Everything you Need to Know About BCAA Supplements

Jul 2
09:04

2015

Lauren Abraham

Lauren Abraham

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Many times I see people taking in BCAA supplements because their gym instructor or a friend of them has recommended it to them. They don’t know the actual role and purpose of taking it. This could do them worse than doing well.

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One should always know the purpose of a particular supplement before taking it. It may not be advised for your body or there could be chances of difference in dosage needed. To address the situation better and make you better acquainted with BCAA supplements,Everything you Need to Know About BCAA Supplements Articles we have come up with this article. We sincerely hope that it would be of some help to you.

What is BCAA?

BCA stands for Branch Chain Amino Acids. Consuming enough calories and protein in your diet helps you in maintaining the BCAA levels in your body. If there is a deficiency in intake of such food substitutes, such supplements can help you in keeping it in order. In simple terms you can say that BCAA is the building block of muscle. Every ounce of protein eaten by you is converted into amino acids to help run various processes of the body effectively. An important thing to note here is that this amino acid is of the non-essential variety and cannot be produced by your body directly. You need to take it through food items or supplements.

Overall there are nine amino acids in our body, namely leucine, histidine, isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine, methionine, tryptophan, threonine, and valine. BCAA is made of three amino acids: which are leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

What does BCAA actually do to your body?

Almost thirty five percent of our muscles are composed of BCAA. It helps in promoting brain functioning and hormone release in your body. When taking supplements, it is best you take it before and after your workout session. It is so because it would help in preventing catabolic condition. It means when your body is under strain during workouts and runs out of glycogen it would give a signal to your body to stop producing protein in the muscles and reverse the running catabolic process. BCAA is best consumed when you work out to prevent catabolic condition. When you work out, your body runs out of glycogen. Taking BCAA will signal your body to stop synthesizing protein in the muscles and reverse the catabolic process, hence easing your workout sessions.

Though there are many foods that contain BCAA, you can be depleted of BCAA during an intensive workout and this would be quite disadvantageous to people are trying to build muscle mass. Medically 4-8 grams of BCAA is advice before and after workout sessions.

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