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BCAAs can have a negative effect on health, mood, and weight. Especially when you don’t get enough of other amino acids.
Why BCAAs
BCAAs are popular as a muscle mass supplement. The Branched Chained Amino Acid, leucine, isoleucine, and valine play a special role in muscle growth.
We have dedicated several articles here to Branched Chained Amino Acids. In many of those articles, I tried to compare the added value of BCAAs as a separate supplement to taking whole proteins containing BCAAs. The added value then appears to be limited in many cases. According to this recent research, using BCAAs separately may actually be the last thing you should do.
When athletes do opt for whole proteins, they often look at the so-called amino acid profile. This indicates which amino acids the protein is composed of and the amount of those amino acids. Proteins with a lot of Branched Chained Amino Acids, such as whey, are often preferred.
However, this research from Australia shows that this preference for BCAAs can lead to an imbalance with other amino acids. This could result in a shorter life expectancy, a worse mood, and a higher weight. That higher weight is not due to extra muscle mass, by the way.
Are BCAAs harmful?
Dr. Solon-Biet’s work focuses on the influence of nutrition on various aspects of metabolism, appetite, fertility, and aging.
She explains that diets high in protein and low in carbohydrates have been shown to be positive for fertility but have negative effects on health in middle age. Such a diet could also shorten life expectancy. Her research would show that it is not so much the amount of proteins, but the ratio of amino acids that is important.
BCAAs, mood, and appetite
Incidentally, the connection between BCAAs and mood was recently discussed in the article about overtraining syndrome.
The neurotransmitter serotonin can be considered a downer because of its ‘inhibitory’ effect… …Serotonin is produced from tryptophan. Tryptophan and BCAAs ‘compete’ during training for access to the brain. However, training lowers the amount of BCAAs in the blood due to increased burning. This results in more tryptophan in the brain, which is converted into serotonin.
Professor Stephen Simpson points out the opposite; if there are too many BCAAs in the blood from food, too little tryptophan enters the brain. As a result, too little serotonin is produced, resulting in more than just a reduced mood and poorer sleep.
The Australians gave mice different amounts of Branched Chained Amino Acids in their daily diet.
- 200% of the normal amount of BCAAs
- 100%
- 50%
- 20%
The mice that received 200% of the normal daily amount of BCAAs ate more. As a result, they became overweight and lived shorter lives.
Pair feeding
But it is not so much about the large amount of BCAAs themselves and their effect. Especially the imbalance with tryptophan, but also the amino acid threonine, would cause the problems.
Rosilene Ribeiro of the University of Sydney therefore recommends varying the sources of your proteins. This prevents you from only getting proteins high in BCAAs. You can also ensure that alongside BCAAs, you specifically get the amino acid tryptophan (‘pair feeding’).
Both red meat and dairy contain proteins with relatively high amounts of Branched Chained Amino Acids.
References
- Branched-chain amino acids impact health and lifespan indirectly via amino acid balance and appetite control. Nature Metabolism, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s42255-019-0059-2
