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Do You Need to Take Amino Acids if You're Taking Protein Powder?

Aug 18, 2011 | By Anne Janine

Amino acids and protein powder are nutritional supplements that may help you pack on muscle mass. If you take one, you may not need the other, and if your muscle-building diet provides sufficient calories and high-quality protein, you may not need either. Seek the advice of a dietitian or sports nutritionist before adding any nutritional supplement to your fitness plan.

Protein Basics

Proteins are large molecules made up of small units called amino acids. When you consume protein, either from food or a supplement, your digestive system breaks down the protein into its constituent amino acids. As your body requires more protein -- for example, when you build new muscle -- the amino acids from your dietary protein recombine to create new protein. In addition to building muscle, your body needs protein to make blood cells, support your immune system, manufacture hormones and synthesize enzymes.

Supplements

Protein supplements originate from milk, soy or eggs. These sources of protein are nutritionally complete, meaning they contain all the essential amino acids you require in your diet because your body cannot make them. Protein supplements are commonly available as powders for mixing into shakes, smoothies or baked goods, and they also come in prefabricated shakes or bars. Amino acid supplements contain a mixture of individual amino acids. The specific amino acids they contain depend on the source of the original protein. Because amino acids are the building blocks of protein, taking them in addition to protein powder may be redundant to your diet.

Pros and Cons

Amino acid supplements offer an advantage over protein supplements, or even whole-food proteins, in that they are small enough for your gastrointestinal system to absorb without requiring prior digestion. Therefore, they can be available to your tissues more rapidly than whole proteins that must undergo digestion before your body can use the amino acids they contain. On the other hand, taking amino acid supplements in addition to protein powder may flood your system with more amino acids than you can use. If that happens, the extra amino acids will either burn as a fuel source or convert to fat molecules for long-term storage.

Considerations

Whether you need amino acids if you also take protein powder depends on your diet as a whole. If your total protein consumption is insufficient to support your maintenance needs as well as build muscle, amino acid supplements may fill the gap. However, if your dietary protein is adequate for your fitness needs -- and most diets supply plenty of protein without the need for supplementation, states sports nutritionist Nancy Clark -- amino acid supplements are unnecessary and waste your money.

References

Article reviewed by TimDog Last updated on: Aug 18, 2011

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