Thought for the Day: “Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.” — Jesse
There is plenty of evidence to support the need for amino acids whether taken in free form or taken as part of the inherent nature of a high quality protein powder. Yet, no matter how many sources of free amino acids we try, each one claiming to be the best, with their own unique formula which has exactly the right ratios etc, we find the only size difference we see is in our wallet. No actual increase in body size or improvement in muscularity. Normally, we would have long ago placed free amino’s in the same category as Dibencozide, Yohimbe bark and Hot Stuff (a lot of bark and no bite). Free Aminos are not in the same category. We know from personal experience that free aminos can indeed work wonders on your physique.
Frank Zane and Larry Scott both had a terrific experience with free amino’s when competing for the Mr. Olympia contest. A well known nutritionist at the time by the name of Rheo H. Blair, who didn’t care much for publicity or riches, was driven by the desire to rejuvenate bodies. With chemistry alone he prolonged the youth and health of many well known celebrities such as Lawrence Welk, Charlton Heston, Robert Cummings. During the time they were on Rheo’s program it was hard to believe their real age. Rheo developed a number of different supplements which could transform physiques in a way which was unbelievable.
One of his finest supplements was a free amino acid combination which proved to be incredibly effective for holding size while training under reduced calories prior to a contest. They were very expensive but they were like magic. Just one week on these aminos and you could see the difference in your physique. The objective was to gradually cut back on calories while replacing them with free aminos. Day by day our muscularity improved until our skin thinned down like paper all the time adding a special lamp shade glow to the skin. Rheo’s free aminos really came into their own just as Larry Scott retired from competition and were fully developed about the time Frank Zane was competing for the Olympia. You may remember the incredible muscularity Frank displayed during his three years as winner of the Mr. Olympia. This special quality and muscularity enabled him to beat out competitors that were much larger. Furthermore, he did it without abusing himself with massive doses of steroids. I know we hear a lot of hype about supplements today but, it wasn’t just a lot of hype Rheo was giving Frank Zane and Larry Scott, they both could see the difference in there physiques. As you can guess, Frank Zane and Larry Scott kept it a secret.
Rheo was letting Frank Zane and Larry Scott have there aminos at below wholesale costs but they were still paying almost 50 cents per capsule. At 50 to 100 capsules per day you can see it soon got very expensive. Larry remember’s Frank was spending $1500 per month just for his free amino acids. This, price even today, is not within in the reach of most of us. It’s a moot point anyway because Rheo died several years ago and with him died the secret to his formula. Since then, there have been countless attempts to duplicate his “magic” formula (including many of our own). So far, we have not seen anything as good.
We haven’t given up because I know there is a formula that will work wonders. Furthermore, I don’t believe it should be out of reach financially for most of us today; now that amino acids are being produced in much larger quantities than they were in the 60,s and 70′s. The correct formula should be able to produce noticeable improvement within one week. In a continuing effort to unearth the “magic” formula, we are looking carefully at several different sources of original amino acid research. Let me share with you some interesting findings. The following is latest research funded by the Food Safety Research Unit of the Western Regional Research Center of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Albany, California and reported in the three Volume study entitled Absorption and Utilization of Amino Acids by CRC press. ISBN 0-8493-6006-4 (V.1)
For this study, Several scientist were invited to develop at least one of the following overlapping topics.
1. Amino acid absorption, transport, metabolism and utilization
2. Bioavailabilities of amino acids from different sources
3. Amino acid imbalances, antagonisms, and toxicities
4. Metabolic interrelationships of amino acids
5. Species variation in the utilization of amino acids
6. Analyses of amino acids in foods, body fluids and tissues
The response was positive and enthusiastic, as evidenced by the fact that authors from twelve countries contributed manuscripts covering the above topics. However, we are going to concentrate on just a few of the subjects which have been brought forth by this group of scientists and reported in Volume I.
Essential vs Non essential Amino Acids
It has been assumed that an Amino Acid supplement should have a certain P.E.R (protein efficiency ratio), the correct balance of individual amino acids and be comprised of the essential animo acids. We haven’t been concerned with the non-essential amino acids (NEAA) because it has been theorized they can be synthesized from the essential amino acids. This has been a popular notion amongst the health food companies, therefore when we purchase Amino Acids, the sales literature often includes assurance their product contains only the essential amino acids. Let’s see what the latest research says.
“The nutritive value of a specific amino acid depends on its physiological availability, which in turn is governed by its absorption, transport and utilization. Bioavailability and biological utilization of amino acids vary widely and depend on source, chemical and metabolic interactions, and on the diet and health of the consumer. “Stuki and Harper confirmed work by Rose and others showing that the non-essential amino acids (NEAA) are just as important to achieve rapid growth when supplied as a supplemental food as are the essential amino acids. Tests show the NEAA are synthesized from the EAA at too slow a rate to support maximum growth. For example rats fed an amino acid balance of 100% essential amino acids and zero non-essential amino acids grew 21g in 17 days, while those fed an amino acid balance of 75% essential and 25% non-essential grew 57g (271% increase) and those fed a diet with 50% essential and 50% non-essential grew 68g (323% increase). This is very interesting information. Granted the testing was done on rats. We know testing done on rats more closely approximates humans than any other animal, so we are fairly confident the same would apply to humans. The data tells us that if we supplement our diet with EAA expecting our body to synthesize the NEAA from the EAA in time to support maximum growth, we are severely restricting our growth potential. The ratio of EAA to NEAA for maximum growth is closer to 1/1 rather than 1/0. This would indicate the current practice of taking free form aminos without food is inadvisable. This is also true of the popular notion of suggesting that branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) should be taken alone after a workout. According to this study one should always take their Free Form amino acids whether branched chain or straight chain along with other proteins in order to maximize their benefit.
This particular study goes on to say, ” Ratios of EAA to NEAA are not the only factor in the formulation of defined AA diets. Balance within the EAA group is also critical. This of course, we already knew, thus the search for the ideal amino acid balance of which I spoke earlier in this article. Three considerations are therefore paramount when one considers the formulation of an AA diet:
(1) total amount of available nitrogen, (how much protein you are getting in your diet.
(2) distribution of nitrogen between the EAA and NEAA
(3) relative concentrations of AA within the EAA group.
I’m completely out of time for this article so I will continue this sharing of proper amino acid balance next month. I will look at more information on amino acid pools and how long an amino acid must stay in circulation in order to be available for extraction from the amino acid pool.
There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. Your sunlight will lead you the way…Jesse
