Why is Leucine important for muscle growth?
Leucine is one of the three branched chain amino acids and one of the nine essential amino acids needed by the body. This can’t be produced naturally in the body and can only be obtained through your diet. The great thing here is as soon as leucine is ingested it will be directed mostly in your skeletal muscle. This why when athletes are looking for BCAA’s (Branched Chain Amino Acids) and protein supplements they take a good look at the leucine content. Dosages can vary from 10-45mg per kg of body weight depending on your activity level.
Benefits
- Building Muscle and Preventing Muscle Breakdown
Leucine stimulates a signalling pathway that increases protein synthesis for new muscle fibers. Thus, increasing overall strength which is ideal if you are looking to build muscle or improve athletic performance.
There have also been studies with over a thousand participants, and it reported that participants with leucine supplementation lead to greater gains of lean muscle mass and total body mass compared to those that weren’t. There were even comparable muscle gains of participants taking just leucine as opposed to whey or plant protein. Therefore, leucine has a major effect on muscle building.
Another thing is muscle breakdown, after prolonged periods of muscle inactivity and changes in hormones as we grow older. Muscle breakdown and reduced muscle mass is inevitable so it’s only natural to find ways to counteract these effects. Few studies have indicated that consuming 13g leucine each day reduced the loss of lean muscle mass and actually prevented gains of body fat.
2. Enhancing Athletic Performance
Leucine stimulates muscle growth and as a general rule, larger muscles means gains in strength. Studies have shown that groups of men who do not train went on a 12-week resistance training program. Half took 4g of leucine a day and the other half took a placebo. The results was that their 5-rep max had a 41% increase in from the start of the study as opposed to a 31% gain from the placebo group.
3. Boosting Immunity
During an immune response your body activates T cells which fight off harmful bacteria and microorganisms. Activation requires a signalling pathway to regulate T cell function basically ensuring they are ready for germ invasion. This signalling pathway as we said earlier can be triggered by taking leucine making it a great supplement for boosting immunity.
Dietary Sources
Leucine is found almost any protein dense foods namely beef, chicken breast, tuna having one of the highest leucine content. Plant-based sources include nuts, tofu and one new ingredient that is high in leucine is water lentils. Studies have shown that water lentils have the highest percentage of leucine content even comparable to that of whey protein. Making it an excellent choice of getting leucine.
Taking as little as 4g of leucine can have amazing effects for your body in terms of maintaining or gaining healthy muscles. So what are you waiting for start supplementing your diet with leucine.