Protein vs Amino Acids: Which is better?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2014-10-26

I would like to clarify that by amino acids I mean amino acid complexes. That is, such complexes that contain all amino acids. Do not confuse this with BCAA or individual amino acids.

So, protein is a protein. Protein is amino acids. Therefore, protein is amino acids. In other words, amino acid complexes are fundamentally not different from protein. This means that there are still small differences. I will discuss them now.

Advantages of Amino Acids

1. Amino acids do not need to be digested

This means that amino acid complexes are absorbed much faster than protein. Because protein must first be broken down into amino acids. The difference in time is not significantly substantial. About 1 hour (it largely depends on the type of protein). For the body and for progress, this difference is not critical. Therefore, although this is an advantage of amino acids, it is not significant.

2. Amino acids contain less fat and carbohydrates

Most amino acids are pure amino acids without impurities of fat and carbohydrates. In proteins, on average, there is 5% fat and 10% - 15% carbohydrates. Thus, amino acids are more suitable for weight loss. However, there are proteins with minimal carbohydrate and fat content, which do not lag behind "aminos" in this regard.

3. Amino acids are more convenient to take

For taking them, there is no need to have a shaker, constantly mix shakes and then wash everything. There is no need to constantly buy milk, which spoils quickly in hot weather, etc. It is enough to just throw a handful of tablets into the mouth and wash it down with water.

Advantages of Protein

1. Protein is more satiating

This means that protein during weight loss can replace part of the food. Thus, increasing the amount of protein in the diet while reducing the amount of carbohydrates and fats. This does not work with amino acids since it is quite difficult to feel full with tablets or capsules.

2. Some types of protein digest slowly

For example, casein. In some cases, this may be a big plus. For example, such protein can be consumed at night. And you can be sure that for several hours, amino acids will continuously enter your body, helping your muscles to recover or grow. If you "take" amino acids, they will be quickly digested and absorbed into the bloodstream—within the first hour.

3. Protein is cheaper

This is perhaps its main advantage. On average, protein is about 1.5 times cheaper than amino acids. That is, if 1 kg of comparatively inexpensive protein costs you 1000 rubles, 1 kg of inexpensive amino acids will cost 1500 rubles.

Why is this the case if they seem to be the same? The thing is that amino acids require more processing. That is, they process already made protein. Plus, they need to be compressed into tablets, or divided into capsules, or added to syrup. All this leads to the increase in product cost.

Best Amino Acids and Protein

In my personal opinion, there are the following decent protein options in terms of price and quality:

• Whey Protein by Dobromil Fit (74% protein)
• Syntrax: Whey Shake (77% protein)
• Syntrax Matrix (77% protein)
• Maxler: Whey Protein (73% protein)

And here is a similar selection of complex amino acids:

• Scitec Nutrition: Amino 5600
• Dymatize Super Amino 6000
• Hardlabz Aminoz

But, I would like to repeat once more that this is just my personal opinion. Which is also the official opinion of the “Your Trainer” site since this site is mine). All links lead to the stores of our partners. This means that you can be confident in the quality of the products as well as the quality of the services provided.

Conclusions

1. Taking protein and complex amino acids simultaneously is pointless. Stick to one or the other. I emphasize that this refers only to complex amino acids.

2. Basically, using protein or “aminos” is a question of preference. However, if you are working on gaining mass, I still advise sticking to protein. Because swallowing 20–40 tablets a day is quite problematic and costly.

3. Personally, I hardly use complex amino acids. I mainly use protein. Moreover, regardless of whether I am losing weight or gaining weight. Since there is no fundamental difference between them, and protein is cheaper.