Concept Of Taking BCAA Supplements

Many people take BCAA supplements during intense training exercises, thinking that it will prevent the breakdown of muscle mass. However, during physical activity, carbohydrates are the best source of energy for the muscles therefore, it is rather an insufficient of carbohydrates that could cause the degradation of proteins to provide the muscles with the missing energy. This also results in decreasing performance since proteins are not an effective source of energy for the muscles. BCAA supplements are popular these days, with many companies producing quality amino acids.

BCAA supplements nowadays uses fermented amino acids that are produced in a pharmaceutical lab and tested to be free from allergens and other harsh chemicals. Generally, anything that you eat reaches your stomach. The hydrochloric acid and digestive juices from the pancreas breaks everything down into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The small intestine break complex proteins into simple amino acid chains, while the large intestine extracts traces of nutrients and water from the digested matter where the excretory system takes over. As a result, most amino acids are transported to the liver for their metabolism but BCAAs have a different route where Valine, Leucine, and Isoleucine are among the nine essential acids that are metabolized in the muscle and skeletal cells, not in the liver.

Branched-chain amino acids can work wonders for overall brain function and there’s even studies prove that BCAAs can help repair the cognitive damage. If you want to feel sharper and at least partially mitigate symptoms of menopausal or “brain fog” for women, then include BCAAs in your diet. BCAA supplements can act as anti-catabolic substrates during a fast since they are insulinogenic amino acids; insulin is a hormone that strongly inhibits protein breakdown (catabolism). By taking BCAA supplements, even the slight increase in plasma insulin can indirectly suppress hepatic gluconeogenesis by reducing proteolysis in muscle and other tissues. In the brain, BCAAs have two important influences on the production of neurotransmitters. As nitrogen donors, they contribute to the synthesis of excitatory glutamate and inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). They also compete for transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) with tryptophan (the precursor to serotonin), as well as tyrosine and phenylalanine (precursors for catecholamines). Ingestion of BCAA supplements causes rapid elevation of the plasma concentrations and increases uptake of BCAAs to the brain, but diminishes tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylalanine uptake.

The decrease in these aromatic amino acids directly affects the synthesis and release of serotonin and catecholamines. Oral BCAA supplements have been studied and show promising results as for treating neurological diseases such as motor malfunction, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spin cerebral degeneration. Excitotoxicity as a result of excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters such as glutamate results in cellular damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The concept of taking BCAA supplements is that muscle protein synthesis is limited by biochemical processes and that these supplements will initiate that process. These BCAA supplements on average, around three times more effective at promoting muscle growth than whey protein.