Hey guys, Paul from Ultimate fat Burner.com here.
Today we're asking "bcaas or protein powder" Which should you take?
Is one better than the other?
Should you take them both?
I'll get into the details in just a few seconds, stick around... please don't
go anywhere.
Hey, welcome back and thanks so much for sticking around.
So let's get into the discussion on bcaas or protein powder and start with a little
background information.
BCAAs stands for branched chain amino acids, of which there are 3; leucine, isoleucine
and valine.
We care about branched chain aminos because they have a pronounced effect
on things related to muscle - especially Leucine, since its effects on muscle protein synthesis
is well documented.
Branched amino acids are also essential amino acids, which means they are aminos your body
can't make naturally - and have to be obtained from your diet.
Now Protein powders, of course, are a little different - they're not a source of just a
handful of aminmo acids, but of a much more robust blend of them.
The exact amino acid profile of the protein will depend
on its source - whether it's whey, egg, soy, caseine, rice, buckwheat or pea protein.
Whey protein is the most popular protein powder on the market, so I'm going to use it as my
example.
A good quality whey protein contains about 26 grams of BCAAs for every 100 grams of protein
and is a good source of all 9 essential amino acids.
It's amino acid profile is comprised of about 13% leucine.
If you remember, Leucine is that amino acid that plays such a critical role in muscle
protein synthesis.
So to put that into context, if you're taking 2 scoops of a high quality whey protein powder
daily, you're already consuming roughly 13 grams of BCAAs.
That's 2.5 times as many BCAAs as you'll receive from a single scoop of a standard BCAA product.
Now obviously some contain more and some contain less, but the
standard dose is about 5 grams.
Even better, whey protein delivers close to the ideal ratio of branched chain amino acids
- and that's 2:1:1.
In other words, typical BCAA product contains one part valine, one part isoleucine and 2
parts of leucine.
A 5 gram serving will look like this...
2,500 mg leucine / serving 1,250 mg isoleucine / serving
1,250 mg valine / serving.
Now Whey protein is a little low on the valine, but it's in the ball park.
Ok, by now I'm sure you see where I'm going here.
If you're already taking a couple of scoops of a high quality protein powder per day,
you're already taking plenty of BCAAS, and the benefits you can expect by taking
a BCAA supplement as well is going to diminish significantly.
A recent study for example - and I'll include a link to it below - showed that while BCAAs
helped athletes recover faster, it is likely that benefit is
negligible if you're already consuming adequate protein daily.
Ok, But what if you're not consuming adequate protein daily and you have to pick one.
Which should you choose - protein powder or BCAAs?
To me the answer is pretty clear; you should take a protein powder, and preferrably a whey
protein powder.
Not only will a single serving give you most of the aminos you'll get in a standard commercial
BCAA product, but you'll get all the other essential amino acids,
the non essential amino acids, and all the benefits associated with whey protein supplementation.
Now, don't me wrong; I'm not suggesting BCAAs don't offer value, they do.
And in my opinion, they do even if you ARE taking a quality protein supplement.
For example, I always have whey protein and BCAAs
in my cupboard.
Sometimes I throw a scoop of BCAAs into my water bottle so I can take them throughout
my workout.
I wouldn't do that with a whey protein.
So yes, I do like BCAAs.
But the questions was, BCAAs or Protein Powder.
And if it has to be one or the other, it should be protein powder.
Alright guys that's it for this video; if you have any questions or would like to share
your own experiences please leave a comment below.
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