J SportsMed Phys Fitn 40 (2000), 240-246 U.K.
Shimomura Y, Yamamoto Y, Bajotto G, Sato J, Murakami T, Shimomura N, Kobayashi H, Mawatari K: Nutraceutical effects of branched-chain amino acids on skeletal muscle
J Nutr. 2006 Feb; 136(2):529S-532S
Positive immunomodulatory effects have also been linked to the muscle stabilizing effects of the BCAAs.
Source: Negro M, Giardina S, Marzani B, Marzatico F: Branched-chain amino acid supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune system.
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2009 Sep; 48(3):347-51
Leucin, isoleucine and valine are indispensable for the building of muscle mass. Especially in sports, the BCAAs account for energy recovery. A deficiency of the three amino acids promotes the absorption of the amino acid tryptophane into the brain, which resulted in a rapid fatigue in the subjects.
The faster exhaustion through the administration of tryptophane is the reason why tryptophane is not added to the sports product. Fitness Nutrition Amino Acids can also be added to the water bottle containing a carbohydrate mixture and consumed during peak exertion to facilitate energy metabolism. According to recent studies, one can expect up to a 30% increase in total energy.
Under intense and prolonged exertion BCAAs are converted into glucose and thus stabilize the sustenance of the athlete’s energy and sugar. They improve the recovery of energy in endurance sports, decrease the formation of lactic acid, delay mental fatigue, facilitate the dumping of the human growth hormone, support the building of muscle and affect the increase in muscle mass under prolonged exertion. New research results show that the amino acid requirements for the autochthonous formation of carbohydrates (gluconeogenesis) are significantly greater than previously presumed.
Glycine plays a very central role in this process and is used to a great extent to provide energy for metabolism. Other key amino acids are arginine, glutamic acid, cysteine, methionine and above all, proline.
A protection of the allocation of amino acids can be obtained 1.) through a good basic endurance, thereby a well-trained lipometabolism 2.) through the assumption of carbohydrates (40 to 60 grams per hour of exertion) 3.) through the provision of amino acids (10 to 15 grams per hour of exertion).
Source: Prof. Dr. Wienecke, Optimale Versorgung mit Aminosäuren, der Garant für Leistung und Schutz vor Verletzungen Saluto, Kompetenzzentrum für Gesundheit und Fitness in Deutschland
As mentioned earlier, we should refer to the example that in certain disease patterns some of the non-essential amino acids are indispensable, and should therefore be classified and administered as such. Also in sports, through my many years of experience with hundreds of top athletes, we have seen that some of the non-essential amino acids provide enormous advantages in regards to recovery, susceptibility to infection and competitive performance. Arginine has been shown to be remarkedly effective in sports; also in medicine, these so-called non-essential amino acids have been shown to have more and more essential aspects. Arginine can counteract an elevated level of ammonia in the blood. Many studies show that the administration of arginine can influence the suppressed immune response in malnutrition, serious injuries, sepsis, after operations and in high-performance sports. After arginine supplementation a better cellular immune response is observed. Arginine is the only pre-stage of nitrogen monoxide (NO). NO indirectly causes the relaxation of the vascular smooth muscle by increasing the cGMP (cyclic guanosine monophosphate) level, which leads to a vasodilatation (widening of the blood vessels) and thereby to a drop in the heart’s afterload and blood pressure. The same mechanism is also the basis of the dietetic treatment of arteriosclerosis patients with arginine. [Next page]