How Many BCAAs in a Protein Shake?

Something we get asked fairly often is "do I need a BCAA supplement, I think I get some from my protein shakes already..." - this is usually based on an off-the-cuff comment by someone else that doesn't really understand it. This is a pity as it is pretty simple to work out - so I will give an example using Sci-Mx Ultragen Whey Protein. You should be able to do this on your own tubs, every good protein supplement will give and amino acid profile on the side of the tub!

So the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine - these are often indicated on the side of the tub (they are on the Ultragen Whey) with a star or bold text or similar. So per 45g serving you get the following:

• Isoleucine: 2141mg
• Leucine: 3258mg
• Valine: 1779mg

In this case we have a good ratio of leucine:valine:isoleucine - around 3:2:2 (if you round off) - this is close to the ideal 2:1:1 that you will find in specialist BCAA supplements - especially if you don't round off so much! Now as a 45g serving of this product contains 35g protein we can safely assume that you will be consuming at least 2 shakes per day for the average trainer. This means you can double the amounts of BCAAs to get roughly 6.5g leucine, 4.2g isoleucine and 3.5g valine. 

Do I Need MORE BCAAs?
So the big question is do you need any more BCAAs on top of this? Well as usual that depends - some people will say you should take large amounts of BCAAs (10-20g or more per day) if you are training with very high intensity but most BCAA supplements will give you a similar amount as you are already getting in your shakes (assuming the amino acid profile of Sci-MX Ultragen Whey Protein). The decision here is yours to make but hopefully I have given a simple way of finding out what you are currently getting - as is often the case with training, nutrition and supplements the best thing to do is to try out adding BCAAs and and seeing if they make a noticeable difference to your recovery!