Hi everyone,
Hi everyone, I want to take a moment today to tell you about Amino Acid Supplements. They are so much more than just a gym supplement, in fact I believe that most people should be taking them for general health reasons.
Amino acids are the building blocks that your body uses to make proteins. Usually you get them through your diet. Your body takes in proteins, breaks them down into the various amino acids and then recombines them into other proteins. The same way you and I require spefic parts to build any tool or machine your body requires specific amino acids in differing amounts.
There are 20 types of amino acids, and if you are missing just one of them you will have a deficiency. Other nutrients like protein, sugars, fats, and minerals your body will store for when you need, but amino acids are lost if they do not recombine into a useful protein. All amino acids must be present in your body every day to be of use.
Amino acids are broken into two groups: essential and non-essential. Non-essential amino acids are produced by your body naturally, essential amino acids are not provided by your system, and you must acquire them through supplements or food.
The essential amino acids are Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Trypophan, and Valine.
Arginine, phenylalanine, and methionineare needed for reason not directly related to synthesis. Arginine is essential because it is used much too slowly to meet your body’s needs and most what is used becomes waste.
Methionine is needed in large amounts since it can become another essential amino acid, cysteine. Cysteine is not usually found in sufficient amounts in food, but methionine is common. Phenyalanine has a similar relationship with tyrosine, another scarce but essential amino acid.
A deficiency of amino acids can cause your body to create more nitrogen than you can absorb which can cause depression and indegestion. It can also stunt growth. Depression can rob you of your drive for your fitness program and cause you lose sleep. Indegestion can be a real problem because you lose nutrients from the food you eat and bloating can cause pain and a loss of stamina. For these reasons, amino acids are esssential to recovery and health when you are trying to build muscle or lose fat.
Amino acids also play an important role with vitamins. They don’t help you break them down, but they are essential to their function. This is true for the multi-vitamins you may take and the ones naturally occurring in your diet. Without amino acids you are not getting all or any of the benefit of the vitamins in your body. Amino acids are also immune system boosters.
Glutathione and Cysteine are powerful antioxidants, and Taurine and Tyrosine offer minor antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are importaqnt to your health because oxidants can cause muscular, organ, and even brain damage. Excersizing causes a massive increase in your oxygen consumption which can create a large amounts of oxidants.
There are two forms amino acids can be found in: L-Form and D-Form. L-Form comes from plant and animal proteins which will give you the most benefit.
Amino acids are best to take in capsule rather than tablet, since tablet are made with a heat sealing method that can kill the acids leaving you with no benefit.
It is important to take amino acid supplements in capsules or powder rather than tablet form. Tablets are sealed with a heating process that can damage or neutralize the delicate nutrients rendering them ineffective.
To ensure you are getting enough 1.5 grams of powdered amino acids taken three times a day is ideal. While some studies show results from taking amino acid supplements before a workout, consuming them afterwards has shown to be optimal. This is partly due to their role as an antioxidant. Personally, I mix them into my post weight lifting or running supplement shake with whey protein and my favorite creatine.
So many people have questions about Gym Supplements that I wanted to spend some time today to set the facts straight.
First let me open the discussion by saying, supplements are not a substitute for proper diet or exercise. They are not a magic pill or powder that will make your wildest dreams come true.
However, some supplements have been shown to increase results dramtically when paired with a good exercise routine and a healthy diet, but it is important to know what will and will not be useful. Drinking a shake enriched with right enhancements after an intense workout is a great way to increase your recovery so you are prepared to hit the gym or workout hard the next day or even later that day if you are following a mutli-targeted program.
Recent studies show that creatine can increase your strength gains by 8% when coupled with weight training. Creatine can be great tool to help you recover from exercises faster so you can push harder the next day, and it has even been shown to help offset the drawbacks to not getting enough sleep.
Protein replenishes your muscles glycogen which is the fuel burned during exercise. In healthy individuals a whey or soy protein shake can boost recovery and help muscles push harder for longer. In a recent study on over 100 US Marines, protein was shown to help prevent infection and heat exhaustion, as well.
Cinnamon helps creatine breakdown faster and will even further enhance your performance. Additionally, cinnamon is also used to control blood sugar levels and supports kidney health by enhancing the filtering process.
Cilantro helps your system detox. What a useful supplement this little herb is! It is one of the best cleansing agents for heavy metals, like mercury. It has some protective propterites against bacteria like Salmonella. Cilantro is also useful to your liver health, stimulates your endocrine glands, boosts your immune system, and helps detoxify your body as an antioxident.
There is a product called Ripped Fuel that many people use for its muscle enhancing properties. I have taken it in the past and have shown some pretty significant results. However, some people have concerns that Ripped Fuel may be unhealhthy for the cardio-vascular system or the liver. You may want to expirement with different formulas or products and test them to see what their effect will be.
This brings me to another essential peice of advice. Do NOT begin taking a cocktail of gym supplements. Start with one, like creatine or protein after a workout, and see how your body responds. Over time add others, and wait for their results to show before deciding to keeep or remove them. While supplemntes can be a great tool, they are are not going to respond to everyone in the same way. you don’t want to take something that you don’t need.
One drawback to gym supplements is they can be expensive. To help offset the costs, some people have started making their own at home. Creatine, protein, cilantro, and cinanom are common for this. There are several easy to use capsule-filling tools available on the market. One of these is Cap-M-Quik. Cap-M-Quik can be used to make 50 capsules in about 10 minutes. This can be a great way to make a weeks supply to carry with you for every cheap.