Essential amino acid (EAA) is most often used for Muscle Gain & Exercise.

Essential amino acid (EAA)

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•Last Updated: October 13, 2024

Proteins are composed of amino acids, some of which your body can synthesize and others not. The nine you need yet cannot synthesize, and thus need to ingest, are called essential amino acids (EAAs). A protein is said to be complete when it has enough of each EAA.

Essential amino acid (EAA) is most often used for Muscle Gain & Exercise.

Last Updated:October 13, 2024

Summary

Proteins are composed of amino acids, some of which your body can synthesize and others not. The nine you need yet cannot synthesize, and thus need to ingest, are called essential amino acids (EAAs). Among those, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are crucial to your muscles,^[1] with leucine being especially anabolic.

Amino acids: requirements of adults and contents of proteins
Essential Amino Acid (EAA)	mg/kg/day	Complete	Milk	Pea	Rice	Soy	Whey
Leucine (BCCA)	39	59	97	97	88	80	116
Isoleucine (BCCA)	20	30	50	54	40	43	59
Valine (BCCA)	26	39	58	81	55	44	58
Cystine	4	6	9	14	17	12	20
Histidine	10	15	30	17	24	26	21
Lysine	30	45	80	83	33	60	102
Methionine	10	16	27	5	29	10	23
Methionine + cysteine	15	22	30	8	39	14	36
Phenylalanine + tyrosine	25	30	99	94	111	90	66
Threonine	15	23	47	43	38	37	76
Tryptophan	4	6	13	11	14	13	20

mg/kg/day = daily requirement in milligrams (of a given amino acid) per kilogram (of body weight) per day | Complete/Milk/Pea/Rice/Soy/Whey = milligrams of amino acid per gram of complete/milk/pea/rice/soy/whey protein (mg/g)
References: World Health Organization. Protein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human Nutrition, page 245, table 49. 2007.^[2] Kalman. Foods. 2014.^[3] Gorissen et al. Amino Acids. 2018.^[4] USDA Food Composition Databases (accessed: 2018 Sep)

A protein is called complete when, proportionally to its overall amino-acid content, it has enough of each EAA. The main advantage of animal proteins is that most are complete.

What are other names for Essential amino acid (EAA)

Note that Essential amino acid (EAA) is also known as:

EAAs
essential amino acids

Research FeedRead all studies

Maximizing postworkout anabolism while dieting: Should you choose more protein or protein + carbs?

In this randomized controlled trial involving a hypocaloric diet, consuming whey protein enriched with essential amino acids after exercise led to a greater rate of muscle protein synthesis than consuming whey protein enriched with carbohydrates.

Supplements, foods, and dietary patterns for Parkinson’s disease

EAAs increase muscle protein synthesis

Evaluating a variety of nutritional supplements for NAFLD

Ingesting free amino acids leads to a more rapid and greater rise in amino acids in the body, but does that matter?

References

^MacLean DA, Graham TE, Saltin BBranched-chain amino acids augment ammonia metabolism while attenuating protein breakdown during exerciseAm J Physiol.(1994 Dec)
^Joint WHO/FAO/UNU Expert ConsultationProtein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human NutritionWorld Health Organ Tech Rep Ser.(2007)
^Douglas S KalmanAmino Acid Composition of an Organic Brown Rice Protein Concentrate and Isolate Compared to Soy and Whey Concentrates and IsolatesFoods.(2014 Jun 30)
^Stefan H M Gorissen, Julie J R Crombag, Joan M G Senden, W A Huub Waterval, Jörgen Bierau, Lex B Verdijk, Luc J C van LoonProtein Content and Amino Acid Composition of Commercially Available Plant-Based Protein IsolatesAmino Acids.(2018 Dec)