BCAAs & Fat Loss

[roehrigs01]

Anyone who has or is taking BCAA supplements, ever notice any fat loss that you can directly relate to taking BCAAs?

Supposedly, the body sees the high amount of Aminos and stops the burning of muscle for energy...however, then uses more body fat, hence the burning...

just wondering if there is any truth to that... or mostly bs....

[musclesntx]

Originally Posted by roehrigs01

Anyone who has or is taking BCAA supplements, ever notice any fat loss that you can directly relate to taking BCAAs?

Supposedly, the body sees the high amount of Aminos and stops the burning of muscle for energy...however, then uses more body fat, hence the burning...

just wondering if there is any truth to that... or mostly bs....

Preservation of muscle would lead to more muscle which would increase the resting metabolic rate...

I could also see how the body could enter the oxidative pathway a bit more efficiently as well...

[wnxmaximus]

I dont think BCAA will, themselves, burn more fat. However, incorporating them into your supplement regiment can not hurt, and will definitely help. I think it will help increase lean mass gains, which, like boyd said, will increase resting metabolic rate. It will also help keep your body in a state to preserve muscle. Regardless of the weight loss, i think they are a very good idea.

I love the way they taste too... yum.

[musclesntx]

Originally Posted by wnxmaximus

I dont think BCAA will, themselves, burn more fat. However, incorporating them into your supplement regiment can not hurt, and will definitely help. I think it will help increase lean mass gains, which, like boyd said, will increase resting metabolic rate. It will also help keep your body in a state to preserve muscle. Regardless of the weight loss, i think they are a very good idea.

I love the way they taste too... yum.

Wayne, no sh!t, I've heard more than one female say they taste like sperm, bro...

[Weee]

The only thing I've ever been SURE made a difference in my body was lifting heavy and a good diet, everything else might have a marginal effect but I could not say that YES, such and such supplement made a huge difference.

I take BCAA because well, I don't know I have them now so I'm taking them =P

[wnxmaximus]

Originally Posted by musclesntx

Wayne, no sh!t, I've heard more than one female say they taste like sperm, bro...

haha, i was making a joke bout the people that say they taste so bad. I mean i dont like it, but some people make a huge deal out of it, just throw 15 grams in the mouth, and chug some apple juice, and your golden.

[roehrigs01]

From an article on BB.com...

"Stimulate Fat Loss - Supplementation of BCAAs has been shown to trigger significant and preferential losses of visceral body fat. Located in the deeper layers of the body under the subcutaneous fat, this visceral fat tends to be resistant to dieting and is hard to lose. In one study, 25 competitive wrestlers were divided into 1 of 3 diet groups: a diet high in BCAAs, a diet low in BCAAs, and a control diet. The wrestlers stayed on the diets for 19 days. The results showed that the high BCAA group lost the most body fat, 17.3% on average. Much of the fat lost was in the abdominal region. This may give credence to BCAAs effectiveness at "spot reducing" the abs. In another study 2 groups of climbers were divided into a BCAA supplemented group and a control group. Both groups lost weight but the BCAA group actually gained muscle mass while losing fat and the other group lost muscle mass.

One theory as to how BCAAs exert their substantial fat burning and muscle building effects is this: When present in high amounts during exercise, the body senses high levels of BCAA in the bloodstream which is typically a sign of excessive muscle breakdown. So the body stops muscle breakdown and uses more fat for fuel. At the same time the extra BCAAs in the blood stimulate insulin so the BCAAs are driven directly to the muscle. So the result is people lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time. If my hunch is correct, in order to benefit the most from the fat loss aspect of BCAAs you should make sure you limit carbohydrate consumption during the 2 hour window before your workout. "

[roehrigs01]

Well, I have a 250g tub of Universal Nut. - BCAA Stack... going to take 30g a day... 15g w/ usual morning pills, 15g w/ usual evening pills... see what this does for me inline with recovery, soreness, fat loss, etc...

I understand you are suppose to take BCAAs primarily before/during/after exercise... but I don't like doing that... have hard enough time already with protein shakes before/after... so going to try it this way...

took my first 15g this morning... tastes like grape Kool-Aid w/ no sugar & hydrochloric acid... should be called "caustic grape"...

[Merk0135]

I wouldn't say BCAAs lead to fat loss, at least not directly. I mean, do nothing and take BCAAs and see if you lose fat. However, get your diet in check and you'll see the lbs. disappear. Combine that with Cardio and weight lifting and you'll get even better results. Throw in some BCAAs, gain more muscle and raise the metabolic rate and the fat loss will improve as well.

[RJSMuscle]

BCAA helps build muscle + good diet/training = fat lose

[dannyboy9]

I'm glad Boyd mentioned about this:

Originally Posted by musclesntx

Preservation of muscle would lead to more muscle which would increase the resting metabolic rate.

Originally Posted by Merk0135

I wouldn't say BCAAs lead to fat loss, at least not directly. I mean, do nothing and take BCAAs and see if you lose fat. However, get your diet in check and you'll see the lbs. disappear. Combine that with Cardio and weight lifting and you'll get even better results. Throw in some BCAAs, gain more muscle and raise the metabolic rate and the fat loss will improve as well.

There's no one supplement that specifically "burns fat" per se. The fat loss comes from a multitude of things done right and the synchronization of all these things inevitably lead to fat loss . Nothing leads to weight loss except burning more calories than you consume but as far as fat loss goes, the same concept for weight loss applies but consuming adequate amounts of protein will definitely burn a higher percentage of fat than muscle. Not to say that you won't lose ANY muscle but it will definitely be significantly less as opposed to not supplying your body with enough amounts of protein to preserve your muscle tissue.

One thing I think people seem to fail to understand is that there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. It is in any overweight individual's best interest to want to commit themselves to a fat loss program and not a weight loss program. Typically during weight loss, weight is being lost due to both muscle AND fat. When you lose your muscle, you also lose your ability to burn calories off efficiently. Go back to eating normally and you gain almost all the weight you lost except this time, almost entirely as fat.

The amino acid Leucine plays a very key role in the preservation of muscle as has been proven time and time again. With the correct utilization as a supplement and by the body, Leucine will definitely help someone attempting to decrease body fat and overall weight by counteracting muscle breakdown that occurs when eating fewer calories therefore you keep your muscle and since muscle obviously burns more calories than fat, you keep your metabolism up and the "weight loss" comes inevitably from fat.

Yes, I'm going to do it again and I apologize but there's no other products or programs out there that I can relate to other than yes - Shaklee. Cry about it

Newkid1 has actually been on my weight management program that's strongly founded on the amino acid Leucine and the program is based on lower caloric intake with a plentiful supply of Leucine. The program works even without exercise because frankly, you don't have to exercise just to lose fat or drop unhealthy pounds - that's a huge misconception. If you think otherwise, the proof is in the pudding and I can show you the pudding - just let me know what flavor you'd like. Cardio and exercise will, however, increase the margin for results. In any case, BCAAs will do someone plenty of good considering that their supplementation is actually being utilized and put to good use by their body. You could have the greatest supplement in the world but if you're not absorbing it after you're ingesting it, what's the point in that?

[gforce219]

so what your saying is i should supplement more leucine into my diet even after my Bcaas?

[dannyboy9]

Nope - I'm not saying you should do anything. I'm just pointing out the benefits of leucine (BCAAs in general)

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by gforce219

so what your saying is i should supplement more leucine into my diet even after my Bcaas?

I supplement with extra leucine. It has been shown to be 10x more potent when it comes to protein synthesis than the other aminos.


Im a big believer in BCAA's. As I was preparing for my show and cutting calories and carbs way back, doing lots of cardio, the BCAA's preserved my muscle.