Hi Sandrock06,

Im the dietician who’s teamed up with uphill athlete. In answer to your question there is no scientific evidence to support the use of BCAA post work out. Ive provided a link to a paper below that discusses the evidence; https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9.

What research has found, is that you can get all of the required amino acids/protein for building muscle and repair from protein rich foods in your diet (as you highlighted). It is about making sure you are eating the daily total intake of protein in your diet and eating sufficient protein in each of meals, spread out through out the day i.e. 3-5 meals (approx. 3-4hrs apart) containing approx. 20-30g of protein (this simply translates into breakfast, lunch, evening meal, post work out/and or pre bed). The research is now showing this is more important than the post work out ‘window of opportunity’. I do advize BCAA potentially for on the mountain if total energy intake / protein requirements are not going to be met but not always, however if you were to take them avoid the powder as BCAA powder does not taste very nice so opt for tablets instead. If you are looking for a protein supplement to help top up your protein intake as a convenient method or easy way to meet your daily protein requirements then I would firstly suggest a box standard stand alone whey protein. This can be purchased in expensively from reputable companies such as myprotein or optimum nutrition.

I hope that has answered your question?

Rebecca

Thanks Zuko for posing this question and Rebecca for supplying the article! I’m curious if this differs at all for those with Anemia? I’ve seen a number of articles out there arguing such but can’t tell if it’s just hype.

Thanks much!
-Shannon