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Amino acids and sport: a true love story?

Amino acids and sport: a true love story? Among a plethora of dietary supplements, amino acids are very popular with athletes for several reasons (e.g., to prevent nutritional deficiency, improve muscle function, and decrease muscle damages) whose purpose is to improve performance. However, it is difficult to get a clear idea of which amino acids have real ergogenic impact. Here, we review and analyze the clinical studies evaluating specific amino acids (glutamine, arginine, leucine, etc.) in athletes. Only english-language clinical studies evaluating a specific effect of one amino acid were considered. Despite promising results, many studies have methodological limits or specific flaws that do not allow definitive conclusions. To date, only chronic β-alanine supplementation demonstrated an ergogenic effect in athletes. Much research is still needed to gain evidence-based data before any other specific amino acid can be recommended for use in athletes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Amino Acids Springer Journals

Amino acids and sport: a true love story?

Goron, Arthur; Moinard, Christophe
Amino Acids , Volume 50 (8) – May 31, 2018
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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature
Subject
Life Sciences; Biochemistry, general; Analytical Chemistry; Biochemical Engineering; Life Sciences, general; Proteomics; Neurobiology
ISSN
0939-4451
eISSN
1438-2199
DOI
10.1007/s00726-018-2591-x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Among a plethora of dietary supplements, amino acids are very popular with athletes for several reasons (e.g., to prevent nutritional deficiency, improve muscle function, and decrease muscle damages) whose purpose is to improve performance. However, it is difficult to get a clear idea of which amino acids have real ergogenic impact. Here, we review and analyze the clinical studies evaluating specific amino acids (glutamine, arginine, leucine, etc.) in athletes. Only english-language clinical studies evaluating a specific effect of one amino acid were considered. Despite promising results, many studies have methodological limits or specific flaws that do not allow definitive conclusions. To date, only chronic β-alanine supplementation demonstrated an ergogenic effect in athletes. Much research is still needed to gain evidence-based data before any other specific amino acid can be recommended for use in athletes.

Journal

Amino Acids – Springer Journals

Published: May 31, 2018

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