Leucine

What is Leucine?

Leucine works with the amino acids isoleucine and valine to repair muscles, regulate blood sugar, and provide the body with energy. Leucine is one of the branched chain amino acids. Natural sources of leucine include brown rice, beans, meat, nuts, soy flour, and whole wheat. It cannot be manufactured in the body and must be obtained through dietary sources.

Leucine is easy for the body to break down and convert to glucose, so it helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. Because of this anyone that diabetes or has been diagnosed with pre-diabetes should ask their doctor about taking Leucine supplements.

Leucine helps to burn visceral fat. This type of fat can extremely difficult to get rid of and can lead to health issues such as heart problems. Taking Leucine or a BCAA supplement or eating foods that contain high amounts of amino acids can help burn that visceral fat.

Leucine helps the body run more efficiently and when the body is running as efficiently as possible you have more energy. If you’re trying to build lean muscle BCAA’s like Leucine are the best way to build lean muscle because they encourage the growth of new muscle tissue in the body.

Leucine can stimulate growth hormones. Babies and children need a certain amount of Leucine everyday to stimulate their grown hormones and make sure that they develop normally. Usually there is enough Leucine in the foods that babies and children eat.

Side Effects and Warnings of Leucine

Before you take any supplements you should understand that they are likely to cause some side effects in some people. It is important to talk to your doctor before taking Leucine or any other supplements to avoid any health issues.

An excessively high intake of leucine has been linked to the development of pellagra, a deficiency of the vitamin niacin that causes dermatitis, diarrhoea, and mental disorders.

Too much leucine can disrupt liver and kidney function and increase the amount of ammonia in the body. People with impaired liver or kidney function should not take isoleucine without first consulting a physician, as large doses of amino acids may aggravate these conditions.

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should also consult your doctor about leucine use.

Bookmark this:

Bookmark this page