3 Benefits of BCAA supplements to build muscle

Many men and even women today want to have a good body and big muscle mass. Not surprisingly, many people compete to do sports from light to heavy intensity to build muscle. To support muscle building, some people also deliberately take BCAA supplements. What is that?

What are BCAA supplements?

BCAA Supplements (branched-chain amino acids) is a supplement that contains three essential amino acids, namely leucine, isoleucine, and valine. You usually get these three nutrients from eating protein sources, such as meat, milk and dairy products, and nuts.

For those of you who like to go to the gym or like to exercise, you may be familiar with this supplement. Many people use this supplement to improve performance during exercise and to build muscle.

What are the benefits of BCAA supplements?

The body cannot produce BCAAs by itself, so you need to consume foods or supplements that contain BCAAs. BCAAs are needed to produce energy when your body's glycogen reserves are depleted. This condition often occurs when you do strenuous exercise, so consumption of BCAA foods or supplements is needed.

Some of the benefits of BCAA supplements are:

1. Increase muscle mass

Many people take supplements containing BCAAs in order to increase muscle mass. Yes, BCAAs have been shown to increase muscle mass, especially if they contain more leucine than isoleucine and valine. It seems that leucine plays the most important role in muscle building.

According to research, BCAAs have also been shown to activate enzymes responsible for muscle building. BCAAs can increase the body's ability to synthesize protein for muscle building and also reduce protein degradation (muscle breakdown).

2. Reducing muscle pain after exercise

Consumption of BCAAs before or after exercise has been shown to reduce muscle soreness that you feel after exercise. This is done by BCAAs by reducing the levels of the enzymes creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, which are associated with muscle damage. In this way, BCAAs can speed up recovery and protect you from muscle damage.

In addition, BCAAs can also help reduce fatigue after exercise. Research shows that BCAAs can increase resistance to fatigue and help you conserve energy stored in muscles.

3. Helps you lose weight

Leucine can also help increase fat burning and balance blood sugar levels. The leucine and isoleucine content in BCAA supplements can increase insulin production, so that the muscles can absorb more sugar and then lower your blood sugar levels. Balanced blood sugar levels can prevent you from gaining weight. In this way, consumption of BCAAs can help you lose weight.

How do you take BCAA supplements?

Not everyone needs to take BCAA supplements. In fact, BCAA supplements are not needed every time you do sports or exercise. This is because you can still meet your BCAA needs from food.

The need for BCAAs is influenced by a number of factors, such as body size and intensity of exercise. According to recent research, healthy adults are advised to get BCAAs of at least 9 grams per day for women and a minimum of 12 grams per day for men. This BCAA need can be met only by eating protein sources.

However, for athletes and people who do strenuous exercise, the need for BCAAs can be slightly greater. So, maybe they need to take BCAA supplements. Taking a BCAA supplement of 15-35 grams per day is generally safe and does not cause side effects in most people.

The best time to take BCAA supplements is before and / or after exercise. Some people who want to increase their muscle mass can also take this supplement in the morning or before bed.