By BenJanuary 06, 20220 comments

EAA Aminos: All You Need to Know About Muscle Building Blocks

Many athletes turn to post or pre-workout drink products to improve their exercise performance. If you follow demanding workout routines, sourcing your protein from foods such as meat, fish, eggs, whole grains and superfoods might not suffice.

Insufficient protein intake can backfire on you.

This is where nine essential amino acids come in. The so-called EAA aminos are critical for muscle growth and repair as well as the overall functioning of the body.

But there’s a catch. The body can't produce essential amino acids on its own, leaving you on your own devices—to either supplement them via dietary intake or via supplementation.

The problem is if you’re bootstrapping yourself with inefficient protein products packed with extra fillers, dyes, carbs, and sweeteners.

Here at LLS we carry only clean GMP certified UK sourced supplements. We believe you deserve nutritional benefits without any of the nasty stuff.

Want to turn your body into a muscle powerhouse? Learn more about how to use EAA aminos to give your body what it needs.

Types of Essential Amino Acids and How They Work in Your Body

Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)

Branched-chain amino acids aka BCAAs are a group of specific amino acids. They are part of the big nine essential amino acids and they include leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

It doesn’t surprise that they're highly popular with athletes as part of pre, post or intra-workout drink regimens. Studies show that consuming:

5.6g of BCAAs post-workout can increase muscle protein synthesis by 22% [1]
BCAAs in the form of a post-workout drink or capsule may accelerate muscle recovery

However, other studies show a BCAA supplement isn’t enough to stimulate muscle growth in and of itself [2]. The magic doesn't work if all the nine EAAs and the eleven non-essential amino acids are missing.

At Love Life Supplements we give 100% to make sure our supplements bring you closer to your health and fitness goals. We combine BCAAs and EAAs to help you grow muscle faster.

“Great value. A very good ratio of amino acids. Carefully balanced. Recommended.”
Liam McKenna, Trustpilot

LLS Essential Aminos help repair and build muscle.

They contain 1250mg of l-leucine, 625mg of l-valine, and 625mg of l-isoleucine (BCAA's) per serving—packed together with 5 more EAAs.

Buy now

Essential Amino Acids (EAAs)

EAA supplementation is another useful muscle fuel to use pre or post-workout. But what exactly are amino acids? Simply put, they're the building blocks of proteins.

There are 20 of them in total, working together to help the body build and repair cells and tissues.

Nine of them are considered essential—and they must be obtained from food sources and nutritional supplements.

Below are the nine types of EAA aminos and the roles they play in the metabolic process of the human body.

Leucine

Leucine is a branched-chain amino acid that contributes to the growth and repair of muscle and bone. It stimulates wound healing, regulates blood sugar levels, and plays a role in the production of growth hormone [3].

An l-leucine deficiency can lead to hair loss and fatigue.

Phenylalanine

Phenylalanine stimulates the metabolism of proteins and enzymes and aids the absorption of other amino acids.

It plays an integral role in the formation of major neurotransmitters such as tyrosine and dopamine, contributing to the normal functioning of the brain [4].

Isoleucine

L-isoleucine is a compound that’s heavily concentrated in muscle tissue. It’s primarily involved in wound healing and energy production. Beyond that, it’s vital in immune response, hormone production, and blood sugar regulation. [5]

Lysine

Lysine, otherwise known as l-lysine aids protein synthesis, as well as enzyme, and hormone production. It also has important muscle-building properties and helps regulate energy levels [6].

Moreover, l-lysine aids antibody production and has antiviral effects which makes it useful for injury recovery and post-surgery treatment.

Histidine

Histidine aids proper functioning by building up myelin sheath, a protective barrier surrounding nerve cells.

The body converts histidine into histamine, a neurotransmitter that affects the immune response, sleep-wake cycles, and sexual function [7].

Some studies link this essential amino acid with improved insulin resistance and lowered BMI in obese women [8].

Methionine

Methionine helps maintain skin, hair, and nail health. It’s also vital for tissue growth and body detoxification, as it clears the body from heavy metals such as mercury and lead.

On the flip side, methionine helps the absorption of the good minerals, namely selenium and zinc [9].

Threonine

Threonine makes up structural proteins such as collagen and elastin and serves as a component of tooth enamel.

Aside from contributing to the health of skin and connective tissues, it’s also involved in fat metabolism and immune function [10].

Valine

L-valine is an EAA essential for muscle growth and regeneration, tissue repair, and energy production. It’s also found beneficial for maintaining mental focus, and inducing emotional calm [11].

What Do EAA Aminos Do?

Help Build Muscle

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So how exactly does the body use essential amino acids? Let’s get to the meat of it.

There is no life without protein. If we wouldn't take in dietary protein our bodies wouldn't be able to grow cells, tissues and muscle. Countless other bodily functions would come to a halt.

EAAs are small molecules dietary proteins break down into after you ingest them. Their role is to form new protein compounds, such as hormones, blood cells, joints, and muscle fibres.

If your goal is to build muscle, you need to supply it with protein and amino acids. It's preferable that some of it come from food sources containing complete proteins (those that contain all twenty-plus types of amino acids needed to make new protein).

Yet, if you fail to take in adequate amounts of essential amino acids your body will break down more proteins than it can build up, leading to muscle loss, slower recovery of cartilage, as well as weakened immune system [12].

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution.

Alongside a balanced diet, you can boost your EAA intake by taking a pre-workout or intra-workout drink or settling on quality essential amino acid supplements.

A 2010 study evaluated young males at early stages of heavy load training. The results showed that the group taking EAA supplementation had had better results in terms of muscle strength and architecture compared to the placebo group [13].

Promote Post-Exercise Recovery

(Source: unsplash.com)

Essential amino acids also prevent muscle damage and promote muscle recovery after workout. A growing body of research supports this claim.

A 2019 study investigated the effects of EAAs in untrained males following a bout of exercise targeting elbow flexors. A leucine-enhanced essential amino acid formula proved effective in muscle recovery in these individuals [14].
Another study observed resistance-trained athletes. It confirmed that branched-chain amino acid supplements can decrease muscle soreness and muscle recovery [15].

Your Go-to Essential Amino Acid and Protein Source

The LLS Essential Aminos formula contains all of the 8 EAAs, carefully balanced with BCAAs in 2:1:1 ratio. The 9th essential amino acid, histidine, is not included in our formula. That’s because its blood levels will rise naturally 1 hour upon ingestion of our EAA product.

The supplement is a good alternative to intra-workout and pre-workout protein drinks as it works to amplify your exercise performance, help you grow muscle, and support your muscle repair.

All that in the cleanest of ways.

Our EAA supplement offers a complete amino acid profile for restoring and building muscle without the nasties added in.

Not all EAAs are created equal. The team at Love Life Supplements went all out to offer you a protein product your body can benefit from 99%.

That’s the absorbability percentage of our EAA supplement (which beats even the absorbability of common protein sources that sits at around 50%).

“I personally feel there is a difference when I work out with this supplement. I seem to be able to work harder, more easily, and seem to get better results. No BS. ”
Cleve Aede, Trustpilot

Choose the Cleanest Way to Build Your Muscles

To sum up, you won’t always be able to supply protein only from your diet. You may need to take supplements to get the perfect amino acid metabolism you want.

Love Life Supplements is your go-to choice because we offer only the most effective, high-quality nutritional supplements.

From here on out you can treat yourself to our UK manufactured products each time your body is out of balance. It’s like cherry-picking the cleanest and most beneficial ingredients your body needs to function properly.

All the good stuff without the nasty ingredients added in.

So, browse our supplement store or visit our blog for some fresh fitness tips. When put into practice, they’re bound to improve your exercise performance by leaps and bounds.

References:

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC5461297/

[2] https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9

[3] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-leucine#section=Top

[4] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-phenylalanine

[5] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/l-isoleucine#section=Top

[6] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-lysine

[7] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-histidine#section=Top

[8] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-013-2839-7

[9] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-methionine#section=Top

[10] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-threonine

[11] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-valine#section=Top