Are BCAA’s worth spending money on, what efficacy do they have on gaining muscle?
Here at TEAM WILD, we have a strong opinion on them and one that you may wish not to hear!
We will bring to you two 2017 studies that show they are not worth spending any money on.
The first study says they do not boost MPS and suggest they may actually work against it (MPS = muscle protein synthesis). Study actually says:
“THE DATA DO NOT SEEM TO SUPPORT A BENEFIT TO BCAA SUPPLEMENTATION DURING PERIODS OF CALORIC RESTRICTION…
Yes, you read that right. It does not appear to benefit during training. In fact it goes as far to say:
…AS NOTED IN A RECENT REVIEW BY MORTON ET AL. [5], THERE IS A PAUCITY OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTING A BENEFICIAL EFFECT FOR BCAA SUPPLEMENTATION IN PROMOTING INCREASES IN MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS OR LEAN MASS, AND IN FACT THERE MIGHT BE A DETRIMENTAL IMPACT GIVEN THAT THE AAS APPEAR TO ANTAGONIZE EACH OTHER IN TERMS OF TRANSPORT BOTH INTO CIRCULATION AND LIKELY INTO THE MUSCLE.”
So it says it may reduce MPS. Read the study here – https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9
The second study says “A physiologically-significant increase in the rate of muscle protein synthesis requires adequate availability of all amino acid precursors. The source of EAAs for muscle protein synthesis in the post-absorptive state is the free intracellular pool. Intracellular free EAAs that are available for incorporation into protein are derived from muscle protein breakdown. Under normal conditions about 70% of EAAs released by muscle protein breakdown are reincorporated into muscle protein.
The efficiency of reincorporation of EAAs from protein breakdown back into muscle protein can only be increased to a limited extent. For this fundamental reason, a dietary supplement of BCAAs alone cannot support an increased rate of muscle protein synthesis. The availability of the other EAAs will rapidly become rate limiting for accelerated protein synthesis. Consistent with this perspective, the few studies in human subjects have reported decreases, rather than increases, in muscle protein synthesis after intake of BCAAs. We conclude that dietary BCAA supplements alone do not promote muscle anabolism.”
In short, without the other Essential Amino Acids (EAA) that BCAA’s are unwarranted. It may actually detrimental to muscle protein synthesis in fact. As EAA contains BCAA as well as the other EAA’s need for muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and to help prevent muscle protein breakdown (MPB), BCAA are now truly obsolete when it comes to a product to purchase.”
As you may conclude from above, the use of an EAA powder may be beneficial to maintain or possibly build muscle depending on calorie intake and diet (esp if cutting and intake limited), and further amino acids during your day from a balanced diet.
You can read the study here… https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9
Take home note:
As you have gather from the picture attached to the article, using BCAA is essentially burning your money or a very expensive way to flavour your water AND potentially limiting muscle gain!
Hope that helps everyone 🙂
