Customer Reviews

BCAA Powder Unflavored, 336 Gr

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I started adding BCAA powder along with ON L-Glutamine powder to my twice-daily protein shakes. ON makes a great line of products, and the BCAA product doesn't disappoint. I'm not going to tell you here that I've made instantaneous or "huge gains" and enjoy "all day pumps." The boost is subtle, but it's there. Over the several months that I've been consistently using these products, I have noticed increases in my in-gym endurance and strength, particularly when it's a long (an hour or more) workout doing 5 to 7 sets for the body part(s)targeted for the workout, with medium number reps (10 - 15)in each set. I'm able to stay longer and work harder. This is important to me, because I usually don't hit the gym until 7:00 at night after a full day's work. I can't attribute the benefit exclusively to BCAA's, specifically, but the combination of the two supps seems to help recovery, particularly when I've given it 150% which is most of the time (hey, life is short). I use other supps, BSN NO-Xplode and CellMass, and still do, so my impression of the benefits of BCAA's is admittedly unscientific. However, I'm a hard-gainer type, so I'm in the habit of paying close attention to my body to tell if something's working or not. For now, the vote is thumbs up on BCAA's, and I'll continue to use the product.

The BCAA powder is white, tasteless and very fine, You don't get any grittiness or funky after-taste, even if you mix it with plain water. Adding extra BCAA's to other supps that impact the basic building blocks of muscle seems logical and is something I recommend people at least try. I purchased my latest supply through Amazon from All Star Health and the service and price (even with shipping) were excellent.

I will add that despite its fineness and easy-dissolving in water, or mixing in a shake (I use an electric blender or a blender-bottle shakerBlenderBottle 28-Ounce with BlenderBall, Blue, trying to stir in a teaspoon of the powder to a pre-packaged shake (for example Myoplex or Muscle Milk which don't have BCAA's as part of their ingredients - [I'm going from memory on Muscle Milk; EAS does not list BCAA's as ingredients in the Myoplex 42gr. protein shake]) or cold milk that you've just taken out of the fridge, is not a good idea. With a cold, thick liquid (like a Myoplex shake, you're apt to leave most of the powder stuck to the spoon. If you want to "hot rod" one of these pre-made drinks and you're at home, dissolve the powder in a little bit of warm - i.e., room temp or a little warmer - not hot/boiling - water and then stir it into immediately the shake. Same goes for adding L-Glutamine powder. It just needs to dissolve, not "cook."

Addendum: 4/1/2010 - EAS "100% Whey Protein" and Optimum Nutrition's "Gold Standard" whey protein powder products both list BCAA's as part of their ingredients. I am currently "test driving" Gaspari Nutrition's Myofusion protein powder product. The Gaspari Myofusion product does NOT list BCAA's as part of its ingredients. Accordingly, I am adding BCAA's to "hot rod" it. And I don't pre-dissolve it - just spoon it right into the blender.

There are a ton of different BCAA products on the market today. Most of them are flavored and most of them have other added ingredients such as caffeine, other aminos, other vitamins and some even have useless fillers. This particular product is just pure, unflavored BCAA. If you want to take 10 grams of BCAA's you just measure out 2 tsp or you tare up your favorite scale and scoop out 10 grams of this and you are done. I like to have mine with some crystal light added in. Some days it's fruit punch and others it's orange. I'm using this product prior to fasted training while following Leangains and so far I'm hitting PR's at the gym while losing fat.

Unflavored does not mean it has no taste. Unflavored means they haven't added any flavoring to mask the bitter disgusting taste. I wish I had bought a flavored version.

That said, it is very easy to mask using just a tiny bit of orange juice (1 oz) in 4 oz of water. You shouldn't need a bunch of other stuff to get it down.

I often take 5g BCAA straight up in 6oz of water (followed by another 6oz of water to clean out the glass). I find doing a concentrated shot followed by a chaser or water to be a lot easier than drinking it in a full 12-16 oz glass. After repeated usage I got used to it. When I don't feel like tasting it, I mask it with a tiny bit of OJ as previously stated.

Keep in mind I am the kind of guy that has no problem taking lemon flavored fish oil by the spoon, eating lettuce out of a salad bag like potato chips, and other 'food for the sake of necessity/fuel'. Don't get me wrong, I like to pig out on junk food too but it is at the expense of negative feedback/consequences whereas gross stuff like unflavored creatine/BCAAs gives me positive feedback in the form of more productive gym time.

I take BCAA 3x per day along with my health & workout routine. I also use Creatine & Glutamine. All combined, I feel excellent & more energetic. I've slowly incorporated all, researched, & decided on the amount that works for me. I will need a few more months for a completed review but I am extremely happy so far. No complaints. Also, easy to use... for me, I don't mind mixing in just a glass of water before starting my day...it takes a little like unflavored dust but I can drink without any problems. I will re-purchase soon!

This product basically does what it's supposed to do. Mixes pretty well, even with a spoon, in just about any drink.

BUT! It is far from flavorless... More like its packed full of bad flavor. I'd never recommend drinking this alone in water. Mix with something much stronger in taste like in a protein drink that has a little peanut butter in it. You'll still get a bit of an after taste but it's bearable.

You're selling 336 grams which is 0.336 kg's so how is this under 5 dollars per kilogram?? The price per kilogram for this product is actually 28.99x3(336grams x3)which is $86.97 / kilogram. Please post accurate information about your product!

I bought the Fruit Punch flavor, it tastes great, just like koolaid. This was also the first "instantized" product I've tried and I'm impressed it seems to dissolve much easier than non-instantized powder.

Good:
Best tasting BCAA powder... ON's good with that kind of stuff
Masks the taste of other supplements so you can mix them all in your drink and not hate your other supplements
Occasionally the cheapest BCAA's you'll find (Amazon gets them periodically and sells the two packs for $35, which is 80 servings of 5g of BCAA's... I order some every time they get them in stock)

Bad:
A lot of fillers (about 50% by weight), a serving needs to be mixed with over half a bottle of water or it's very sweet and powdery. Not that I judge supplements by their taste, but when you drink a lot of BCAA's on the go, having them able to be mixed with just a little bit of water is very helpful. With BCAA's like ultimate nutrition's, you can mix them with just a couple ounces of water and it blends fine. But it's the sacrifice for good tasting BCAA's

Overall these are great, I keep ordering them. If you want BCAA's, which are one of the most important muscle building supplements, I'd go with these or ultimate nutrition. If your worried about taste, definitely these. If you want less filler, go with ultimate nutrition. If you don't care about the taste or fillers, go with whatever is cheaper, they're both effective and I switch between the two myself.

And if you're debating BCAA's for the first time, and plan to use them for serious muscle building, skip the capsules and get powder. A regular serving of BCAA's should be about 5 or 6 grams, and with capsules, that's 10 or 12 capsules per serving (with most .5g capsules). I bought some a long time ago and they're still sitting around. ON's powder is definitely the best for those who've never taken BCAA's before.

Pretty basic instructions: 1 teaspoon and a cup of water, shaken or stirred. It helps to let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve. Sometimes, I add a packet of EmergenC to the mix. I bought the unflavored BCAA. Plain, it's a little disconcerting how little taste this has. It has a mild bitterness to it, but it's so mild that it doesn't bother me at all. With EmergenC added, the taste of BCAA disappears completely. After trying and disliking so many protein powders, it was a pleasant surprise to try this BCAA powder. I'm using it as a recovery drink and quickly noticed improvements in how I feel after my workouts, so I'm happy.

I've tried a few different BCAA powders and this one is hands down my favorite. I take this pre-workout to ensure that the elevated amino acid levels keep my muscles from fatiguing as quickly in the gym and regardless of brand, I CAN tell a difference in muscle stamina.

The problem with the others that are flavored is that when combined with any pre-workout nitric oxide or high dose caffeine powder, the flavors can clash or just overwhelm your taste buds making it a chore to get down.

The unflavored ON brand BCAA and their unflavored creatine and their unflavored Glutamine all work really well with a single flavored pre-workout powder.

I'll be sticking with this brand for the BCAA/Glutamine/Creatine for a while.