Is it necessary to buy individual amino acids, or is it enough to just take protein?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2015-09-12

Those who use sports nutrition know that you can now buy almost any amino acid in separate packaging at sports nutrition stores. So, the essence of this article is to determine whether it is necessary to take separate amino acids (glutamine, arginine, BCAAs, etc.) or if it is sufficient to consume protein alone.

It is quite simple to find this out. We take a whey protein with a high protein content and look at how many and which amino acids it contains per 100 grams (the average daily serving). Then we compare the amounts of each individual amino acid with what the manufacturers recommend in their supplements. Although manufacturers often underestimate dosages by 1.5 to 2 times, we will rely on their recommendations, so people don’t think I’m just making this up, as I usually do in my articles.)

Amino Acid Composition of Whey Protein

We will use Prostar 100% WHEY Protein by Ultimate Nutrition as a benchmark. There are three reasons for this:

1. I’m currently consuming it)).
2. It is 100% whey.
3. It contains 83.5% protein (which is almost an isolate).

This means it is fully whey protein of good quality and almost free from impurities. Per 100 grams, it contains:

Comparison of Dosages of Individual Amino Acids

Here’s the amino acid composition. For the individual amino acids, we will take products from Twinlab. This company is the best at dealing with individual amino acids since it has the most comprehensive list of individual amino products. Plus, it’s an established and reputable brand. We will compare the upper limits of the dosages recommended by the manufacturer to avoid any accusations of bias. All dosages were taken from the official manufacturer’s website.

I didn't compare all amino acids (13 out of 18) since some manufacturers do not produce them in separate forms. Or they hardly do. It turns out that, on average, in 100 grams of protein, there are 4.3 times more of certain amino acids than the daily dosage recommended by manufacturers! Impressive?

Additionally, manufacturers often recommend portions that are about 2 times smaller than what is actually needed. This is done to make it seem like there are more servings in the package. Therefore, the reality is that in 100 grams of protein, there is, on average, a two-day dosage of certain amino acids.

An exception is tryptophan and alanine. These can be taken separately even if you are consuming protein.

Objections

So, why then buy individual amino acids? Here are the following objections:

1. Individual amino acids do not need to be broken down and are absorbed faster.

I agree. But what’s the benefit of being absorbed half an hour faster? Absolutely none. Half an hour or an hour doesn’t matter to the body. Nothing will happen to your muscles in half an hour.

2. For various reasons, someone might need an increased dosage of a certain amino acid.

Yes, this can happen. In such cases, it is indeed necessary to buy the required individual acid. But generally, this concerns specific medical conditions. Relatively healthy people do not need higher doses of any particular amino acid.

3. Certain amino acids are very important for building muscles!

All amino acids are important, to put it plainly. Yes, some are more important than others. However, generally, protein contains more of the amino acids that are more important and fewer of those that are less important. Just look: BCAAs, arginine, and lysine are the most abundant. And they are very important for the body and particularly for muscles.

4. What about the amino acids that are not in protein?

That’s a good question. Indeed, protein (regardless of its type) does not contain such important amino acids as:

• Ornithine
• Taurine
• GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

You can definitely buy those separately. However, taurine is produced in the body from cysteine, and GABA from glutamine. As shown above, both cysteine and glutamine are present in much higher amounts than the daily norm in 100 g of whey protein. This means that the excess of these amino acids will likely be used to produce taurine and GABA. Of course, this is provided that the body is lacking them.

Other Types of Proteins

But not everyone drinks whey protein. Now we will compare the amino acid composition of whey and other proteins.

Casein. There are significant differences in tryptophan (about 1.5 times less), cysteine (3 times less), and alanine (1.5 times less). So if you drink casein, it makes sense to take, in addition to tryptophan, alanine, and ornithine, taurine as well. After all, taurine is synthesized from cysteine, which is very low in casein.

Egg protein. The amino acid profile roughly corresponds to that of whey protein. There are indeed differences in some amino acids of up to 2 times, but it is not critical enough to make separate recommendations. In general, the recommendations for egg protein are the same.

Soy protein. There are differences in tryptophan (about 3 times less), cysteine (4 times less), alanine (2 times less), and methionine (2 times less). Some other amino acids are also present in lower amounts, but not enough to require additional purchases. In general, if you drink soy protein, in addition to tryptophan, alanine, and ornithine, you can also consider methionine and taurine. Of course, you can replace taurine with cysteine, but it is harder to find.

Conclusions

If you drink whey or egg protein daily at around 100 g (for women 70-80 g), it makes sense to buy only these three individual amino acids:

• Tryptophan (present in protein, but constitutes about the daily norm).
• Alanine (present in protein, but constitutes slightly less than the daily norm).
• Ornithine (absent in protein).

If you drink casein, you can also include taurine. If you drink whey protein, you can include taurine and methionine as well. Thus, in terms of amino acid composition, whey and egg protein are the best. But whey is cheaper.

I’d also like to emphasize that we discussed protein with 83.5% protein content. And I compared it with proteins of another type, which have about the same amount of protein. However, in most proteins, there is less protein (80% - 70%). This is not critical, but please keep it in mind. Moreover, there are manufacturers that put only 50% protein and label this product as protein. Good luck!