Leucine supplements

I’m having a hard time consuming the right amount of whey, milk, meat and eggs to get my 2.5g of Leucine for protein synthesis daily. I have horrible gas and constipation and it’s becoming unbearable. Is it possible to supplement leucine in order to cut down on animal production consumption?

If you’re aim is to consume 2.5g of leucine daily I think you might need an increase in protein. I would aim for 0.7-1gram of protein per pound body weight and that would yield ~15-20g of leucine per day.

I would not recommend supplementing leucine by itself in any case.

I do not think that animal product intake is causing horrible gas and constipation given how well animal protein and fats are digested in the human gut. You may not tolerate dairy or whey, but that would need to be determined experimentally.

I’m sorry but I’m very confused now. I am only aiming for 2.5g of leucine per meal (not daily) because of your video on youtube; “Nutrition Lecture Pt. 2: Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat”. I understood that in order for a protein synthesis to occur (mTOR signaling) I have to reach a certain threshold of protein, in particular leucine. I understood that 3g of leucine at each meal, which is roughly 25g of animal protein, is a safe amount to ensure a protein sythesis event.
So I decided to look up how much leucine was in whole foods and it got even more confusing. For example 1 large egg apparently has roughly .5g of Leucine on some websites, and 4,500mg (4,5g) on others. So either 1 egg or 4,5 eggs has enough leucine to create a protein synthesis event. I would like to eat mostly vegetarian and I can’t imagine eating 4-5 eggs 3-5 times a day, nor drink milk or eat some sort of meat 4-5 times a day.
So my idea was to supplement my meals with BCAA’s to ensure I get a protein synthesis at each meal. Because like you said, a meal without a protein synthesis event, is a meal wasted :wink:

Bottom line question:
Can I supplement my meals with BCAAs to ensure I gdt enough protein at each meal?

Right, but your first post here said differently.

The second is either a typo or you read it wrong. 450mg vs 0.5g is about the same.

Well, I think you’re going to have some difficulty getting enough protein then. 20-30g of high quality protein every 3-5 hours is my recommendation. Do with that what you will.

Unfortunately, this is not a viable solution unless you’re getting enough EAA’s as well. It may help, sure, but I would recommend eating more protein in general vs. using BCAAs.

thank you for taking your time to respond to my long post. Just a few more questions if I may:

  1. will you come out with a diet strategy book anytime in the near future?

  2. can someone be vegetarian and still see gains on the hypertrophy plan?

  3. should I slowly build up a “tolerance” to dairy (particularly milk) slowly if I am having bowl problems?

Again thank you so much for all the help.

MCW,

  1. I would like to.

  2. Yes.

  3. I think yes, that would be a good strategy or just using non-dairy sources.

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