Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - BCAA’s
BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids and is increasingly
being recognized as an important supplement in the field of
sports nutrition. In short the term refers to three essential
amino acids - leucine, isoleucine and valine.
Amino acids are widely known as the building blocks of protein.
When protein food is eaten it gets digested into individual
amino acids and short chains of amino acids that are
sufficiently small to be absorbed into the bloodstream. They are
then used by the body to build and repair tissues amongst other
things.
Amino acids are split between those classed as essential and
those labelled non-essential. This simply means that essential
amino acids cannot be made by the body, whereas non-essential
amino acids can. There are nine essential amino acids and each
must be obtained from the diet. The nine essential amino acids
are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine,
phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine.
Non-essential amino acids are just as important as the essential
variety and the term simply means they can be made by the body
from vitamins and other amino acids. The non-essential amino
acids are alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid,
cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline,
serine and tyrosine.
The BCAA’s are especially important to athletes because they are
metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver. This means that
they can be used either to build new proteins or be burned as
fuel to create energy. Supplementing with BCAA’s has been shown
to result in measurable gains in both muscle strength and size.
Taken before a workout BCAA’s can improve performance and delay
the onset of fatigue. They also operate as anabolic agents
allowing the body to burn fat and not muscle.
As a supplement that has no reported side effects, branched
chain amino acids offer many benefits to the serious
bodybuilder.
About the author:
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com
website that provides guidance and information to athletes at
all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding
Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this
article.