My Nutramino +PRO BCAA Review First Look:

Fuck me dead!

I am still reeling from the booze laden Sunday evening I had last night.

I literally cannot shake off this hangover at all. And, I’m quite annoyed at myself for going ‘nuclear’ with the gin and tonic last night knowing full well that I had work today.

I didn’t even manage to cycle to work this morning, because when I actually woke up this morning I didn’t know who I was as a person.

I have been in a daze all day and now I have had to skip the gym tonight as well because I would be a danger to myself.

However, knowing that in the past, certain supplements have been know to effectively get me out of a hangover shaped rut.

Therefore, today, I thought I should give this BCAA supplement from Nutamino a try.

Many BCAA supplements these days are trying to bride the gap between themselves as a BCAA for muscle recovery and the benefits offered by pre workout supplements, some of which already include BCAA’s in their ingredient profile.

By doing so, it seems then that they can be a supplement for all and try to cash in on the pre workout trend that shows no sign of stopping.

Especially since many whey powders include BCAA’s and it’s not entirely necessary to supplement them if you eat plenty of meat.

Yet, not all pre workout supplements are equal, and there are plenty to choose from.

In fact, not all pre workout supplements are even effective or offer any kind of real world benefit.

The main issues that I come across are:

• Doses of effective ingredients that are too low to be of any benefit
• Unproven ingredients
• Proprietary blends
• Potential harmful ingredients
• It just doesn’t work

With this in mind, and with my experience of using many pre workout supplements before I hit the gym or play rugby, I am keen to find out exactly what is beneficial so we can extract the best from ourselves and perform to a higher standard.

This takes on the typical low rent image of many Nutramino products, nothing looks particularly fancy or eye catching.

It is straight to the point, but hardly aspirational either.

Don’t get me wrong, I prefer substance over style, but there’s no excitement with this that you like to get when you buy a supplement from the store.

What can a pre workout really do?

The use of a pre workout supplement is traditionally to provide a more explosive and focused workout when you hit the gym.

This is achieved by providing high levels of stimulants to fight fatigue as well as increase the blood flow to the muscles and organs.

They can also include other ingredients that are known to help increase cognitive function so you can effectively zero in on your goal and help smash it.

However, they are no commonly used by students looking to concentrate while stay up late as well as gamer’s and even machine operatives or long distance drivers.

The main key benefits are:

• Increase energy – Smash your workout with more intensity
• Motivation – Get straight out of bed for an early morning gym session
• Improved focus – Zero in on your weights program or even revise harder
• Alert – Stay alert and improve concentration

However, not all pre workout supplements are equal, and some are downright terrible or contain potentially dangerous ingredients in dangerous doses, or concealed doses.

We analyse each one with an in depth review.

Ingredients: The Science

BCAA

BCAAs (typically a combination of  L-Leucine, L-IsoLeucine and L-Valine) play a critical role in muscle development because they are metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver.

Because BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle, they can be used for building new proteins or for energy.

However, Supplementation is not necessary if you eat eggs and meat regularly. However, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, supplementation will be vital.

BCAA’s are often included in whey protein supplements, too.

https://examine.com/supplements/branched-chain-amino-acids/

Glutamine

It is generally touted as a Muscle Builder, but has not been proven to enhance muscle building in healthy individuals; only those suffering from physical trauma such as burns or muscular wounds (knife wounds) or in disease states in which muscle wasting occurs, such as AIDS.

Taking glutamine by mouth does not seem to improve athletic performance according to studies.

https://examine.com/supplements/glutamine/

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-878-glutamine.aspx?activeingredientid=878

Vitamin D3

Vitamin D is a great Testosterone boosting vitamin that must be taken advantage of to trigger further production of Testosterone in your body.

However, there are two types of Vitamin D. There’s calciferol (vitamin D₂) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D₃) – we are only interested in cholecalciferol which is D3; this is the type our skin synthesizes from the sun and becomes a hormone which results in the increases in our testosterone.

It also benefits any other areas of health too, notably bone density.

Research by the US Library of Medicine has shown that testosterone productions are increased with Vitamin D3 supplementation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3712348/

There’s a plenty of articles I have written covering the benefits of D3 you can read about, here, here and here.

L-Alanine

Alpha-alanine is a non-essential amino acid.

Non-essential amino acids can be made by the body, so they don’t have to be provided by food. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.

L-Alanine is useful for those with diabetes but not for endurance or strength.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1247-alpha-alanine.aspx?activeingredientid=1247&activeingredientname=alpha-alanine

Sodium (Salt)

An essential mineral; its consumption is critical to our health.

However, Americans plus a lot of Western countries do consume double the recommended daily intake of sodium, so you have to be careful about how much you intake, especially if you are not perspiring or passing urine much.

Excess sodium may not raise blood pressure, but it is associated with other health issues, such as kidney damage and an increased risk of cognitive decline.

https://examine.com/nutrition/awful-nutrition-myths/

Taurine

It has been touted that Taurine can help mental performance and this is often found in cans of energy drinks that dilute your teeth in to a crumbly mess.

Early clinical research suggested that taurine, in combination with caffeine, glucuronolactone, and B vitamins, can improve attention and reasoning in adolescents, but does not improve memory.

However, there is insufficient evidence to prove this is always the case.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1024-taurine.aspx?activeingredientid=1024

Dose:

One scoop to mix with water and consume when you are doing your workout.

A scoop is 8g.

This does not compares very well to many of the best pre workout supplements which will offer over 15g.

The taste is odd, as is the color and it doesn’t seem to mix too well, either.

Pros:

BCAA‘s are essential for building muscle which happens after you have torn the muscle fibers lifting weights.

BCAA’s are found in meats, so if you are vegetarian or a vegan it is vital that you supplement with a BCAA supplement for maximum muscle recovery, repair and growth.

Vitamin D is a great vitamin that is essentially a hormone.

This helps build muscle by stimulating more of your natural production of testosterone.

Higher test levels are very beneficial to not only muscle growth, fat loss and bone health but overall well being and health.

Not all people manage to get enough Vitamin D because they either work indoors, work night shifts or stay away from too much sun due to the potentially harmful rays.

Therefore, ensuring you supplement with vitamin D is imperative.

In fact some governments such as the UK advise that its citizens should take a daily Vitamin D supp.

Alanine seems to be good for those who suffer from diabetes, but that’s about it.

Sodium is vital if you are perspiring heavily or have urinated lots, so great after a night boozing!

Video:

Cons:

The actual amount of BCAA is low when compared to other BCAA supplements, in fact it is just under 50% of what we normally see which is 5g.

Too much Sodium can be harmful to your health, and Western diets are Sodium rich, so it can be hard call to make. If you are sweating profusely you will benefit from its performance benefits, but if you workouts are tame, you may be taking too much salt.

Glutamine is beneficial it seems if you suffer from AIDS/HIV or have suffered trauma. However, its performance benefits are unfounded.

Alanine does not appear to have any concrete evidence surrounding any possible performance effects.

Taurine is very popular in energy drinks that seem to sponsor extreme sports, but its actual benefit seems to be based more on talk rather than science which isn’t a positive sign.

This also could have been a more complete supplement if there had been the inclusion of:

• Beet
• Carnitine
• B6
• Coconut water
• Rhodiola
• Creatine
• B12
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Theanine
• Vitamin C

However, then this would firmly place it in pre workout territory, which this isn’t, yet it does contain some ingredients more commonly associated with pre workout supplements.

It is all very confusing and the lines are very much blurred.

My Nutramino +PRO BCAA Review Conclusion:

Well, firstly and foremost this is a BCAA supplement which is great if you do not eat meat.

However, it doesn’t offer as much BCAA’s as other like for like supplements. So, really, there’s not a great deal of reason to buy this over another BCAA sup that contains the usual 5g of BCAA, this just offers 2.3g per serving.

Okay, so there’s the additional ingredients that start to move in to pre workout territory which this definitely isn’t.

It just omits too much to even try to encroach or pretend it is muscling in on that market.

Then, some of the additional ingredients do not stack up, scientifically anyway.

This isn’t on my list to recommend or buy again.

Is there anything else to add…?

Well, yes, there is a better product than this that will get you fired up and cause hell in your chosen sport, so it is worth taking a look at 4GAUGE.