Does taking BCAA's burn fat instead of muscle when doing intermittent fasting?

altairego21

I've been watching so many youtubers who do intermittent Fasting and they talk about how they add BCAA's to their water throughout the day because it allows for them curve the hunger and uses stored fat for energy? Is this true? Also if so what brand of BCAA's are good and do you drink them all day or just before/during a workout?

kimothy38

I found BCAAs capsules really beneficial when training fasted. Made a huge difference for me but I'm sure about fat burning.

kommodevaran

Exert judgement when you read and watch and listen.

Because physics, "weight loss aids" is woo.

A consistent calorie deficit is what creates weight loss.

When you lose weight, you lose some fat and some muscle. Unless you eat way too little, most of what you lose is fat.

Intermittent fasting is a range of ways to time your food intake. Meal schedule has nothing directly to do with calorie deficit, but indirectly - because it can have an impact on satiety and general feeling of wellbeing - in how easy it is to stick to. Hunger is normal, and good, as long as you're properly fed. Starving yourself is not good.

StealthHealth

Short answer, maybe, but the evidence is weak.

From Examine "In prolonged exercise and somewhat related to the antifatigue effects, an increase in fat oxidation is noted with BCAA supplementation; this is thought to be related to the glycogen preserving effects of BCAAs."

The studies (3) were done on 10, 7, and 7 participants - so a pretty low sample set.

stanmann571

BCAAs are low/zero calorie protein. If you are doing IF or for some other reason aren't getting enough protein in time proximity to your workout/training/exercise schedule, BCAAs may help prioritize fat loss vs LBM loss(bone/muscle/organ).

So yes, kinda sorta, but not really.

trigden1991

For the average person there is no point.