Is Leucine Worth It?

I wanted to get some thoughts here; I’m cutting currently and considering adding in 5g or so of Leucine post-workout. I already use a protein supp. and if I recall, about 24g of a decent protein supp will have a ton of leucine in it already. Is it worth it to supplement with leucine as well do you think?

Between meals if you want the mTOR signalling but don’t want the calories from an actual protein shake or what not. 3 grams of leucine gives you optimal mTOR signalling.

You would want levels to spike and give it 2.5-3 hours for levels to drop down to baseline before you spike it again. So the way it would work is, you have a meal, 2.5-3 hours after that meal, you dose the leucine to create an anabolic environment, have your next meal an hour or so later (that’s if your meals are like 5 hours apart or something like that).

Personally I think the future is quality food protein, with Leucine spikes.

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
Personally I think the future is quality food protein, with Leucine spikes. [/quote]

Yup, this is what I would go with as well.

Yep, try that. Very Underrated stuff…

if you’re only gonna use 5 grams a day then take it all in one shot immediately preworkout and follow the workout with your shake. this will help prevent muscle loss during a cut.

edit: I swig back 5 grams pre and then sip 5-10 grams during my workout…

Leucine works quite well but BEWARE of any potential neurotransmitter issues it might bring on. YMMV, but I noticed I was slipping into depression when I added leucine. Leucine competes with tryptophan and tyrosine for absorption which might translate into lower dopamine and serotonin levels. Again, this might not be an issue but keep an eye for the potential side effects.

This is why I prefer intact protein sources.

[quote]juverulez wrote:
Leucine works quite well but BEWARE of any potential neurotransmitter issues it might bring on. YMMV, but I noticed I was slipping into depression when I added leucine. Leucine competes with tryptophan and tyrosine for absorption which might translate into lower dopamine and serotonin levels. Again, this might not be an issue but keep an eye for the potential side effects.

This is why I prefer intact protein sources. [/quote]

Supplement with 5-htp at night. Helps a lot. 50-100 mg’s should do the trick.

Tryptophan in general loses out to most other amino acids and especially leucine.

[quote]juverulez wrote:
Leucine works quite well but BEWARE of any potential neurotransmitter issues it might bring on. YMMV, but I noticed I was slipping into depression when I added leucine. Leucine competes with tryptophan and tyrosine for absorption which might translate into lower dopamine and serotonin levels. Again, this might not be an issue but keep an eye for the potential side effects.

This is why I prefer intact protein sources. [/quote]

Did not know that. Thanks for the heads up!