Oh great, another BCAA vs. EAA debate, right? Let’s just stop right there. There is a massive misunderstanding of the differences between BCAAs and EAAs. Long story short, there is a place for BOTH BCAAs and EAAs. More on that in a bit. Committed USA decided to forgo all arguments on BCAA vs. EAA by giving us a full spectrum essential amino acid product named BCAA Plus. I know what you’re thinking, why call it BCAA Plus when it is a full spectrum product? Well, BCAAs are EAAs. Don’t forget that. Also, most consumers are familiar with BCAAs, so the naming doesn’t matter; what matters is how nice of a product this is.
First off, let’s set the record straight when you should be taking BCAAs or EAAs. The general rule of thumb, and for simplicity purposes, BCAAs should be taken when you’ve had an adequate intake of protein in the past 2-3 hours. This means if you’ve had a protein rich meal (eggs, chicken, steak, lean beef, etc) in the past three hours, BCAAs are just fine and the better option. If you are fasted, or you haven’t eaten in over 3 hours or if you have eaten but the meal didn’t consist of adequate protein, EAAs will be the best choice. Why? BCAAs actually need a pool of EAAs to work the way they are intended. The reason we say BCAAs are the better choice when it comes to someone with adequate protein intake in the past 2-3 hours is they are typically more affordable and they taste better (EAAs are hard to flavor).
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s dive into Committed USA’s BCAA Plus, emphasis on the word plus. Committed USA’s BCAA Plus is more than just a BCAA product. It contains the other six essential amino acids as well as a hydration complex that can aid in an increase in exercise capacity.
Committed USA BCAA Plus
Committed USA BCAA Plus is one of the heavier dosed amino acid products on the EAA side. What many companies tend to do is tout and market a large serving of EAAs, but out of that serving size, over 90% come from the BCAAs. For example, we’ve seen companies tout a 6g EAA product, only to find that 5.5g are BCAAs and 500mg come from the other six (sometimes we don’t even get all six) EAAs.
BCAAs (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine) – 7g
BCAAs are popular as they have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis, trigger mTOR and aid in the alleviation of DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness. In Committed USA’s BCAA Plus you get seven grams of a 2:1:1 ratio. This means you are getting 3.5g Leucine (mTOR activator), 1.75g Isoleucine and 1.75g Valine. The seven gram dosage is one of the larger ones you will find in a single scoop product. The average person should get anywhere from 15-20g BCAA per day, with some of that coming from real food.
If this was a stand-alone BCAA product we would be happy with this ration and this dosage, but the fact we are getting more than just BCAAs is great.
EAAs – 3g
You get a total of 10g EAAs in Committed USA’s BCAA Plus product. This is one of the highest dosages of EAAs We have ever seen in a single scoop product. Out of those 10g, 7g come from BCAAs and 3g come from the other six EAAs. While we have seen brands go up to 2g of EAAs, we have not seen many go north of that. The fact we are getting 3g here is amazing for the consumer. EAAs, along with the BCAAs, aid in muscle recovery and restoration. Contrary to popular aka marketing driven belief, there is no magical ration of EAAs like some company is touting and making millions off of. Committed USA is not trying to tell you that their product is the perfect ratio of EAAs; they are just providing adequate amounts of EAAs to ensure you make the best of your muscular recovery and growth.
Electrolytes/Hydration – 1,025mg
The electrolyte and hydration aspect of BCAA Plus is quite impressive. We get 500mg Coconut Water Powder which is what we typically see as the accepted dosage of this ingredient. This aids in molecular hydration which can increase your overall exercise capacity and endurance. With Coconut Water Powder we get Sodium Chloride, Potassium Gluconate, Magnesium Glycinate and Calcium Citrate. These electrolytes aid in hydration as well, and work very well in synergy with Coconut Water Powder. Combining these ingredients will help aid in hydration to improve your workout.
L-Glutamine – 1g
Glutamine was once thought to be superior for muscle recovery, and although studies show it can aid in recovery efforts of burn victims, recent research suggests it is much better for gut health, which is key. Glutamine may still have aspects of muscular recovery, hence why we still see it used in BCAA/Amino Acid products. The 1g dosage of Glutamine isn’t the 5g expectation, but even at lesser amounts it can provide a slight benefit to recovery and gut health.
Taurine – 500mg
Taurine is used in a lot of pre-workouts for an increase in strength and power output, but the real benefit of Taurine is its ability to help regulate electrolytes. As we mentioned above, this product contains electrolytes and Taurine can come in and help make them more effective. The dosage of 500mg in this regard is just find, even though we see it at 1g in pre-workout powders. When taken intra-workout you may experience a slight increase in overall strength due to Taurine’s interactions with the electrolytes.
Final Takeaway
Overall this is one solid amino acid product that contains extras to put this above many of the competitors in the same category on the market. We think this is a great intra-workout powder that will not only aid in muscle recovery, but help with your endurance and exercise capacity. The fact we have 10g of EAAs, which 7g coming from a 2:1:1 ratio BCAA and 3g from the other six AND it tastes good is a remarkable job. The crew over at Committed USA is doing some cool things with their two products. We can’t wait to see what else they have in-store.
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