What Is Leucine?

In simple terms, leucine is a branch-chain amino acid (BCAA) that helps your body build and repair muscles. There are 9 essential amino acids, considered “essential” because your body cannot produce them on their own and relies on the food we consume to get these. Three basic amino acids (valine, leucine, and isoleucine) make up over 1/3rd of all of the muscle and protein in your body. Leucine plays an important role in the muscular system. 

Especially as we age, it's imperative to either supplement with food or with supplements to make sure you’re getting all of the BCAAS that you need to keep your muscles strong and supported. Because leucine is primarily found in protein, so as long as you’re consuming enough (complete & healthy) sources of protein, you’re probably getting enough leucine in your diet. It also helps regulate blood glucose levels, which plays a role in weight loss and muscle management.

Here are some examples of healthy foods that contain leucine:

• Salmon
• Chickpeas
• Brown rice
• Eggs
• Soybeans
• Nuts
• Beef

Here’s How Your Body Can Benefit From Leucine

Consuming more leucine in your diet can have many benefits. For most adults the World Health Organization states that you should get 86mg of leucine per pound of bodyweight per day. Leucine helps support a healthy body and metabolism in a few key ways:

• Promote muscle growth: Leucine acts as the top amino acid found to trigger muscle growth not just recovery.
• Increased athletic performance: Its key role can lead to increased healthy muscle mass and can help you perform better.
• May boost weight loss: It helps to increase lean muscle which supports metabolism. A higher metabolism burns more calories at rest. More calories burned equals more weight loss.
• Supports healthy muscle regeneration: Recent studies have shown that leucine triggers protein synthesis to help recovery and aiding in athletic performance and muscular endurance.
• Stabilizes blood sugar: Leucine can help stimulate insulin secretion, which helps balance out the body’s blood sugar levels.
• Helps prevent muscular degeneration: As it relates to aging, leucine can slow the loss of muscle because it boosts protein synthesis.

Protein + Leucine = Recipe for Success

Ready to support your muscles with leucine? As a complete protein with all of the BCAAs taking more can help build muscle mass and achieve your performance goals. The best way to optimize your intake is by examining how much protein you’re taking and how to use a good supplement. 

A well-rounded, clean protein powder not only gives your body the protein it needs to regenerate and repair muscles, but it also provides your body with complete BCAAs will help to keep you feeling your best. But don’t let that fool you–– getting a clean well rounded protein with BCAA's can make all the difference for your performance and weight management goals. 

Transformation Protein is amino-balanced with all of the BCAAs to make sure your body is getting what it needs for you to see hit your weight loss, muscle building, and performance goals.