Q: Are Endurance BCAA free of anything that would cause a positive dope test?
A: There are no substances in any of the Hammer Nutrition products, including Endurance BCAA+, that would cause a positive reading on a drug/dope test.
Q: Will this product keep me awake at night?
A: The first thing to know is that Endurance BCAA does not produce energy or cause an energy/stimulant sensation. That said, when taken later on at night, there is the potential for the BCAAs in the product to disrupt sleep. This is because these BCAAs (the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, valine) compete with tryptophan in crossing the blood-brain barrier. As you know, tryptophan is an amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, which helps with sleep. As a result, taking Endurance BCAA too late at night--and thus temporarily "blocking" serotonin production--may (key word "may") cause one to not get to sleep as quickly as they normally would. Taking Endurance BCAA during late afternoon/early evening hours should not have any effect on sleep... it's when the product is taken in the nighttime hours that this possibility exists. Note: For athletes doing ultra races, ones where they're required to compete through the night and into the next day, Endurance BCAA is a great way to help stay alert but without resorting to stimulants of any kind.
Q: Do these help with weight loss?A: There is very good, research-backed evidence that the BCAAs help with weight loss. Check out the article "Reduce the risk of weight gain -- Branched chain amino acids may help!" on page 20 in Endurance News #74 (https://www.hammernutrition.com/media/downloads/ENews/ENissue74.pdf) for more details. The last portion of the article... The results of the study? The researchers found that increased intake of BCAAs was associated with a lower adjusted risk of being overweight. For the participants whose intake was among the top 25%, a 30% lower risk of being overweight was noted compared to those participants whose BCAA intake was the lowest. A decreased risk of obesity among both the United Kingdom and United Stated participants was also observed, with a 25% lower risk occurring among participants whose BCAA intake was highest compared to those whose intake was in the lowest percentile. Two possibilities were discussed in regarding the results that BCAAs may protect against weight gain: • One of the BCAAs, l-leucine, may increase energy expenditure, stimulate the hormone leptin, and possibly increase the activity of Mamallian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR). As is the case with leptin, mTOR helps regulate energy balance. • BCAAs may also help reduce impaired glucose tolerance, which contributes to obesity. While the researches agreed that further studies are necessary, if only to more completely determine a potential/cause relation, they commented that this particular study helps to explain the weight loss effect of increased intake of BCAAs.
Q: Could this replace the Anti-Fatigue & Endurolytes caps?
A: Endurance BCAA+ does not replace either Endurolytes or Anti-Fatigue Caps. The first product, Endurolytes, contains electrolytic minerals and fulfills an important component of fueling (along with calories and hydration). Suggested dose is 1 capsule for every 50-60lbs. of body weight. Take the first dose 15-30 minutes prior to the start, with additional doses consumed hourly. Increase the dose, if necessary, if the weather conditions get warmer. The second product, Anti-Fatigue Caps, is an excellent complement to Endurance BCAA+. In fact, these two products used in tandem are an outstanding endurance-enhancing combination. Among its many benefits, Endurance BCAA+ helps protect against lean muscle tissue breakdown and the production of excess amounts of ammonia, which is a major culprit for fatigue. While you can't avoid ammonia production completely during exercise, Endurance BCAA+ is an excellent way to protect against excess amounts of fatigue-causing ammonia. Anti-Fatigue Caps contains a number of nutrients/compounds that help detoxify the ammonia still remaining in the muscles and blood, thus helping to extend endurance. Suggested dose for both products is 2-4 capsules 15-30 minutes prior to the start of a workout or race, with an additional 1-2 capsules of each product hourly.
Q: How do we know whether to take 2 or 4 capsules before or after workouts? What determines how many are necessary?
A: The size of the athlete is one way to determine how many capsules to consider taking. For example, a 200-lb. athlete will be better served with a 4-capsule dose, while a 2-capsule dose will be quite sufficient for a 120-lb. athlete. Duration and intensity of the workout or race will also factor into how many capsules to consider using. A 2-hour, low-to-moderate intensity workout probably only requires 2 capsules to help support the recovery process, while longer, more arduous workouts would merit a 4-capsule dose.
Q: Is this product NSF
A: Endurance Amino is not NSF certified. Here is why: All supplements are required to be tested by a third party laboratory to prove strength, purity and identity of any raw ingredient used. Once the raw ingredient arrives at our manufacturers, they are sampled and sent to the labs for identity, purity and microbial. The finished goods are once again tested to be sure that there was not any contamination in the manufacturing process. This is also a somewhat redundant procedure that we perform, as the facilities that make our products are GMP-certified, banned substance-free facilities, so cross-contamination is not even possible. With this amount of testing for purity already being done — as well as the fact that there has never been a Hammer Nutrition product that went through a verifiable chain of custody from manufacturer to testing lab that showed banned substances being present in any quantity — 3rd party per batch certification is not only incredibly expensive, it's entirely redundant.
