Supplement Reviews - LG Sciences BC+EAA, Grape

There is nothing for more refreshing than taking a large sip (or several) of a nice, cold beverage in between sets during one's workout (and no, I'm not talking about beer!). Lucky for the avid weightlifter / exercise-enthusiast, the market is full of great intra-workout drinks aimed at helping to replenish the body while also tasting great. That being said, there certainly are some "winners" and some "losers" when it comes to intra-workout drinks and unfortunately LG Sciences BC+EAA Grape falls into the latter of these two categories in my opinion.

The Product
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) and Essential Amino Acids (EAA) are crucial building blocks for muscular development. As the name of the product sounds, LG Sciences BC+EAA Grape is simply a grape-flavored, intra-workout drink that delivers a healthy dose of BCAA and EAA, as well as some L-Glutamine.

The supplement facts are as follows:

Serving Size: 11 g (~3 scoops)
Servings Per Container: 30

Total Amino Acid Content: 10.5 g
   Branched-Chain Amino Acid Blend: 4.5 g
     -L-Leucine
     -L-Isoleucine
     -L-Valine
   Essential Amino Acids : 4 g
Recovery Agent
     -L-Glutamine (2g)

Other Ingredients: Natural & Artificial Flavor, Natural & Artificial Color, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Sucralose

The directions for use state the user should "put 3 scoops into 12 oz. of water and shake or stir well."

Additional supplementation of BCAA and EAA is intended to help increase training endurance, enhance the breakdown and utilization of protein in the body (protein synthesis), and increase muscular development (by promoting a state of anabolism and preventing muscular breakdown).

Efficacy
While I currently don't regularly use supplements that are explicitly BCAA and EAA, I have been around the block a time or two with regard to these types of supplements. The claims of increased endurance, while subtle, are what I personally believe is the most valid reason for supplementing with additional BCAA and EAA and this holds true for this product. I feel fresher throughout my workouts and feel as though I am able to push a bit harder for longer while supplementing BCAA and EAA. That being said, it should be noted that when I do take this product I generally double the serving size suggested. As far as increased protein synthesis and increased muscular development are concerned, I can't say that I necessarily "feel" a difference when taking this kind of supplement or not - That isn't to say that it isn't helping on some level, simply that there are no physical indicators to me of this taking place.

Taste
This was the BIG negative about this product for me. I generally enjoy grape-flavored products. LG Sciences BC+EAA Grape does a very poor job of replicating any sort of true grape flavor. As strange as it may sound, the flavoring of this product provides me with a hint of some sort of taco or burrito flavor with a hint of very chemically, artificially-derived grape flavoring. I am sure you can imagine how unappealing this is any time, much less in the middle of your workout! Bare in mind that taste is largely subjective and can be based on the supplement to water ratio that one employs; I have tried all sorts of supplement / water mixtures and the only thing that happened was that the aforementioned flavor was either more or less pronounced, but not any better.

Mixability / Appearance
For those who are not familiar with BCAA and EAA, they are notorious for mixing VERY poorly. For as soon as you stop stirring or shaking the mixture, its clumpy contents rise to the surface of your drink. This is definitely the case with this product as well, but not necessarily something I got too bent out of shape over. That being said, there are other products in this category that some how do a wonderful job of mitigating this issue so I know that it can be done. For those interested in appearance, once mixed you are left with a grayish (think dolphin-like) liquid that contains flecks of water chunks floating about - Not overly appealing to the eyes.

Price
"You get what you pay for" would be an accurate statement when it comes to this product. I have found prices for this as low as $12-13 when on sale online. If you can get past the flavor (or by some chance actually enjoy the flavor), this really is a low price for this type of product.

Overall
In conclusion, while I do feel that BCAA and EAA can be nice additions to any athlete's supplement arsenal, LG Sciences BC+EAA Grape is not the supplement that I would recommend in order to do so. While I can not dispute the potential benefits of this sort of product, there are far better tasting and better mixing intra-workout supplements available on the market.