My Pink Drink aka BCAA's

*I'd like to start this post by saying I am never telling you what to do, I am merely sharing what I have found helpful in my journey. I am not sponsored by anyone and although I am happy to recommend what products I do use, you should also check in with yourself and see what feels right for you. Also, always check your supplements on labdoor.com*

I laugh whenever I hear "I am loving the classes! But I do have a question, what's that pink drink you're always sipping on?"

Part of me wishes I was more of a smart ass and had a quick response like "Mezcal Spritzer" but alas, I am not.

The infamous pink drink is BCAA's, or branched chain amino acids. I take these for 3 reasons, actually 4, with #1 being the most important:

1: They taste great! I drink a lot of water throughout my day and it's nice to have something slightly different.

2: They [BCAA] can help increase the amount of muscle you are able to build following resistance (strength) training due to the fact that they contain the building blocks to protein synthesis (branched chain amino acids), including the essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) which must be consumed through diet or supplementation as the body can not produce them on it's own

3: In long bouts of aerobic movement/exercise, BCAA's can help ward of fatigue due to their ability to be used to make glucose via gluconeogenesis, one of their unique functions

4: Soreness after strength training can become slightly reduced as BCAA help to repair damaged muscle proteins

Dr. Stacy Sims has been on my radar for awhile now as a go to source for women and nutrition, specifically sports and performance related nutrition. She has some insight about BCAA's and how they can positively affect peri and post menopausal women which is interesting to me as I am aiming to prepare myself for this 'second puberty' despite having a solid amount of years to go...I'd like to be prepared! She is debunking information that is fed to women yet has only been tested on men and is paving the way for more nutrition research specific to women. She sites that BCAA's, specifically leucine (found in BCAA's) can help reduce brain fog, something that is very common in peri and post menopause. I've linked the image below to her website if you feel like digging in a bit more to all that she shares.

I use NOW Sports Big 6, which I will link in the image below. I have tried multiple flavors and I love them all. I have tried other brands but this has been the one that I have stuck with. I am just now (shocking, I know) getting more into third party testing. I mentioned this above but Labdoor.com is a fantastic reference sight and upon research, NOW Sports gets a B+. I'd like to do better so I will be trying out Transparent Labs, also linked below in the image.