Imagine that you need to repair sofas and to do that you need 3 pieces of wood, 6 nails and 1 hammer for each sofa. You are given, 11 nails, 10 pieces of wood and 3 hammers, but with those supplies you can only repair 1 sofa and the remaining supplies to to waste.
Your body makes and repairs over 50,000 proteins each day (structural, messengers, hormones, etc), and to do that it needs an ample supply of amino acids! Thatβs where Essential Amino Acids come into play π¦Έπ»
Essential Amino Acids are amino acids that the body cannot make on its own and need to be consumed exogenously ! The body is very smart and can make the other amino acids that it needs from the essential amino acids. There are 9 essential amino acids (this includes the branched chain amino acids which are found in muscle tissue) and a protein source is considered βcompleteβ if all 9 EAAs are present.
Animal based protein sources like meat, dairy and eggs are always complete sources of protein and some vegetable protein can be combined to create a complete protein profile (for example rice and beans).
When taken as a pure supplement, EAAs are much more bioavailable than other protein sources as they go straight into the blood stream where they can be used by the body for repair. Food sources of protein vary in bioavailability based on how well they are digested. Whole eggs, for example, have the highest bioavailability of all food sources of about 48%, while plant sources of protein and whey are about 16% bioavailable.
One 5g serving of EAAs is equivalent to about 30 g of Whey protein, that is basically pre-digested and your body can use 99% of it!!
When taking EEA supplements, absorption is maximized when they are taken at least 30 minutes before a fat or protein meal, or 2 hours after. They are best taken before bed or after waking.
The essential amino acids help increase your home density, build lean body mass and improve your overall physical health. Itβs important to note that unlike branched chain amino acid supplements, EAAs do not spike your blood sugar/trigger an insulin response, which makes them very suitable for a keto diet.
Additionally, itβs important to note that the body needs to receive all essential amino acids in order to start repair. If the balance is off, the amino acids present are converted to fat and stored for energy and are not used to repair the body. For example, the typical person needs to have 2.5 g of leucine in the blood stream to trigger muscle protein synthesis (thatβs about 30 g of whey protein).
In the worst case, your Body becomes so desperate for building blocks that it begins to break down its own tissues (this is called cachexia and is often observed in cancer patients).
We like to use Perfect Amino by Body Health, they have a very clean formulation either in form of a powder (we love mocha boost) or as a protein bar that we love to use as a super fuel before our CrossFit workouts ππ»
You can save 20% on your first order if you use my referral link
Most people only need one serving a day, but those recovering from illness or who are wanting to build muscle can benefit from 1-3 additional scoops! The Perfect Amino website has some useful resources for determining your ideal protocol ππ»
For those who want to learn more, check out this awesome article