Branched-Chain+Amino+Acids+(BCAA)

=
//**__WARNING:__"These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases". **//======

=DEFINITION: = "Branched-chain amino acids are essential nutrients that the body obtains from proteins found in food, especially meat, dairy products, and legumes. They include leucine, isoleucine, and valine. “Branched-chain” refers to the chemical structure of these amino acids." (WebMD,n.d)

A branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is an [|amino acid] having [|aliphatic] [|side-chains] with a branch (a [|carbon] atom bound to more than two other carbon atoms). Among the [|proteinogenic amino acids], there are three BCAAs: [|leucine], [|isoleucine] and [|valine]. The BCAAs are among the nine [|essential amino acids] for humans, accounting for 35% of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins and 40% of the preformed amino acids required by mammals. (Wikipedia,n.d)

(Bodybuilding.com)

=**SOURCES:** =

Since BCAA's are essential nutrients (meaning our bodies can not make them) it is critical to get threm through our daily diet. (Roussell, 2012) (Nutritional Supplements)

For the non-training individual BCAA's levels should easily be met by the average diet. Those who are training may want to supplement with BCAA's for the potential egogenic effects they hold. This bottle containing 200 capsule servings sells for $23.10. This comes out to $0.12 per serving. Many other companies make BCAAs for similar reasonable prices, we simply recomend that you stick with supplements that are approved by either "NSF" or "Informed Choice." (OhYeah.com)

=RECOMMENDATIONS: = BCAA can be recomended to those who are physically active in nearly every mode of exercise. This includes endurance athletes as well as power athletes. Its ergogenic effects can both reduce muscle degradation as well as aide in muscle recovery in sports including, but not limited to: football, hockey, soccer, track/field, watterpolo, swimmers, laccrose, and many others. We recomend that if you are supplementing with BCAAs you use a 3:1:1 (Lue:Iso:Val) ratio since in recent research Luecine has been shown as the most important of the BCAAs.

Although no adverse effects have been shown we ethically can not recommend BCAA or any other supplement to those under the age of 18.

BCAAs reduce catabolic protien degradation by providing an excess of protien in the muscle and plasma to be broken down in stay of the muscle. With less protien breakdown an anaerobic athlete can pottentially improve in two ways. A) The athlete will be able to recover faster. With less muscle protien being broken down the body has less to build back, this allows the athlete to return to a workout faster and thus train more. B) The athlete will have an increase in lean body mass. With less muscle protien broken down the body spends more time adapting to loads and less time recovering from loads resulting in a NET gain of lean body mass. (Mero,1999)
 * Anaerobic Athlete**

Supplementing BCAAs has been shown to increase blood plasma and muscle BCAA content. During endurance exercise this allows the excess BCCAs to be broken down rather than muscle proteins.This decrease in the muscle degradation prolongs muscles optimum function and performance during a race. Along with the physical benifits BCAA supplementation has also been shown to improve during and post race mood for aerobic athletes. This is most likely a result of the decreasing muscle degradation making runs less strenueous on the runner. (Mero,1999)
 * Endurence Athlete**

 Nutritional timing is a critical component of supplementing with BCAAs. Although BCAAs do assist recovery it is important to note that they do so by preventing muscle breakdown during exercise. This means that in order for BCAAs to work optimally they must already be in the system during training. Therefore BCAA supplementation would be most benificial before and during workouts. Taking BCAAs post workout is still benificial in aiding recovery. (Shimomura,2004)
 * USAGE: **

9g BCAA per 100lbs body weight (Bodybuilding.com)
 * Recommended dosage: **

Although there is not set RDA for the amino acids they are classified by 1)indispensable (essential) 2)conditionally indispensable and 3)dispensable (non essential). The BCAAs are all indispensable and can easily be maintained through the consumption of animal protiens.
 * RDAs: **

There are no upper limits for the amino acids since high levels have not been associated with any complications.

=**WARNINGS AND SIDE EFFECTS:** = There have never been any confirmed side effects for BCAA supplementation. Even high levels have been proven safe and thus there are no warning for BCAA supplementation. We do advise that no one under the age 18 supplement without parental consent. (Campbell,2007)

=**RANKING:** =

 Effectiveness 4/5 Although supplementing with BCAA alone will not set you appart from the compitition studies have been showing for years that, YES, BCAAs do have ergogenic effects by decreasing muscle degragation. This allows the body to recover faster and build up bigger.

Safety 5/5 Even with large doses no toxicity has been found. With no side effects known, and since the body excretes all excesses it is believed that BCAAs are perfectly safe.

Cost 4/5 Pure BCAA can be found around $0.16 per serving. Thus it is a cost effective supplement that has proven to work for both aerobic and anaerobic athletes.

Ease of Use 4/5 BCAAs are found in powders or pills and can be taken at any time. Ideally taking BCAAs should be focused around the workout but levels will remain elivated (even if its not as high) regardless of when you supplement throughtout the day.

Total Score 17/20 BCAAs benefit both aerobic and anaerobic athletes, helping them to potentially recover faster and build fat free muscle mass quicker. Since this ergogenic aid is not stored as fat in excess amounts, there is no worry of weight gain after continual use with BCAAs. It is a completely safe supplement that can be found for a very good price, so it is worth trying.

= = **REFERENCES:**

Roussell, M. (2013, February 22). Ask The Macro Manager: What Are The Best BCAA Food Sources?. Bodybuilding.com -. Retrieved January 8, 2014, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ask-the-macro-manager-what-are-the-best-bcaa-food-sources.html

Mero, A. (1999). Leucine Supplementation and Intensive Training. Sports Medicine, 27(6), 347-358.


 * Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings - WebMD. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1005-branched-chain amino acids.aspx?activeingredientid=1005&activeingredientname=branched-chain amino acids

Branched-chain amino acid. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branched-chain_amino_acid

SD Pharmaceuticals BCAA at Bodybuilding.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sd-pharmaceuticals/bcaa.html

Nutritional supplements | BCAA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/nutritional-supplements-bcaa-and-its-effect-on-sports-performance-40852#

OhYeah! BCAA Power | OhYeah! Nutrition. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.ohyeahnutrition.com/collections/new/products/ohyeah-bcaa-power

Shimomura, Y., Murakami, T., Nakai, N., Nagasaki, M., & Harris, R. (2004, January 1). Journal of Nutrition. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/6/1583S.short

Campbell, B., Kreider, R., Ziegenfuss, T., & Bounty, P. (2007, September 27). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Protein and exercise. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-4-8.pdf