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BCAA’s Insulin, Leptin and dieting (Negative calorie balance)

By Michael Keck

Here are some things that we know about BCAA’s (Branch Chain Amino Acids: Leucine, Iso-Leuicne, and Valine are the three aminos that make up BCAA’s) Im going to deliver these in Cliff note fashion with a more in depth look later on in the article:

Insulin and Leptin are both hormones, which are the chemical messengers of the body

BCAA’s cause an increase in Insulin. For more information on insulin, see my article here…….

Increased insulin levels are closely associated with an increase in leptin levels

High leptin levels tell the brain you are full
Leptin is synthesized almost exclusively by White Adipose Tissue (WAT)
Low leptin levels are typically concomitant with a negative energy balance., i.e dieting.

Now lets look at how BCAA’s insulin and leptin and dieting all tie in together.

BCAA’s are the most commonly found aminos in skeletal muscle. Leucine typically makes up the majority of the BCAA’s, at a 2:1:1 ratio. Some of the most profound effects of BCAA supplementation are derived from the power of Leucine, lets take a look at how.

Leucine has the innate ability to turn on leptin expression and will cause the body to think it is operating in a hypo caloric state (think fed) This is important because it helps to keep your metabolism running smoothly.

Leucine also stimulates protein synthesis through a few different channels, insulin being one of them and the only one we will discuss here. Protein synthesis is good, no matter if we are dieting or trying to gain lean muscle mass.

Remember that leptin is one of the primary hormones that tells our brain we are full? Well, guess what? Since Leptin is primarily manufactured in WAT the higher your bodyfat levels, the more leptin you are likely to produce……not a good scenario as it starts a viscious cycle of leptin de-sensitization, which in turn leads to……more leptin secretion and more hunger cravings which leads to more food consumption since your brain is desensitized to leptin. You can see why this is not a desirable state to be in.

Where do we want to be? Muscular and lean with low bodyfat and low leptin production from the WAT. However, we do need some leptin to keep things running smoothly, this is where BCAA supplementation yields yet another benefit.

So now we know that BCAA’s highly impact insulin secretion and leptin secretion, This is important, because when we diet, our leptin levels start to decline as we lose bodyfat. When this happens we start to get the dreaded hunger pangs because there is very little leptin to tell our brains we are full. This is the bodies attempt to get you to eat more food so it can return to homeostasis (your bodies comfortable level of weight)
We can combat this with BCAA supplementation and It breaks down like this

Ingestion of BCAA’s leads to increased insulin secretion, which in turn leads to increased leptin secretion (which tells our brains we are full) and while all this is taking place we get the aminos from the BCAA’s shuttled to the muscle by insulin for increased protein synthesis. Good times right? Absolutely they are. Now we can see why BCAA’s help us stay lean, muscular and strong.
Hit the BCAA’s hard,
Michael Keck

Article Added: Tuesday Sep 9, 2008 2:36:38 pm
Article Modified: Friday Nov 11, 2008 4:23:31 pm