting thing for me in 2014 will be to determine what the best way to incorporate these different forms of protein in an effective plan that harnesses the advantages with each. I will always be using MAG-10, and I believe in at least one solid protein meal a day as well. Can incorporation of EAAs as a replacement for one or two of these meals be effective? Interesting question.
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
Resurrecting an old thread here because I’m just now getting an interest in EAA’s as replacement for proteins for cutting purposes.
From the thread and others I’ve read (not on T-Nation forums), it appears the following have been reported:
-
Replacing whole protein meals with EAA’s have been successful for many who have experimented with the protocol over a span of 30 days or so. The concurrent reduction in protein elimination calories was replaced with equivalent carb and fat calories for those experiments that appeared successful. One experiment involved having one whole meal a day WITH whole proteins. The experiments appeared to be from highly trained individuals though one admitted that the gains could be from muscle memory.
-
Humapro itself was used in some of these experiments, but there is one where only an EAA matrix from another company was used and the same results were noticed. Conclusion: there was nothing particularly special about Humapro that one couldn’t achieve with another effective EAA matrix. Caveot: this one result however did not replace all whole proteins with EAA; this is the one experiment where 1 whole protein meal was included during the day.
-
Humapro seems to be a ripoff of the Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP) that was the rage in Europe a few years ago. The theory there was that someone “found” the proper essential amino acid proportions that the human body needs without extras of anything. This means there is very little waste in terms of extra fillers, additional aminos, etc. As the theory goes, any “additional” aminos on top of the “proper” amounts will simply go to waste. Humapro is available in both powder and tablet form; MAP is only available via tablet. Both are REALLY expensive.
I’m a MAG-10 user exclusively at the moment, and I personally attest to its effectiveness for me. However, the question of just using EAAs instead of full spectrum proteins (whether from food, protein powders, or di-tri- peptides) has some interesting applications, especially where very low calories are wanted but keeping lean muscle. Many will outright consider this theory utter bunk, but I believe many of these folks are saying that out of regurgitating opinions of others. In other words, they really haven’t tried it. Of course I’m speculating.
An interesting thing for me in 2014 will be to determine what the best way to incorporate these different forms of protein in an effective plan that harnesses the advantages with each. I will always be using MAG-10, and I believe in at least one solid protein meal a day as well. Can incorporation of EAAs as a replacement for one or two of these meals be effective? Interesting question. [/quote]
I use a lot of bulk EAAs. When I was cutting I ended up dropping 50+ grams of protein and replacing it with 15-20ish grams of eaas. I got leaner, didn’t lose any strength or muscle (not that I’m huge or anything). I’m currently taking 10-15g of eaas around my workout window while I’m trying to gain weight.
This is a topic I’m very much interested in and would like to see more of you experienced and educated guys weigh in on. Especially with replacement ratio of aminos to protein, etc
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
I’m a MAG-10 user exclusively at the moment, and I personally attest to its effectiveness for me. However, the question of just using EAAs instead of full spectrum proteins (whether from food, protein powders, or di-tri- peptides) has some interesting applications, especially where very low calories are wanted but keeping lean muscle. Many will outright consider this theory utter bunk, but I believe many of these folks are saying that out of regurgitating opinions of others. In other words, they really haven’t tried it. Of course I’m speculating.
An interesting thing for me in 2014 will be to determine what the best way to incorporate these different forms of protein in an effective plan that harnesses the advantages with each. I will always be using MAG-10, and I believe in at least one solid protein meal a day as well. Can incorporation of EAAs as a replacement for one or two of these meals be effective? Interesting question. [/quote]
FWIW, I used humapro preworkout for my fasted workouts and loved it.
I no longer train fasted and have since switched to MAG-10 and find it superior in every way.
I don’t have anything more scientific to say than that, though lol. I just find myself being much ‘fuller’ using MAG-10 than when I was using humapro.
I’ve actually got a few tubs of humapro sitting in the back of my cupboard, whereas the MAG-10 is in the front.
Veggie! So nice to see you back 
Thanks for the feedback!
Personally, I don’t think I would really ever replace MAG-10. No way.
And I wonder if combining humapro (or something like it, like MAP) with proper carbs and electrolytes would compare during training though. It’s the whole di-tri- peptide versus singular aminos argument again, but in this case its even more extreme since the only aminos provided are the essential ones. I’m currently more apt to thinking a fuller spectrum di-tri- peptide formulation is way superior, but no one is sure.
I will be modifying my dietary intake this year and will incorporate humapro in my regimen. There are alot of things to try; some anecdotal testimonies with regards to humapro are just too interesting to simply dismiss.
I like to start off my day with a shake because most days it’s all I can put down before 9am.
I can’t exclusively use whey because it leads to uncomfortable bloating after months of regular use.
Humapro is very light on the stomach and never causes me any bloat so I mix it in from time to time when taking a break from whey.
Plus the flavour combo of Humapro sour apple and Superfood is actually really tasty.
There’s also some people who do not feel comfortable training with anything in their stomach. If this is you, Humapro isn’t a bad preworkout choice.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I like to start off my day with a shake because most days it’s all I can put down before 9am.
I can’t exclusively use whey because it leads to uncomfortable bloating after months of regular use.
Humapro is very light on the stomach and never causes me any bloat so I mix it in from time to time when taking a break from whey.
Plus the flavour combo of Humapro sour apple and Superfood is actually really tasty.
There’s also some people who do not feel comfortable training with anything in their stomach. If this is you, Humapro isn’t a bad preworkout choice.[/quote]
Thanks for the feedback. I personally had begun to develop some gastric issues from whey, casein, and meat when I overconsumed like I did. I never had issues before, but I’m beginning to believe over time, overconsumption (via the typical bodybuilding diet) will lead to gastric issues eventually. This is why I have gone exclusively to MAG-10 and hydrolysates; no gastric issues.
MAG-10 and Plazma don’t give me issues during training; they just give me that great boost that they were made for. However, during cardio sessions, hiking, etc where I am purposely wanting to burn fat exclusively, I think instead of a MAG-10 prior I will try Humapro. This is mostly for the very low calories. I’m also going to try to reduce my whole food protein load during my 1 or 2 whole meals a day with Humapro.
Question to all: why do people (who have used Humapro) say to take it 20 minutes prior to any protein meal or 2 hours after one? What would be the horrible detriment if one consumed it WITH some protein? My rationale is as follows, but I simply don’t know if its right: Take it separately because you don’t want competition between aminos being absorbed. i.e. the rate at with the body absorbs the aminos will be slowed down in the presence of other competing aminos.
Edit: since I wrote the above, I have discovered the following from the originator of Humapro (or one of them):
“You can use HumaPro anytime with or without foods/protein though the best validated times are first thing in the AM, Pre-training and with last meal of the night. You can add more feedings but these are the most important and notable. The original instructions were written by me and taken from a clinical study out-line we did thus to prevent any side source of amino acids destroying clear validation. When our legal lads did the label content it was used on the original. Being a scientist does not always mean common sense for me. Dolt!”
So it looks like my supposition was similar to the orginator’s concerns with regards to fear of competing and influencing transit time. But this info indicates it really doesn’t matter. This type of recommendation is similar to Biotest’s recommendation on how to use MAG-10; i.e. preferably take it standalone, but it can be actually taken with food (I actually take it sometimes with my 1 or 2 meals of the day).
For those who have taken Humapro, did you notice a peculiar “wakefullness” and focus effect when taken on an empty stomach? I am leary of ALRi based on previous issues with spiked products. I like to know what I’m taking! But this very nootropic effect is NOT unwelcomed. I am experimenting with the tablets, only 5 prior to a meal or MAG-10 pulse (waiting an hour after downing the tabs before the MAG-10 pulse). I’ve only done this for 1 day though but right off the bat I like it. WAY too early to indicate how it works or doesn’t work for me.
Could it be the coffee berry extract and any residual caffeine? I do NOT do well with caffeine at all, so I definitely can feel when caffeine is present in a product. I am not getting any jitteriness though, so I can’t really say this is caffeine related.
I’ve taken alot of vitamin b before, so it can’t be that either.
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
For those who have taken Humapro, did you notice a peculiar “wakefullness” and focus effect when taken on an empty stomach? I am leary of ALRi based on previous issues with spiked products. I like to know what I’m taking! But this very nootropic effect is NOT unwelcomed. I am experimenting with the tablets, only 5 prior to a meal or MAG-10 pulse (waiting an hour after downing the tabs before the MAG-10 pulse). I’ve only done this for 1 day though but right off the bat I like it. WAY too early to indicate how it works or doesn’t work for me.
Could it be the coffee berry extract and any residual caffeine? I do NOT do well with caffeine at all, so I definitely can feel when caffeine is present in a product. I am not getting any jitteriness though, so I can’t really say this is caffeine related.
I’ve taken alot of vitamin b before, so it can’t be that either.
[/quote]
I can’t necessarily say it was the humapro that did it (because I would have a spike preworkout along with my 9 humapro tabs) as well as went from ‘regular’ training to fasted training, but I did experience something similar. I was actually surprised how great my workouts felt with the humapro/spike fasted workouts. I would definitely say I felt energized both physically and mentally, though.
I hadn’t thought about ALRI’s sketchy past about spiking their products, though! lol
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
For those who have taken Humapro, did you notice a peculiar “wakefullness” and focus effect when taken on an empty stomach? I am leary of ALRi based on previous issues with spiked products. I like to know what I’m taking! But this very nootropic effect is NOT unwelcomed. I am experimenting with the tablets, only 5 prior to a meal or MAG-10 pulse (waiting an hour after downing the tabs before the MAG-10 pulse). I’ve only done this for 1 day though but right off the bat I like it. WAY too early to indicate how it works or doesn’t work for me.
Could it be the coffee berry extract and any residual caffeine? I do NOT do well with caffeine at all, so I definitely can feel when caffeine is present in a product. I am not getting any jitteriness though, so I can’t really say this is caffeine related.
I’ve taken alot of vitamin b before, so it can’t be that either.
[/quote]
I can’t necessarily say it was the humapro that did it (because I would have a spike preworkout along with my 9 humapro tabs) as well as went from ‘regular’ training to fasted training, but I did experience something similar. I was actually surprised how great my workouts felt with the humapro/spike fasted workouts. I would definitely say I felt energized both physically and mentally, though.
I hadn’t thought about ALRI’s sketchy past about spiking their products, though! lol
[/quote]
it’s got some caffeine in it for sure. That’s how they’re claiming 0 net calories, the amount of caffeine in it will “cancel” out the calories from protein in it. Personally, I don’t see a big benefit of this product over a BCAA supp
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
it’s got some caffeine in it for sure. That’s how they’re claiming 0 net calories, the amount of caffeine in it will “cancel” out the calories from protein in it. Personally, I don’t see a big benefit of this product over a BCAA supp[/quote]
From my research so far, the “theory” behind EEA use (Humapro, M.A.P., or some other formulations) is that when used in the proper “human” ratios, the body will be able to create all the other amino acid complexes needed by the body. Thus, no “wasted” aminos that will be used as fuel, go to adipose, or go to waste. Humapro and M.A.P. claim that their matrix contains precisely the ratio of each essential amino needed to not have any waste aminos left over.
BCAA’s alone cannot support producing all the other aminos the body needs. There is a big difference. EAA’s can replace protein intake; BCAA’s can’t. That’s the theory at least as far as I can tell.
With regards to the zero calorie thing, doesn’t BCAA’s also claim no calories as well? Maybe I’m wrong. And just a question: you are indicating the product must have some caffeine in it due to its ability to “use calories” as to offset whatever calorie amount (if any) is in an EEA matrix? Just curious.
I wouldn’t put it past ALRi to spike this product with something. Some anecdotal usage indicates an appetite reducing ability which seems a little fishy to me. It doesn’t do this for me, but I cannot figure out why I do indeed get this heightened focus. If caffeine, then the focus should go away I think since it should take greater and greater amounts of caffeine to feel its focusing effects. Time will tell. Again, caffeine and I do not mix well…I get huge jitters even from smaller doses (1/4 can of Mountain Dew when I last drank that). I don’t get jitters with Humapro.
This is just a trial run. I like to try things out if there is enough positive evidence that it might work for some people; heck, I might be one of those people! And I would never know unless I sincerely tried it out. I do alot of bloodwork as well, so if there is some hormonal added “ingredient” in Humapro, I will know.
are you replacing your entire protein intake with the product? I remember someone on these boards did that earlier and had good results. It’s definitely an interesting idea to get more calories from carbs or possibly fats, while reducing total caloric intake. Personally, I don’t care for it. I don’t think even with counting all my calories, that my diet will ever be near optimal or dialed in the sense of consuming near the exact amount and ratios of calories at the right time. Personally I just eat enough to either gain, lose, or maintain weight.
In regards to the caffeine, my opinion is that by adding the coffee bean extract, they get to make extra claims such as “nets under 1 calorie per serving,” and some stuff about .004 (from what I remember) vs 4 calories per gram of protein. BCAAs and EAAs in general usually don’t have any calories I think because they’re not counted by the FDA for some reason. It doesn’t look like anything beyond a nicely marketed EAA product to me, but I know people swear by it so YMMV.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
are you replacing your entire protein intake with the product? I remember someone on these boards did that earlier and had good results. It’s definitely an interesting idea to get more calories from carbs or possibly fats, while reducing total caloric intake. Personally, I don’t care for it. I don’t think even with counting all my calories, that my diet will ever be near optimal or dialed in the sense of consuming near the exact amount and ratios of calories at the right time. Personally I just eat enough to either gain, lose, or maintain weight.
In regards to the caffeine, my opinion is that by adding the coffee bean extract, they get to make extra claims such as “nets under 1 calorie per serving,” and some stuff about .004 (from what I remember) vs 4 calories per gram of protein. BCAAs and EAAs in general usually don’t have any calories I think because they’re not counted by the FDA for some reason. It doesn’t look like anything beyond a nicely marketed EAA product to me, but I know people swear by it so YMMV.[/quote]
Oh no…definitely not doing the total protein replacement with this. Like I mentioned, I’m trying to find ways to incorporate it to lower my intake of other sources and get more of an even protein source distribution.
I think DOHCrazy was the poster who experimented with a 30 day Humapro only protocol, and he loved it. Many on TNation boards have also had good experience with it. Outside of TNation, there are also many good favorable reviews when used as a protein replacement, either completely or partially. What I have noticed from the many many discussions on other boards is that those who are adamently against Humapro were mostly people who have not even used it.
As also mentioned, there are testimonies of folks who have used other EAA products other than Humapro with similar results, so I also do not think there is something special about Humapro. Part of what I want to experiment this year are other EAA formulations as well to compare. Still very very early in my Humapro evaluation though.
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
are you replacing your entire protein intake with the product? I remember someone on these boards did that earlier and had good results. It’s definitely an interesting idea to get more calories from carbs or possibly fats, while reducing total caloric intake. Personally, I don’t care for it. I don’t think even with counting all my calories, that my diet will ever be near optimal or dialed in the sense of consuming near the exact amount and ratios of calories at the right time. Personally I just eat enough to either gain, lose, or maintain weight.
In regards to the caffeine, my opinion is that by adding the coffee bean extract, they get to make extra claims such as “nets under 1 calorie per serving,” and some stuff about .004 (from what I remember) vs 4 calories per gram of protein. BCAAs and EAAs in general usually don’t have any calories I think because they’re not counted by the FDA for some reason. It doesn’t look like anything beyond a nicely marketed EAA product to me, but I know people swear by it so YMMV.[/quote]
Oh no…definitely not doing the total protein replacement with this. Like I mentioned, I’m trying to find ways to incorporate it to lower my intake of other sources and get more of an even protein source distribution.
I think DOHCrazy was the poster who experimented with a 30 day Humapro only protocol, and he loved it. Many on TNation boards have also had good experience with it. Outside of TNation, there are also many good favorable reviews when used as a protein replacement, either completely or partially. What I have noticed from the many many discussions on other boards is that those who are adamently against Humapro were mostly people who have not even used it.
As also mentioned, there are testimonies of folks who have used other EAA products other than Humapro with similar results, so I also do not think there is something special about Humapro. Part of what I want to experiment this year are other EAA formulations as well to compare. Still very very early in my Humapro evaluation though. [/quote]
Fair enough man, let me know how your experience with it goes then. I might give it a try even.
I used Humapro at 40 tabs a day for some time with only one solid meal a day. I was able to maintain/gain strength. However body composition was not where I would like it to be. I recently decided to experiment with a MAG-10 pulse feast style of eating. In a week I’ve lost six pounds and am visibly leaner. Strength is still going up.
Both seem to be very anti catabolic but at least for me personally MAG-10 has been better while leaning out. (I’ve used Indigo with both products also, so the MAG-10 really is the difference.) Humapro is cheaper though.
[quote]Huggy Bear McNiff wrote:
I used Humapro at 40 tabs a day for some time with only one solid meal a day. I was able to maintain/gain strength. However body composition was not where I would like it to be. I recently decided to experiment with a MAG-10 pulse feast style of eating. In a week I’ve lost six pounds and am visibly leaner. Strength is still going up.
Both seem to be very anti catabolic but at least for me personally MAG-10 has been better while leaning out. (I’ve used Indigo with both products also, so the MAG-10 really is the difference.) Humapro is cheaper though.[/quote]
At this time, I personally completely agree with you. I think MAG-10 really is the most awesome stuff bar none. I’m only experimenting with Humapro (and later, other EAA products) just to really see how it works with me. I already know MAG-10 works wonderfully for me.
Thanks for your feedback!