Q & A: Amino Acids or Protein? Which one is better? What’s the difference?
A: Short answer when looking at Amino Acids or Protein: if we’re only picking one, then protein wins. However, there are some amino acid supplements that are worth considering. Super quick breakdown:
- All protein is made of long strings of amino acids. Therefore any complete protein source (not collagen) will be broken down by your digestive system to yield all of the amino acids you need.
- The 2 amino acid based supplements worth considering are (1) creatine – primarily for it’s positive impact on sleep, joints, bones and brain function, and (2) leucine – it probably helps people build muscle and/or recover faster.
Here’s the medium dive:
Gummies are the worst
As with all supplements, don’t use gummies. They are the most expensive – dollars and calories – way to get any nutrient.
For instance, if you are over 40, you probably need a minimum of 5,000 mg leucine to get any benefit. A serving of gummy branched chain amino acids (BCAA) is 2 (60 gummies per bottle) for just 1,000 mg total for all the 3 amino acids it contains. If we are generous one serving might be ½ leucine or 500 mg. You will need to chew 20 gummies (1/3rd bottle) to get 5,000 mg. That’s $4-5 and 200 calories per day. 6,000 calories and $150 per month, or 72,000 calories and $1,800 per year!
Additionally, chewing that many gummies will definitely give you gas, and risks intermittent diarrhea… that’s a hard (soft?) pass for me.
Creatine
Creatine has been sold as a “muscle builder” for decades, but it’s really a godsend for peri and postmenopausal women because of the positive impact it has on:
- bone density (when combined with strength training)
- cognitive function (less brain fog, improved memory)
- joint health (seems to be especially helpful for knee osteoarthritis)
- sleep quality (staying asleep longer and feeling more refreshed).
It takes at least a week (at 5,000 mg or 5g per day) to have a sense of if creatine will help you sleep or think better. If you are nerdy and nitpicky you may be thinking “creatine isn’t one amino acid, it’s made by the body from 3,” and you’re right.
Leucine
Leucine is an essential amino acid that seems to “turn on” the muscle building/repairing machinery (researchers call it “muscle protein synthesis” or MPS) in your muscles. To oversimplify things – the “on switch” is mTOR, which seems to wait for enough leucine to come it’s way. The older we get the less sensitive our mTOR gets, and adding a bit more leucine (5-10g or 5,000-10,000mg) definitely increases MPS.
Protein Powder
- For most women, using a protein powder makes it way easier to get enough protein while staying under their calorie budget. It’s the easiest, lowest calorie way to get 25 or 50 grams of protein.
- Proteins are made of amino acids – very long strings of amino acids… as a result you will see amino acids listed on the nutrition facts portion of protein powders.
- There are 20 different amino acids, and 9 of them are deemed “essential” because they must be obtained from food (we can’t make them).
- Protein quality scores reflect if any of the essential amino acids are missing or low. For example, collagen has zero leucine, so it’s protein quality score is 0 because the essential amino acids are all essential.
Bottom Line
Amino Acids or Protein? Protein powder helps you hit your protein goals. Amino acids and creatine do different, but complimentary things. Depending on your goals you might want to try all 3, just don’t use gummy versions.