Is 5 Grams of BCAAs Enough?

As with any product designed to affect the body, those who use BCAAs and other types of fitness supplements often wonder about just how much to take. Should you use one packet of amino acids, or two? Is half a scoop of protein enough, or do you need the full scoop? These questions are perfectly reasonable; before consuming a product, it’s generally a good idea to figure out how much you actually need and whether it presents any risk to your health and well-being. As they’ve gained popularity, BCAA supplements in particular have been the subject of numerous queries, including whether 5 grams of BCAAs is enough to produce the results users want. To find out, keep reading as the experts at aminoVITAL® answer this and other questions.

How Many Grams of BCAAs Do I Need?

As with most nutrition-related questions, the answer to this one will depend heavily on some highly individualized factors, including your height, weight, diet, and level of activity. For BCAAs, the biggest consideration is how often and how strenuously you work out.

Anyone who observes a balanced and nutritious diet will already be getting some BCAAs (the acronym for branched-chain amino acids) from day to day. That’s because these compounds are found in many proteins, which is a very good thing; as essential amino acids, BCAAs cannot be produced by our bodies, so we have to get them through sources like foods and supplements. For someone who lives a sedentary lifestyle, getting the right number of grams of BCAAs may just be a matter of sticking to the diet they already follow, as the baseline amount of these compounds a person should consume is about 9 grams per day for women and 12 grams per day for men. If you don’t exercise frequently, your food should supply all the BCAAs you need.

However, the bodies of those who work out require more resources because they face greater rates of muscle protein breakdown (MPB), the process by which the body’s muscle tissue is dismantled for energy during periods of intense exertion. To repair the muscles after MPB occurs – and to heal the damage inflicted by the physical forces involved in resistance exercise – the body requires an adequate supply of amino acids. To improve this process (which is called muscle protein synthesis, or MPS), someone who works out will likely need more grams of BCAAs than their diet alone can provide.

This adjusted amount can vary based on size and activity level, but a reasonable range is 10-20 grams of BCAAs per day, with smaller people on the lower end of the spectrum. In other words, 5 grams of BCAAs may not be enough, though – when taken in addition to a high-protein diet full of amino acids – 5-10 grams of BCAAs might be all the extra help your body needs.

How Can I Get Enough Grams of BCAAs?

Although diet certainly plays a role in providing BCAAs, the most effective and efficient way to supplement your BCAA intake is, well, by using supplements. Most traditional protein-based products do contain BCAAs, but these supplements often take time to kick in, and they tend to be high in calories and sugar as well. A supplement containing free-form BCAAs, on the other hand, can supply plenty of these amino acids in a form that’s fast-acting and very low in calories.

To that end, aminoVITAL® offers several types of BCAA supplements to support you through every phase of your workout. Our Action mix is a good choice for intra-workout support, as it contains 2.4 grams of BCAAs as part of our proprietary blend of five amino acids: the three BCAAs, plus arginine and glutamine. The electrolytes in this formula help to balance hydration, while the BCAAs fuel your body’s muscle production. Best of all, this product comes with only 15 calories and no sugar to speak of.

Another popular option is our Rapid Recovery post-workout mix, which offers 3.6 grams of BCAAs, along with arginine and glutamine. To meet the unique needs of a post-workout recovery, this amino acid supplement also contains 12 grams of carbohydrates to replenish the body’s glycogen reserves, the preferred source of fuel during exercise. This helps your system prepare for the next round of exercise so you can push just as hard the day after a tough workout.

When taken together for comprehensive nutritional support during and after a workout, our Action and Rapid Recovery products provide 6 grams of amino acids, the bulk of which are BCAAs. Add in their energy-boosting capabilities, muscle-building benefits, lack of calories, and all the other benefits that BCAAs can provide, and you have a system of fitness supplementation that won’t let you down, no matter how hard or how often you work out.

Try an aminoVITAL® Supplement Today to Get 5 or More Grams of BCAAs

Whether you think that 5 grams of BCAAs is enough or not, our amino acid supplements can support your efforts at the gym, on the field, or anywhere else you might choose to exercise. The BCAAs in aminoVITAL® supplements each play a role in improving performance, from leucine’s ability to trigger muscle protein synthesis to valine’s ability to protect the muscles from damage during exercise. By adding 5 grams or more of these BCAAs to your routine, you can bring yourself that much closer to your ultimate fitness goal. To learn more about these products and what they can do for you, visit aminoVITAL® online or call (888) 264-6673 today.