Muscle Evolution Muscle_Evolution_-_August_2015_edcoan.ir | Page 80

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... 78 Muscle Evolution