BCAA bioavailability may increase with plasma treatment, study suggests

27-Jun-2018 - Last updated on 27-Jun-2018 at 15:59 GMT

iStock / Takoburito

A New York start-up specializing in treating protein with plasma to increase its bioavailability announced positive results from a study using the technology for BCAA.

The start-up, called Plasma Nutrition, started with whey protein last year. The plasma-treated can be found in products by sports nutrition brand Performix.

But it’s been the co-founders’ goal to expand the application to other ingredients as well.

Like the two previous studies looking at the plasma technology’s effect on whey protein, this study on BCAA was conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida’s Performance & Physique Enhancement Laboratory.

Using a randomized, double-blind, crossover method on resistance trained males, the researchers found that BCAA plasma concentrations in blood were higher among participants after ingesting the plasma modified version versus standard, demonstrating a 160% increase in leucine absorption, 218% increase in isoleucine absorption and a 344% increase in valine absorption.

The results were presented at the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference as a poster earlier this month.

"Currently, ioWhey Protein is the only application with products on the market. Having just debuted the results of ioBCAA, we know it takes some time to launch in a finished product and we're excited to get this in the hands of customers," co-founder Chris Flynn Rozanski told us.

Sports nutrition users are early adopters

According to Rozanski, the team started whey protein because of its high natural bioavailability.

While protein supplementation appeals to many audiences, he noted that sports nutrition is often the early adopter for new ingredient technologies, “so we decided to focus on it as our launch market.”

“Several leading nutrition researchers advised us that this would be the best way to prove our technology for broader applications,” he said of the strategy.

“Given the initial success of ioWhey Protein in sports nutrition, we were confident that ioBCAA would be the best way to start expanding our technology platform outside of protein,” he added.

“As we continue to develop new applications, we look for ingredients with universal appeal similar to our initial products."