[b said:
Quote[/b] (micmic @ Sep. 02 2003,11:28)]Ummm, let's see... BCAAs (valine, leucine, isoleucine)... an average whey protein contains 23-24gr of the three of them per 100gr of pure protein... where I am, a certain brand of whey protein costs 22 euros (the 500gr) and is 85% protein... after doing the math, I see that I have to spend 0.165 euros in order to take 750mg of BCAAs from this protein. The exact same brand has BCAA tablets (750mg each), the 120 of them cost 36 euros... doing the math again... now I have to pay 0.300 euros to get the same 750mg of BCAAs and without getting the rest of the aminoacids that I get in the first case.
It does indeed seem like a huge waste of money, unless you have any studies showing that BCAAs by themselves are better than when you take them in a protein.
Same goes for most other stand-alone amino acids.
If you are calorie restricted, i.e...contest dieting, your job 1 is to protect lean mass. I am sure all will agree with this. Your body will get BCAA's from where it can, and this is muscle tissue. If you do not supplement them, as you all may well know these cannot be made, they must be gotten from an outside source. So, if you do not use them, say bye bye hard earned muscle. Besides, BCAA's are great at "tricking" the body to useing fatty acid stores for fuel rather than muscle, by seeing a "flood" of them in the bloodstream, the body says hey, I am breaking down muscle tissue already, better resort to fat stores. BCAA supplementation can contribute toa agreater loss of fat while maintaining your strength levels. For those of you who have never competed, or dieted for a contest, you will find out the hard way.
BCAA's also have been shown to raise both growth hormone and insulin levels at the same time, hence increased anti-catabolism and anabolism.
As far as HMB, you are correct in your statement about the price. This is why a product that has a blend in it, in synergy so to speak is good. I was not in any way inferring to buy HMB, this was just a general statement.
Arginine has shown positive effects on growth hormone release (that have not always panned out in the real world), but its positive effect on nitric oxide levels is well documented. Nitric Oxide can boost muscle development, reverse muscle breakdown and enhance the body’s release of insulin.
The muscle building power of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate has been confirmed by several studies. But, first the dose was too large, and its promise did not translate into the real world of advanced drug free bodybuilding. ·
Glutamine has been used in hospitals for years to maintain lean muscle tissue and speed recovery in times of medical distress. More recently it has been embraced by the athletic community for increased protein metabolism and growth and decreased risk of overtraining.
Creatine’s ability to boost gains in strength and lean muscle mass is well recognized. You can train heavier, get more reps and recover quicker with creatine monohydrate.
Strategic mixtures of these muscle mass-promoting agents have been involved in studies at the Nassau County Medical Center in New York and the Institute of Sport and Physical Education in Warsaw Poland. These “anabolic cocktails” combined the individual ingredients above synergistically to increase muscle growth at a rate far exceeding that expected from any of the ingredients alone.
In the New York study there was a dramatic reversal of tissue wasting in AIDS patients with an Arginine / beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate / Glutamine compound. During an 8 week controlled study with 68 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients, the supplement compound group gained an average of 6.6 pounds while the placebo group continued to lose lean body mass!
In Poland the effect of combining Creatine Monohydrate with beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate produced significantly greater gains in strength and lean body mass than either could alone.
