BCAA"s and Protein Powder: Skin Tightening

People don't usually think of bodybuilding and skincare as going hand in hand. But research from the world of muscle building has important implications for the appearance of the skin. After all, your skin rests on your muscles. So one of the best ways to keep your skin tight and free of wrinkles and sagging is to keep your muscles strong. When your underlying muscles are toned and tight, your skin has a strong foundation to rest on and will appear healthier. Of course, to have strong muscles, you need to exercise. But many people like to supplement their exercise with, well, supplements. This isn't a bad idea - if you go about it the right way. And new research conducted at the University of Stirling and published in Frontiers in Physiology has found that some supplements are much more effective than others. A popular type of muscle-building supplement is branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). You may have heard that these supplements will trigger your body to build muscle after you lift weights. It's true. However, they don't give your body all the tools it needs to actually do that effectively. That's because while they do contain some amino acids (hence the name), they don't have all of the essential amino acids the body needs for maximal muscle growth.

The researchers found that BCAA were slightly more effective than a placebo in triggering muscle growth. But results were far better when exercisers took a whey protein supplement that contained not only BCAA, but the other essential amino acids for building muscle. In fact, the whey protein group had double the response of the BCAA-only group. If you are over 50 years old and you want to keep your muscles vital, taking a supplementary product to enhance muscle growth and tone is a solid idea whether you're exercising regularly or a couch potato. Just make sure you're taking a product that supplies you with all the amino acids you need to actually boost muscle growth, such as a good protein powder. You need a whey protein powder chock-full of all the necessary amino acids to maintain muscle mass. You need at least 15 g of muscle-building protein in every serving. You may never have thought of a protein shake as a beauty tool, but it turns out that it can be! Source: Sarah R. Jackman, Oliver C. Witard, Andrew Philp, Gareth A. Wallis, Keith Baar, Kevin D. Tipton. Branched-Chain Amino Acid Ingestion Stimulates Muscle Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following Resistance Exercise in Humans. Frontiers in Physiology, 2017; 8 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00390.