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.
Richard 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.
See Also:
Index of All Body Building & Fitness Articles
Index of All Sports Articles
Search for More Sports Related Info
