How BCAAs Can Benefit Your Muscles
Branched-chain amino acids are essential nutrients that your body needs. BCAAs have many benefits, especially for your muscles. Let’s dig a little deeper.
What are branched-chain amino acids?
Branched-chain amino acids consist of three essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
Even though they are essential, they cannot be produced by your body. Thankfully, BCCAs can be found in protein-rich foods like chicken breast, eggs, and Greek yogurt. BCAAs can also be taken as supplements.
BCAAs Can Help Increase Muscle Growth
One of the main reasons people take BCAA supplements like Cira aminos is because they help to increase muscle growth.
Therefore, the supplements are popular with everyday gym-goers and professional athletes.
When you take the BCAA leucine, a specific pathway in your body is activated that stimulates the process of making muscle.
In one study, published by the National Library of Medicine in 2017, it was found that BCAA ingestion stimulates muscle myofibrillar protein synthesis following resistance exercise.
The study found participants who consumed a drink containing 5.6 grams of BCAAs after doing a resistance workout increased their muscle protein synthesis by a whopping 22%, in comparison to the participants who took a placebo.
However, to maximize muscle protein synthesis, you should take BCAAs in addition to other essential amino acids, such as those in whey protein.
At the end of the day, when you take BCAAs and work out regularly, you can increase your muscle growth.
BCAAs Can Help Decrease Muscle Soreness
It is normal to feel a little sore a day or two after you work out, especially if the exercise routine is new.
The soreness of your muscles after working out is called delayed onset muscle soreness. It typically develops between 12 and 24 hours after working out and can last up to 72 hours.
Several studies indicate that BCAAs can help in decreasing muscle soreness after exercise. It is thought that the BCAAs do that by decreasing the breakdown of protein during exercise and also decreasing levels of creatine kinase.
So, if you supplement with BCAAs, particularly prior to working out, you could speed up the recovery time of your muscle soreness.
BCAAs Can Prevent Muscle Wasting
The third way in which BCAAs can benefit muscles is this: they can prevent muscle protein from breaking down.
Muscle protein is continually broken down and then rebuilt. Therefore, the balance between the muscle synthesis and the protein breakdown determines the amount of protein in your muscles. If the protein breakdown exceeds the synthesis, muscle wasting can occur.
Muscle wasting is a sign of malnutrition. It often happens with cancer, fasting, aging, and chronic infections.
During times of muscle wasting, BCCAs and other essential amino acids play a crucial role in slowing or halting the progression of muscle wasting. Various studies show BCAA supplements are excellent for inhibiting muscle protein breakdown.
Other Benefits of BCAAs
BCAAs are not only great for increasing muscle, decreasing muscle soreness, and preventing muscle wasting. They have other benefits too.
One of the main advantages is that taking BCAA supplements can help you to feel less fatigue after working out. BCAAs may also help to:
- Ease the symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy due to cirrhosis.
- Protect people who have cirrhosis from developing liver cancer.
- Treat specific brain disorders.
- Improve mental function in people who have phenylketonuria.
- Ease the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.
- Boost your appetite if you are malnourished.
The Takeaway
BCAAs in food or supplements are essential for good health and taking BCAAs in conjunction with a regular workout routine can help you to increase your muscle, decrease soreness, and feel less fatigued.
So, if you are looking to build your muscle, you will want to ensure you get BCAAs into your system.