Is It Ok To Take Amino Acids Every Day?
For people who work out daily, supplements can be a source of much-needed nutritional support that can help the body recover day-to-day and improve the results of exercise. Considering these useful benefits, it can be tempting to think that, by simply having some of these supplements every day, those effects will continue unabated, but the reality is often more complicated than that. While many supplements, including amino acid supplements, don’t offer much risk to those who use them, it’s important to note that there’s a difference between whether it’s safe to take a supplement every day and whether it’s actually beneficial to do so. Below, the experts at aminoVITAL® will discuss if it is OK to take amino acids every day and what results you can expect if you do so; read on to learn more.
IS TAKING AMINO ACIDS EVERY DAY SAFE?
When considering whether a compound is safe to take every day, it can be helpful to think about whether it’s a natural part of your body. For instance, herbal supplements can sometimes present a danger because they might contain compounds that have strong effects on the body, making dosage a major concern that isn’t always properly addressed. On the other hand, fitness supplements made with protein or amino acids offer ingredients that the body is designed to take in and use safely and efficiently, so they tend to be less of a threat, even in greater amounts.
Amino acids, specifically, are generally safe to use every day, as long as they’re not consumed in huge amounts. Because the nutritional needs of different people can vary widely, it’s tough to say exactly what the upper limit might be for amino acids in general. However, it seems likely that the maximum dosage of amino acids that can be taken each day is far more than what most people consume, even with the addition of one or two daily amino acid supplements.
For example, one study1 from 2012 produced a “cautious estimate” of the max dosage of leucine, a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA), that a healthy adult man can consume: about 35 grams per day. Keep in mind that this is the maximum for a single amino acid; most amino acid-based fitness supplements are only partly made up of leucine, so a product like aminoVITAL®’s Rapid Recovery post-workout mix – which offers 3.6 grams of amino acids, of which leucine is only one – comes nowhere near the safe upper limit of consumption.
Even if you took three or four of these supplements every day, taking in close 15 grams of amino acids in the process (not counting the amino acids in your food), you would still probably be well within the safety limits for amino acid supplements. That said, there is probably not much reason to take more than two or three amino acid supplements every day; we’ll look at the possible benefits of this below.
ARE THERE BENEFITS TO TAKING AMINO ACIDS EVERY DAY?
While amino acid supplements – especially those containing the three BCAAs – can be effective at improving performance at the gym and boosting gains and recovery times afterward, deciding when to take them should depend on when and how often you exercise. The benefits of amino acids come from their ability to provide the exact resources the body needs during and after a workout, so their use should be timed with your exercise schedule instead of simply being made part of each day’s routine.
For example, the Action mid-workout mix from aminoVITAL® contains five amino acids – the three BCAAs, plus arginine and glutamine – along with vitamins and minerals to provide energy and balance hydration in the middle of long workouts. On a day when you’re not exercising, however, you won’t receive these benefits from amino acids because your body doesn’t need them on that particular day. In other words, for those who don’t work out every day, there isn’t really any reason to take amino acids every day – with one possible exception.
In addition, an amino acid-based product doesn’t come with the same downsides that are often associated with other pre-workouts, many of which are based on stimulants. There are no jitters after taking amino acids, for instance, and you won’t experience the same crash you’d get after a heavy dose of caffeine. Instead, you can expect a steady, measured increase in energy that will kick in quickly – thanks to the fast bioavailability of amino acids.
TRY AN AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ON ANY DAY YOU WORK OUT
People tend to have a wide variety of different goals when it comes to exercise. For some, it’s a way to lose weight, while others use it to bulk up and gain muscle mass. Regardless of your personal reasons for working out, amino acid supplements from aminoVITAL® can help you reach your goal more quickly by boosting gains, improving recovery times, providing energy, and fighting fatigue. To learn more about these lean, efficient supplements, visit aminoVITAL® online or call us today at (888) 264-6673.
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