M.E SUPPLEMENTS
By Anthony Roberts
DOES YOUR SUPPLEMENT
SCOOP CARRY ITS WEIGHT IN PROTEIN?
THE DIRTY CASE OF
PROTEIN
SPIKING
I
f you’ve been keeping
up with the supplement
industry you’ve probably
heard about protein
spiking (also called
amino spiking, here in the
United States). I’d first heard
about it back in 2010 although
at the time I failed to realise
the gravity of the problem.
Basically, protein spiking is when
supplement manufacturers substitute amino
acids for whey protein. To use an analogy, it’s
like buying a house, but instead, the seller just
gives you a pile of bricks.
Of the 20-ish amino acids, only three are
oxidised for energy during exercise - the
branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). These
are found abundantly in whey, and other high-
quality forms of protein. And although they’re
not oxidised at the same rate as carbs during
anaerobic training, or even fats during aerobic
training, they’re still oxidised (which is a
shame for recovery purposes, because they’re
highly anabolic). They’re also able to stimulate
muscle protein synthesis as effectively as the
nine essential amino acids (EAAs). So, in this
case, three aminos are just as good as nine.
It’s also important to remember that whey
protein contains various bioactive fractions
and peptides, which isolated, individual amino
acids certainly do not.
Besides the incredibly high BCAA and EAA
content of whey protein, it’s thought that
the amino acid Leucine (in particular) may
be largely responsible for its anabolic effect.
Out of the three BCAAs only Leucine was able
to independently stimulate muscle growth.
Comparatively, Leucine and the other BCAAs
are pretty expensive compared to whey...
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Muscle Evolution