Perfect Amino vs Kion Aminos: EAA Dose, Leucine and Price Compared
Ben Law
Reviewed by Sarah Law, Dip CNM, Naturopathic Nutritionist
Perfect Amino vs Kion Aminos: both give 5 g of essential amino acids (EAAs) per serving. Kion lists every amino acid in milligrams, including 2,000 mg of leucine, for about $1.67 a serving. Perfect Amino lists a 5 g proprietary blend that also contains nucleic acid building blocks, without per-amino amounts, for about $1.37 to $1.50 a serving, and it is the only one of the two with NSF Certified for Sport versions. Our pick if you want a fully disclosed formula for less: Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos powder, 5,000 mg of all nine EAAs with 2,000 mg of leucine per scoop, for 67p in the UK or 90 cents in the US.
The Love Life Supplements figures on this page come from our own printed labels. Each 5.8 g scoop of our Essential Aminos powder supplies 5,000 mg of the nine essential amino acids, including 2,000 mg of L-leucine, 550 mg of L-valine and 500 mg of L-isoleucine, with natural flavouring and stevia and nothing else. A 348 g tub holds 60 servings for £39.95 on our UK store and $54.18 on our US store. It is vegan, won three stars in the Sports Nutrition and Active Lifestyle category at the Nourish Awards 2025, is rated 4.7 out of 5 from 111 customer ratings, has batch Certificates of Analysis linked on the product page, and is covered by our 60-day money-back guarantee.
Essential Aminos powder: 5,000 mg of all nine EAAs and 2,000 mg of leucine per scoop, every amount on the label, 60 servings.
View product- Perfect Amino (BodyHealth): 5 g per serving of a proprietary blend of nine EAAs plus nucleic acid building blocks. No per-amino amounts on the label. NSF Certified for Sport versions available. From $1.37 a serving.
- Kion Aminos: 5 g per serving with every amount disclosed, 2,000 mg leucine, sweetened with stevia and monk fruit. Not NSF Certified for Sport, by Kion's own FAQ. About $1.67 a serving at list price.
- Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos: 5,000 mg per serving with every amount disclosed, 2,000 mg leucine, stevia-sweetened, vegan. 67p or 90 cents a serving, the lowest of the three. Not sport-certified.
- All three: the same 5 g dose, and none replaces eating enough protein from food.
Perfect Amino vs Kion Aminos vs Love Life Supplements: the comparison table
All three products give 5 g of essential amino acids per serving. Kion and Love Life Supplements disclose every amino acid in milligrams, with 2,000 mg of leucine each; Perfect Amino discloses only the 5 g total of its blend. Perfect Amino is the only one with a sport certification option, and Love Life Supplements is the cheapest per serving in both markets. Every competitor figure below was read from the brand's own product page or label image on 17 October 2026.
| Product (per serving) | EAAs per serving | Leucine | Amounts disclosed | Other ingredients | Sport certification | Price per serving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Amino tablets (5 tablets) | 5 g blend (EAAs plus nucleic acid building blocks) | Not stated | Total only (proprietary blend) | None listed on the uncoated label | Standard: no. Separate NSF Certified for Sport version: yes | $1.37 (300 tablets, $81.95); $1.50 (150 tablets); NSF version $1.65 |
| Perfect Amino powder (1 scoop) | 5 g blend (EAAs plus nucleic acid building blocks) | Not stated | Total only (proprietary blend) | Natural flavours, citric and malic acid, stevia, monk fruit, pink salt, katemfe fruit extract | Separate NSF version available | $1.40 (60 servings, $83.95) |
| Kion Aminos powder (1 scoop) | 5,000 mg | 2,000 mg | Yes, all nine | Natural flavours, citric and malic acid, stevia, monk fruit | No (Kion's FAQ says it is made in an NSF-certified facility but is not NSF Certified for Sport) | $1.67 (30 servings, $49.95) |
| Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos powder (1 scoop, 5.8 g) | 5,000 mg | 2,000 mg | Yes, all nine | Natural flavouring with stevia | No | 67p UK, 90 cents US (60 servings) |
| Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos tablets (5 tablets) | 5,000 mg | 2,000 mg | Yes, all nine | None (no fillers or binders listed) | No | 62p UK, 84 cents US (currently out of stock) |
Sources: bodyhealth.com Perfect Amino tablets and powder product pages and the 150-tablet label image [11]; getkion.com Kion Aminos powder page and FAQ [12]; our own Essential Aminos labels. All read 17 October 2026. Price per serving = one-off list price divided by servings. Kion's page showed a 25% off banner on the day; we used the $49.95 list price. Kion's Watermelon tub lists 32 servings ($1.56 a serving). Our tablets were out of stock on both stores on the day. Prices change; check each brand's site before you buy.
How much leucine is in Perfect Amino and Kion Aminos?
Kion Aminos contains 2,000 mg of leucine per 5 g serving, the same as our Essential Aminos. Perfect Amino does not say: its Supplement Facts panel lists "PERFECT AMINO EAA & NA Proprietary Blend, 5g" followed by the nine essential amino acids and seven nucleic acid building blocks (uridine, adenosine triphosphate, thymidine, adenine and three deoxynucleosides), with no individual amounts. So you know the total, but not how much of it is leucine, or how much is amino acids rather than nucleic acid building blocks.
Leucine matters because it is the amino acid most closely tied to switching on muscle protein synthesis. In older adults, 6.7 g of EAAs containing about 2.8 g of leucine raised muscle protein synthesis, while the same amount of EAAs with 1.7 g of leucine did not [2]. The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on protein suggests 700 to 3,000 mg of leucine per serving for exercising adults [3]. Around 2 g in a 5 g serving, 40% of the total, sits in the middle of that range. Our guide to EAA ratios and the 2 g leucine figure goes into the research.
"When I compare amino products, I look for the leucine figure first. Around 2 g of leucine in a 5 g serving is a sensible benchmark, and if the amounts are hidden inside a blend, I have no way of knowing whether a product reaches it."
Sarah Law, Naturopathic Nutritionist | Optimised Female
The full amino acid profile, side by side
Of the two brands that disclose their formulas, Kion and Love Life Supplements are close: both use 2,000 mg of leucine and the same nine amino acids. The biggest difference is tryptophan, at 53.5 mg in ours and 3.5 mg in Kion, which Kion's own FAQ says it keeps low so the product is unlikely to affect sleep. For context, the last column shows the daily requirement for a 70 kg adult from the World Health Organization's protein and amino acid report [8]. Food, not a supplement, should supply most of it.
| Amino acid (per serving) | Love Life Supplements | Kion Aminos | Perfect Amino | WHO daily requirement, 70 kg adult |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-Leucine | 2,000 mg | 2,000 mg | Not stated | 2,730 mg |
| L-Lysine (as hydrochloride) | 750 mg | 850 mg | Not stated | 2,100 mg |
| L-Valine | 550 mg | 500 mg | Not stated | 1,820 mg |
| L-Isoleucine | 500 mg | 550 mg | Not stated | 1,400 mg |
| L-Threonine | 415 mg | 475 mg | Not stated | 1,050 mg |
| L-Phenylalanine | 400 mg | 350 mg | Not stated | 1,750 mg (with tyrosine) |
| L-Methionine | 250 mg | 200 mg | Not stated | 1,050 mg (with cysteine) |
| L-Histidine | 81.5 mg (as hydrochloride) | 71.5 mg | Not stated | 700 mg |
| L-Tryptophan | 53.5 mg | 3.5 mg | Not stated | 280 mg |
| Total EAAs | 5,000 mg | 5,000 mg | 5 g blend incl. nucleic acid building blocks |
Love Life Supplements from our printed Essential Aminos labels (powder and tablets carry the same amounts); Kion from its product page ingredient list; Perfect Amino from its label image. WHO figures are the adult requirements in mg per kg of body weight per day (leucine 39, lysine 30, valine 26, isoleucine 20, threonine 15, phenylalanine plus tyrosine 25, methionine plus cysteine 15, histidine 10, tryptophan 4) multiplied by 70 [8]. Lysine and histidine are listed as their hydrochloride forms on both labels.
Reading the table: no single 5 g serving covers a day's needs for any amino acid, and none is meant to. EAA supplements are a concentrated top-up. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements notes that most complete proteins are about 40% EAAs, so a meal with 25 g of protein provides about 10 g of EAAs [9]. A 5 g serving is roughly the EAA content of 12.5 g of protein from food.
Do you need EAAs if you eat enough protein?
Usually not. Essential amino acids are the part of protein your body cannot make, and food protein supplies all nine. The evidence that EAAs on their own raise muscle protein synthesis is solid: 40 g of EAAs after resistance exercise produced the same net muscle protein balance as 40 g of mixed amino acids, so the non-essential ones were not needed [4], and in older adults 18 g of EAAs matched 40 g of balanced amino acids [5]. A 15 g EAA dose raised muscle protein synthesis in both young and older adults [6], and a pooled analysis of four studies found that, across free amino acids and whole proteins alike, the size of the rise in blood EAA levels was the strongest predictor of the muscle protein synthesis response [7]. Branched-chain amino acids alone do not do the same job, because muscle needs all nine EAAs to build protein [1].
Where an EAA supplement earns its place is convenience and calories: 5 g of free amino acids taken around training, between meals, or on days when appetite is low, instead of a full protein shake. That is the case for all three products here. Reference intakes for protein differ by market: the UK reference intake used on food labels is 50 g of protein a day for an average adult [10], and amino acids have no NRV; the US RDA is 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight a day, with 1.2 to 2.0 g per kg suggested for athletes by the sports nutrition bodies the NIH cites [9]. The ISSN suggests 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg for most exercising adults [3].
A note on wording: amino acids have no authorised health claims on the GB nutrition and health claims register [13], so we describe what studies measured rather than what a product does. Our EAAs vs BCAAs comparison covers why all nine matter, and EAAs and GLP-1 medications covers low-appetite days.
"I see essential amino acids as a top-up, not a replacement for meals. Most of my clients get their protein from food first, and use an EAA drink around training or on days when their appetite is low."
Sarah Law, Naturopathic Nutritionist | Optimised Female
Which EAA supplement is cheapest per serving?
Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos is the cheapest of the three per 5 g serving: 67p in the UK and 90 cents in the US, against $1.37 to $1.50 for Perfect Amino and $1.67 for Kion at list price. Because all three give 5 g, cost per serving is a fair comparison here, which is rarely the case with supplements.
Our own calculation from the list prices above, read 17 October 2026. Subscribing to our Essential Aminos takes 10% off the first order and 15% off every order after that (£35.96 for a first UK order). Kion and BodyHealth run their own subscription discounts and bundles, which we have not included. Kion and Perfect Amino are priced in US dollars only on their own sites.
Where the others are better: Perfect Amino offers NSF Certified for Sport versions, which matters if you are drug tested, and it sells an unflavoured, unsweetened powder for people who want no sweetener at all. Our powder comes in four flavours, all sweetened with stevia.
Is Perfect Amino worth it?
Perfect Amino is worth it mainly if you need its NSF Certified for Sport version, which neither Kion Aminos nor our Essential Aminos offers. On the standard product, the case is weaker: you pay $1.37 to $1.50 a serving for a blend whose leucine content and amino acid profile you cannot read from the label. BodyHealth describes the formula as up to 99% utilised and adds nucleic acid building blocks; both are the brand's own descriptions, and the label does not break the 5 g into its parts. If you can see every amount on a label, you can check a product against the research yourself.
Perfect Amino's label suggests 5 tablets one to three times a day, which is up to 15 g, so the real daily cost can be up to three times the per-serving figure. Kion's FAQ suggests no more than 15 g at a time. Our label suggests one scoop (5,000 mg) a day as a supplement, or one to two scoops around exercise.
Perfect Amino, Kion Aminos or Love Life Supplements: which should you choose?
All three supply the same 5 g of essential amino acids. Choose on disclosure, certification and price.
Pick by priority
Perfect Amino's NSF Certified for Sport tablets or powder. Neither Kion nor our Essential Aminos is sport-certified.
Kion Aminos or our Essential Aminos powder: both list all nine EAAs and 2,000 mg of leucine.
Our Essential Aminos powder, 67p in the UK or 90 cents in the US, about half the price of the other two.
Perfect Amino unflavoured and unsweetened powder, or plain tablets: Perfect Amino tablets, or our Essential Aminos tablets when back in stock.
Nourish Awards 2025, three stars: Essential Aminos powder, all nine EAAs, 2,000 mg leucine, vegan, made in the UK, 60-day money-back guarantee.
View productWhichever you pick, check three things on any EAA label: all nine essential amino acids, the leucine figure in milligrams, and the price per 5 g. Our EAA buyer's guide walks through each check, and timing EAAs around your workouts covers when to take them.
How we compared these products
We read each competitor's Supplement Facts panel, ingredient list, certification statements and list price from its own product page or label image on 17 October 2026, and took shipping details from each brand's published shipping policy. We did not use retailer listings or review sites. Our own figures come from our printed Essential Aminos labels. We have not lab-tested the competitor products and make no claim about their contents beyond what their labels and pages state. Formulas, flavours and prices change, so read this as a snapshot of the day we checked.
Perfect Amino vs Kion Aminos: frequently asked questions
Perfect Amino vs Kion Aminos: which is better?
Both give 5 g of essential amino acids per serving, but only Kion discloses the amounts: 2,000 mg of leucine and the other eight EAAs listed in milligrams. Perfect Amino lists a 5 g proprietary blend of nine EAAs plus nucleic acid building blocks without per-amino amounts, and it offers NSF Certified for Sport versions, which Kion does not. Kion costs about $1.67 a serving and Perfect Amino tablets about $1.37. Choose Perfect Amino if you need a sport-certified product, Kion if you want to see the leucine figure.
Is Perfect Amino worth it?
Perfect Amino is worth considering if you are a tested athlete, because BodyHealth sells NSF Certified for Sport versions. Its standard tablets cost $81.95 for 60 servings (about $1.37 each) and supply 5 g of a proprietary EAA blend, so you cannot check the leucine content from the label. An EAA product that lists every amino acid in milligrams lets you compare doses directly, often for less per serving.
Does Perfect Amino break a fast?
BodyHealth says Perfect Amino does not break a fast. Strictly, any amino acid serving supplies some energy and leucine switches on muscle protein synthesis, so it is not the same as water only. Whether that matters depends on why you fast: many people who fast for convenience or calorie control are happy to take 5 g of EAAs, while anyone following a strict water-only protocol for a medical reason should ask their clinician. Our guide to EAAs during fasting has more.
Can you buy Perfect Amino or Kion Aminos in the UK?
Both sell from US websites in US dollars. BodyHealth says it ships internationally with carriers such as DHL and FedEx, and Kion's shipping policy lists Kion Aminos as unavailable only in Korea, with import duties and taxes the customer's responsibility. Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos is made in the UK and sold on our UK store in pounds and on our US store in dollars.
How much leucine should an EAA supplement have?
Around 2 g of leucine per serving is a sensible benchmark. The International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests 700 to 3,000 mg of leucine per serving for exercising adults, and a study in older adults found that 6.7 g of EAAs containing about 2.8 g of leucine raised muscle protein synthesis while the same amount with 1.7 g of leucine did not. Love Life Supplements Essential Aminos and Kion Aminos both give 2,000 mg of leucine per 5 g serving.
Should you take Perfect Amino before or after a workout?
Either works. In one study, an essential amino acid and carbohydrate drink raised muscle protein synthesis whether it was taken immediately before or immediately after resistance exercise, with a larger response before [14]. Across the research, total daily protein matters more than precise timing, so a practical approach is one 5 g serving in the hour around training, or between meals on days when you eat less protein.
About the Reviewer: Sarah Law, Dip CNM
Sarah Law is a Certified Naturopathic Nutritionist and Functional Practitioner specialising in hormonal health, gut health, and evidence-based nutrition. She holds a Diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition from the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM, London) and is a Certified Functional Health Coach. Sarah combines naturopathic principles with modern functional nutrition science to help her clients make informed health decisions.
About the Author: Ben Law
Ben Law is the founder of Love Life Supplements and host of the Optimised Health Show. He is a qualified Advanced Dietary Supplement Advisor and Primal Blueprint Certified Expert, and has spent 14 years building transparent, research-led formulations manufactured to GMP and BRC standards. He wrote this comparison from each brand's published label and from our own labels.
Perfect Amino and BodyHealth, and Kion, are trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with Love Life Supplements. Learn more about Ben.
References
- Wolfe RR. Branched-chain amino acids and muscle protein synthesis in humans: myth or reality? J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:30. PubMed
- Katsanos CS, Kobayashi H, Sheffield-Moore M, et al. A high proportion of leucine is required for optimal stimulation of the rate of muscle protein synthesis by essential amino acids in the elderly. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006;291(2):E381-E387. PubMed
- Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20. PubMed
- Tipton KD, Ferrando AA, Phillips SM, et al. Postexercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. Am J Physiol. 1999;276(4):E628-E634. PubMed
- Volpi E, Kobayashi H, Sheffield-Moore M, et al. Essential amino acids are primarily responsible for the amino acid stimulation of muscle protein anabolism in healthy elderly adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78(2):250-258. PubMed
- Paddon-Jones D, Sheffield-Moore M, Zhang XJ, et al. Amino acid ingestion improves muscle protein synthesis in the young and elderly. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2004;286(3):E321-E328. PubMed
- Church DD, Hirsch KR, Park S, et al. Essential amino acids and protein synthesis: insights into maximizing the muscle and whole-body response to feeding. Nutrients. 2020;12(12):3717. PubMed
- WHO/FAO/UNU Expert Consultation. Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2007;(935):1-265. PubMed
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary supplements for exercise and athletic performance: fact sheet for health professionals (protein section). NIH ODS
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Annex XIII (reference intakes), as retained in GB law. legislation.gov.uk
- BodyHealth. Perfect Amino tablets and Perfect Amino powder product pages, label image and shipping policy (read 17 October 2026). bodyhealth.com (tablets), bodyhealth.com (powder)
- Kion. Kion Aminos powder product page, FAQ and shipping policy (read 17 October 2026). getkion.com
- Department of Health and Social Care. Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. GOV.UK
- Tipton KD, Rasmussen BB, Miller SL, et al. Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001;281(2):E197-E206. PubMed
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