what does it taste like … any reviews???
they were giving it away at IMH and i also got a free one-month supply on-line. Its a powder that dissolves creating colorless liquid, which I like. Taste is also quite nice, but a touch on the sweet side. My problem is that I cant figure out why i need it. I currently use accelerade as training fuel and endurox for recovery. amino vital has, as its name suggests, amino acids and vitamin C but each serving has only 30 cals, 8g of CHO, no protein, no sodium, and negligible potassium. So I wouldnt use it during training or racing. I have been using it as a recovery drink on lighter days, or just to have during day if i dont feel like ordinary h20, but I won’t be rushing out to buy more.
Yeah, they gave it out last summer at a couple of races here in NYC, nothing much. Tasted kinda citrusy-chalky.
I started using Muscle Nitro thanks to Tom D’s post a few weeks back and I kid you not: the stuff really works and is pretty cheap (around 13 bucks a bottle). And: you don’t have to take it for a month to see results. There’s a lot of aminos in it along with Succinates which somehow buffer the lactic acid build up (a lot Succinate is also in Cytomax).
The prinicipal ingredient in Amino Vital products is branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) . . . and if I remember my high-school science classes correctly, protein is largely a combination of amino acids.
Near the end of last year, Amino Vital approached Sheila T. with an offer of sponsorship . . . but before saying yes, we did some research. The science behind BCAAs, though hardly complete, is very promising. A sampling of the studies is summarized below:
BCAAs TAKEN DURING TRAINING. 2000. Department of Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. The object of this study was to determine whether BCAAs improved the physical condition and associated blood parameters of athletes in training when administered for a prolonged period. Thirteen college middle-and-long-distance runners received the BCAAs over a six-month period. When the subjects received 2.2 grams of the mixture three times daily, the physical condition was significantly improved along with increases in red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hemacrit, serum albumin, and fasting glucose, and a decrease in creatine phophokinase, suggesting increased hematopoiesis and glycogenesis, and rapid alleviation of muscle inflammation by the amino acid mixture.
BCAAs TAKEN DURING COMPETITION, EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE. 1990. Pripps Bryggerier Research Laboratories in Sweden and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford in Great Britain. A mixture of three BCAAs was given to subjects during a 30K XC race or a marathon and the results showed that both mental and physical performance was improved by an intake of BCAAs during exercise.
BCAAs TAKEN DURING COMPETITION, EFFECT ON RECOVERY. 1992. Pripps Bryggerier Research Laboratories in Sweden and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford in Great Britain. A mixture of BCAAs was supplied to subjects during two types of sustained intense exercise, a 30K xc race and a full marathon, and the effect on plasma and muscle concentrations of aromatic and BCAAs was studied. When BCAAs were taken during exercise, the plasma and muscle (vastus lateralis) concentration of these amino acids increased, while in the placebo groups the concentration of BCAAs decreased in the plasma and remained unchanged in the muscle. In the placebo group, both types of exercise caused a 20-40% increase in the muscle concentration of the aromatic amino acids, tyrosine and phenylalanine, and the plasma concentration of these amino acids was increased after the marathon. Since tyrosine and phenylalanine are neither taken up nor metabolized by skeletal muscle, the increases in their concentrations in muscle might indicate net protein degradation during exerise. However, when the subjects were supplied with BCAAs during exercise, the increases in tyrosine and phenylalanine concentrations in both muscle and plasma were prevented. These results suggest that an intake of BCAAs during exercise can prevent or decrease the net rate of protein degradation caused by heavy exercise.
POST-COMPETITION. 2002. Department of Life Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. The effect of an amino acid mixture on the recovery from muscle fatigue after eccentric exercise training was examined in 22 male college students. The oral administration of 5.6 grams of the amino acid mixture twice daily resulted in faster recovery of muscle strength than that with a placebo.
As a result, both Sheila and my wife (Karen McKeachie, a five-time age group gold medalist at worlds) have been taken Amino Vital daily and during workouts for the past six weeks. The improvement in both overall well-being and in workout performance has been significant for Karen. Just a coincidence? We’ll know more as time goes by.
The science behind BCAAs, though hardly complete, is very promising
I agree with “hardly complete” and would add “very inconclusive”. There are as plenty studies which say BCAA’s have no effect on training or athletic performance.
Hmmm, you mean to imply that the manufacturer might not alert me to studies which don’t support their thesis? Shocking, I say. Shocking. You claim to know of studies showing no statistical effect. Perhaps you could share them with us.
What do you guys think about this option from GNC:
http://www.gnc.com/productDetails.asp?id=350505
I’m not an expert but it seems to have a higher content of BCAAs along with glutamine and protein.
Sorry, I didn’t look at this thread until today. BCAA’s are funny - people have investigated their use in improving immune responses after exercise, athlete’s mood (BCAA’s are precursors to some neurotransmitters) as well as actual performance. I admit I haven’t scrutinized all these papers (don’t have access to some of the journals) but most reviews I’ve read are wishy-washy on any benefit of BCAAs.
One review had a passage I thought was pretty interesting:
"Physicians are trained to not recommend a nutritional supplement unless it is known to be effective, whereas athletes are oriented toward trying any supplement or ergogenic aid as long as it is safe, with the hope that it may be effective. The built-in error in most study designs is larger than the difference between winning and not qualifying at elite levels of competition, such that research may not always answer the questions raised by athletes. " Schwenk TL, Costley CD (2002)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7473239&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9124069&dopt=Abstract
This one showed a benefit in RPE but not in performance
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9018517&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1748109&dopt=Abstract
Here BCAAs helped “slower” >3hr marathoners but not “faster” <3hr marathoners
Anyway, I’m not saying don’t use them. I doubt they would do any harm… just not sure you’re going to see a measurable benefit.
This may be just what you were driving towards . . . but there often is a difference that matters for purposes of competition and still will not reach the level of “statistical significance”. I remember a study from the nascent days of exercise science (mid-80’s) where they compared the effects of a 6% glucose/sucrose solution on the performance of trained athletes doing an olympic distance triathlon. All done in a lab: swim in a flume, ride an exercycle, and run on a treadmill, in warm, humid conditions.
The result did not reach a level of statistical significance between the tests (the placebo was flavored water) . . . but for OUR purposes, there WAS a real difference. When drinking the “Gatorade” solution, the athletes averaged a two-minute improvement . . . and it all came in the last half of the run.
With 20 years of hindsight, we can laugh at the simplicity of the discovery . . . but at the time, many “pure” scientists were quick to contend that there was no performance difference. The same well may be the situation for BCAAs.
True… often the sample size of exercise-related studies is so small they don’t have the power to find small (but maybe significant to an elite athlete) differences.
Do you take it with a gel to add carbs???
In competition, two entirely separate issues. As the race lengthens, the athlete needs a outside supply of carbohydrate that can be easily digested/processed in the small intenstine. Amino Vital has no carbohydrate to speak of, so gels, energy drinks, and/or energy bars become a necessary, albeit parallel, pursuit.
Hey Lew, do you have the actual citations for the studies you mention above? This topic has piqued my curiosity a little.