11 Best Amino Acid Supplements in 2020

Posted on June 15, 2020

 

If you’ve ever felt uncertain about which amino acid supplement to take, you’re not alone. The market is stacked with a seemingly infinite combination of these products, each promising benefits in their own slick way.

 

Amino acids are fundamentally important nutrients for the human body, whether you’re legging it up a mountain, pounding weights in the gym or simply looking for ways to maintain your health.

 

And it’s worth mentioning that the best amino acid supplement for you will not necessarily be the best one for your training partner. It all depends on the goals you are each working towards and the type of diet you adhere to.

 

 

And if you have some idea of the best amino acid product for you, does it offer an adequate dosage of the active ingredients in order to get the job done?

 

After all, there are plenty of products that offer an active-ingredient sprinkling—just enough so it can be declared on the label. This is where the subtle difference between ‘mcg’, ‘mg’ and ‘g’ means everything on a nutrition label.

 

For example, when it comes to Citrulline (often a culprit), at a quick glance 800mg can look like bigger than 8g. Though 8g is the same as 8,000mg, and actually provides ten time more than 800mg.

 

What’s the significance?

 

This higher dosage is more in alignment with the clinical research, with the proven dosage range for benefits at around 6-8grams daily.

 

If you’re on the hunt for a quality amino acid supplement to suit your needs, you’re in luck. Simply scroll through the list of headings below to see which meets your needs.

 

Do you want to boost lean muscle, support weight loss or simply to enrich a vegan lifestyle?

 

So get scrolling and find out which supplements packs the right kind of nutritional punch.

 

 

Best Amino Acid Product for Weight Loss

Switch Nutrition Amino Switch

 

An important part of any weight loss approach is maintaining as much muscle mass as possible. By doing this, the risk of rebound weight gain is reduced once the program is finished.

 

Few nutrient combinations have actually been studied within this framework. However, one of them is an essential amino acid blend called the Master Amino Acid Pattern or MAP.

 

And the results?

 

The use of this specific amino acid pattern by athletes led to more fat loss, and as an added benefit, increased muscle mass, along with exercise improved performance.

 

And Switch Nutrition have used this very same Master Amino Acid pattern in their Amino Switch product. This sets it apart from its competitors, ensuring that muscle mass will be maximized at the end of the weight loss program.

 

And as scientific research is indicating, this makes a big difference to keeping in shape once your weight loss goals have been achieved.

 

Best EAA Supplement (+ Best Post-Workout/Recovery EAA)

Switch Nutrition Amino Switch

 

Could this be the best EAA supplement on the global market?

 

Certainly the market is too big to examine. However, it’s definitely up there as one of the top products internationally for one simple reason—it stick’s to clinical research.

 

So what else does this mysterious Master Amino Acid Pattern do, making it so nutritionally valuable?

 

The ratio seems to be fully utilized by the body, with a near perfect net nitrogen utilization. This means more of the amino acids end up where you want them and are not lost as a result of the metabolic processes of the human body.

 

Amino Switch tastes amazing, is all-natural and comes in a solid range of flavours, each more enticing than the last. Whether it’s post-workout to trigger protein synthesis, or between meals, this is a product worth stocking your kitchen cupboard with.

 

Best Amino Acid Product for Building Muscle

Cellucor Alpha Amino

 

With so many products to choose from, you’d expect picking the ultimate muscle growth amino acid would be an excruciating experience. Fortunately, Cellucor have made it easy, with Alpha Amino.

 

This product packs plenty of natural anabolic kick, with a host of supportive nutritionals and a solid profile of essential amino acids. This product delivers more than a standard EAA, with ergogenic nutrients.

 

With every essential amino acid required for repairing and building lean muscle, Cellucor Alpha Amino ensures you will be repaired and ready to hit your next session in style.

 

Few supplements offer HMB, let alone 3 grams of Calcium HMB, providing 2.6 grams of HMB. This somewhat forgotten nutrient deliver an absolute payload of benefits, such as increased testosterone, IGF-1, Insulin and Growth Hormone.

 

On top of this, HMB increases lean mass and decrease fat mass. And to really drive a nail into the coffin of its competitors, HMB boosts peak power and time to reach ventilator threshold, as well as reducing muscle markers of damage after exercise.

 

On top of all this, Creatine HCL, coconut water powder and electrolytes, betaine (trimethylglycine) and the bioavailability enhancer bioperine.

 

Sure, this supplement also contains glutamine, citrulline, taurine, alanine and tyrosine, likely at dosages that are too low to accomplish much. However, the rest of the ingredients hold up, making this a great supplement to help you make the most of your muscle growth efforts.

 

Best BCAA Supplement

Max’s Intraboost

 

If you’re a fan of BCAA supplements, the good news is the price has come down further and further on these products, likely due to ramped up mass production to meet global demand.

 

Apart from the fact that Max’s Intraboost tastes amazing, it delivers an 8 gram payload of branched chain amino acids in each serve, in the coveted 2:1:1 ratio.

 

In addition, it offers 2.6 grams of glutamine per serve, to assist with muscle glycogen replenishment and support performance. Add a little Citrulline and beta-alanine to the mix and you’ve got a well-rounded product that will get you moving in the right direction.

 

Few BCAA supplements offer much more than 5 grams, let alone a full 8 grams serving size, plus additional glutamine and electrolytes. This makes Max’s Intraboost a great product for anyone who is larger than your average bear or simply training harder than most.

 

This product is fine for men or women, however, Maxine’s Burn do offer Sip N’ Burn, a caffeinated (50mg/serve) BCAA product loaded with thermogenics specifically marketed towards women.

 

Best Budget BCAA (in a 2:1:1 Ratio)

Flavoured: Scivation Xtend 630g

Pure Powder: ATP Science BCAA 500g

 

Sometimes, it’s just nice to snatch a bargain that you know will keep you going for ages, so you don’t have to worry any time soon about scraping the bottom of the container for that final serve.

 

The best budget BCAA that sticks to the 2:1:1 ratio all depends on whether you’re after a flavoured product or a plain powder that you can add to something flavoured, like a pre-workout.

 

Or maybe you’ve got a palate of steel and can handle the bitterness of a plain BCAA powder.

 

If so, you are one tough cookie …

 

For a flavoured product, you can’t look past Scivation Xtend 90 serves. This product offers 7 grams per serve of BCAAs at a cost of $1 per serve. In addition, it offers 2.5 grams of glutamine, electrolytes and Citrulline.

 

In comparison, ATP Science BCAA powder at a dose of 7 grams (for comparison sake), costs 70 cents. However, this is a pure powder, and does not contain glutamine or electrolyte in each serve.

 

Best Intra-Workout Amino Acid

Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy + Electrolytes

 

When looking for an intra-workout, it’s great to have a nice-tasting product that delivers amino acids, an energy boost and electrolytes to keep you hydrated.

 

Tough gym sessions become that much more enjoyable when you’ve got a rewarding intra-workout that explodes with flavour and gives you a kick when energy levels and motivation is waning.

 

For this purpose, Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy + Electrolytes delivers oodles of goodness, ready to rock your world and crank up the fun meter.

 

Apart from the fact that Optimum Nutrition don’t know how to create a bad product, Amino Energy plus Electrolytes delivers Green Tea and Green Coffee derived caffeine, as well as pure caffeine.

 

The total caffeine content is 100mg per 9.5 grams of powder (2 scoops). The energy boost is just the right amount to keep you pumping through those reps, with a flavour that is more than satisfying, bordering on ridiculously delicious.

 

This product contains electrolytes, including magnesium, to support hydration for those warmer sessions when the sweat is flowing freely. Maintaining hydration is essential for exercise performance.

 

Amino Energy + Electrolytes also contains the eight essential amino acids required for muscle protein synthesis—excluding tryptophan, which isn’t required for this process.

 

The first ingredient in the proprietary amino acid blend is taurine. This conditionally-essential amino acid delivers a range of benefits such as antioxidant effects and is a preventer of delayed onset muscle soreness.

 

Best Nitric Oxide Amino Acid

Musclesport Rhino Pumped

 

If you like to leave the gym with your arms stretching out the sleeves of your shirt, then Musclesport’s Rhino Pumped should be your pre-workout of choice.

 

This supplements packs a host of powerful ingredients, including the muscle-volumising glycerol. This nutrient is absorbed more fully when taken during exercise, ensuring that your pumps are maximized.

 

Rhino pumped also contains citrulline, inositol stabilized arginine silicate and agmatine. These nutrients have a strong synergism, keeping nitric oxide synthesis maximized.

 

Nitric oxide relaxes the smooth muscle around blood vessels, leading to dilation and more blood delivered to the peripheries, including skeletal muscle. And with blood comes oxygen, nutrients and enhanced pumps.

 

To top this off, select nootropics and cellular energisers are included to keep your session focused and energized. This is a solid product, packing plenty of metabolic punch to keep our muscles full and keep the good times rolling.

 

Best Tasting Amino Acid (+ Best Amino Acid Product for Energy)

Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy

 

If flavour is your thing, and you are on the hunt for a product that you explode on your palate, Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy is the way to go.

 

This product has been revered for decades for the simple fact that it tastes absolutely sensational.

 

Amino Energy is the product you want by your side when you’re not feeling especially motivated about your next training session.

 

Maybe you’d rather be plonked on a comfortable sofa forging your way through a bag of potato chips—like Smith’s are going out of business.

 

Hopefully not, because there’s a better way!

 

ON Amino Energy tastes absolutely amazing, and delivers a nice caffeine hit that isn’t too over-the-top—just enough to wake you up and clear the cobwebs from your existence.

 

But this product isn’t all about flavour. It’s loaded with a blend of essential and conditionally-essential amino acids to promote performance and get you feeling like a trillion dollars.

 

Best Amino Acids for Skin, Hair and Nails

Amazonia Raw Collagen Glow 5000

 

Despite the fact that Amazonia products are usually vegan-friendly, Raw Collagen 5000 is marine sourced. If collagen was available from plants, no doubt they would have sourced it …

 

This product contains type 1 and 3 marine collagen, containing important hydroxlyated amino acids to support the integrity of many tissues, including skin, hair, nails, bone and much more.

 

In addition to premium marine collagen, this product also contains Sea Buckthorn Juice, organic beetroot, organic Jerusalem artichoke inulin, natural flavours and sweeteners.

 

These additional ingredients are valuable sources of antioxidants, helping to minimise free-radical damage to skin, while the collagen provide nutritional building blocks for the integrity of the tissue.

 

This is a well-thought-out supplement that you can count on for on-going nutritional support for those specific areas of the body.   

 

Best Amino Acids for Sleep

Ghost Amino

 

After a solid day or work, training and everything else that life has thrown at you, it can be nice to enjoy a night cap before bed. And if you’re looking for one packed with amino acids and zero alcohol, that tastes great and supports sleep, look no further than Ghost Amino.

 

This product offers the nutritional power of the nine essential amino acids, with added 5-HTP. In fact, it contains 100mg L-tryptophan per serve as well as 50mg 5-HTP.

 

If you’re not up on your nutritional biochemistry, fear not—few are. Tryptophan is used in the brain for 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), which can then be converted to serotonin.

 

At night and in the absence of a significant amount of light (zero light is best), serotonin is converted to melatonin in the pineal gland in the brain.

 

Melatonin is an important brain antioxidant, free-radical detoxifier, supports cardiovascular, immune and reproductive health, strengthens bones and much more.

 

The benefits of quality sleep are incredibly important for overall health. And establishing a sleeping environment that is devoid of light is essential to this process.

 

Tryptophan and 5-HTP assist with melatonin synthesis, while essential amino acids are able to trigger and follow through with muscle protein synthesis, so that your sleep may be supported while you’re repairing and rebuilding muscle mass.

 

Best Vegan All-Natural Amino Acid Supplement

Vegan Essential Aminos

 

Not all amino acid supplements offer ingredients sourced strictly from plants or bacterial fermentation processes. Fortunately, if you're vegan or leaning towards a more plant-based approach, then ATP Science have got your back.

 

Not only is this product all-natural and vegan-friendly, but is also offers hydroxyproline. This hydroxylated is great nutritional support for a range of tissues in the body, such as tendons, ligaments and skin.

 

ATP Science Vegan Essential Aminos comes in three delicious flavours: Kola, Raspberry and Kakadu plum. It tastes great and is as light on the conscience as it is on the stomach.

 

This product can be taken in replace of regular BCAAs or EAAs, either before, during or after exercise, or combination of these. Alternatively, try it between meals or before bed for enhanced recovery.

 

Final Thoughts

With eleven top-tier amino acid supplements to choose from, finding your next ergogenic aid or body composition supporter is as easy as locating processed food in a supermarket.

 

Often the hardest part of picking  product is having a long think about what you really want to achieve ... is it more lean muscle, making up for low dietary protein, maintaining muscle during weight loss, supporting skin health, driving exercise performance or one of the many other seemingly infinite reasons that exist. 

 

Once you fully understand what you are working towards, finding the right product to meet these requirement should be relatively easy. Just try not to get too wrapped up in marketing, glamorous packaging or fancy flavours that make you feel like a kid at Christmas when popping the cap off of a new supplement.

 

Yeah, I know ... it can be hard not getting excited about products that have crazy-good concept packaging and label claims that make the invention of the wheel sound downright unpalatable. 

 

But if you give it a go, you might just end up with a product that really ticks the nutritional boxes and meets your metabolic needs in a way that you've never experienced before.

 

And when you start forging faster paths to your goals, that can deliver long-term satisfaction, instead of short-lived excitement.

 

In-Text images created by javi_indy  and Senivpetro, courtesy of FreePik 

Header Background Image Courtesy of FreePik.