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The ketogenic diet can be tough for some exercisers to handle. Your body likes to use glucose for fuel during intense exercise, and you get glucose from eating carbs. Carbs are off the menu on keto, and that means some exercisers feel flat and listless and find that they cannot work out as hard or as long as usual.
Keto supplements can help you overcome this energy slump, and taking things like exogenous ketones and MCT oil will increase ketone production to increase your energy levels. A well-timed cup of coffee before your workout can help too.
There is also an all-in-one supplement you can use that may help make your workouts more productive – BPI Keto Aminos. BPI Keto Aminos contains a range of ingredients and has been designed specifically to support exercise, muscle gain, and fat burning during a ketogenic diet.
What are amino acids?
Protein is the most important food group. Your body doesn’t need carbs or fat, and it can operate quite well without either of these food groups. If you don’t eat carbs, your body produces ketones for energy, and even the leanest person has lots of fat stored for long-term energy.
In contrast, too little protein can have a very negative effect on both your health and your exercise performance. Eat too little protein, and your body will literally start to cannibalize your muscles to make sure it has enough protein to survive. The word protein actually comes from the Greek word for first or primary – pro. That’s how vital protein is!
In actuality, your body doesn’t need protein, but it needs the compounds that make up protein – substances called amino acids. Amino acids are best thought of as building blocks. When you eat something like chicken, your body breaks the chicken down into its constituent amino acids and then reorganizes them to use in a variety of processes. These processes include muscle repair and growth, building and strengthening your bones, nails, and skin, and the manufacture of a host of essential body chemicals, such as enzymes and ketones. Yes, that’s right, amino acids are vital for ketone production.
There are 20 amino acids, and these 20 are split into two groups – essential and non-essential. The nine essential amino acids must be consumed as part of a balanced diet. They are present in foods like meat, fish, and eggs, as well as soya and quinoa. The 11 non-essential amino acids are made within your body, but only if you consume enough of the nine essentials. The non-essentials are also known as conditionally essential amino acids. They are no less important, it’s just that you can make them for yourself.
The 20 amino acids have a wide range of function, but each one is important. Because of this, you MUST consume enough protein. This will ensure you get all the essential amino acids you need to manufacture the non-essential amino acids. Remember, if you don’t eat enough protein and end up running low on amino acids, your body will break down muscle to get what it needs. Whether you are an avid exerciser or just want to lose weight, muscle breakdown is the very last thing you want.
Muscle is biologically active tissue, which means it needs energy to support it. If you lose muscle, not only will you become weaker, your metabolism will slow down too, and you’ll burn calories at a reduced rate, leading to slower fat loss.
Taking supplemental amino acids can make getting enough of these protein building blocks much easier. There are lots of amino acid supplements available, but very few are aimed at keto dieters. BPI Keto Aminos are designed to be used alongside a ketogenic diet, and they contain several additional ingredients that make them even more valuable.
What are BPI Keto Amino Acids?
BPI specializes in making sports supplements for keto dieters. According to BPI, Keto Aminos is a multi-purpose recovery sports supplement that promotes lean muscle-building while helping your body turn fat into fuel for weight loss benefits. To achieve this, Keto Aminos contains three main ingredients:
Exogenous ketones – exogenous ketones are ketones from an external source. Taking exogenous ketones at the start of a ketogenic diet can help you get into ketosis faster, bypassing many of the side effects associated with making the transition from using carbs for energy to using fat and ketones.
Taking exogenous ketones during the early stages of keto teaches your body to make ketones more efficiently. The sooner your body makes the switch to using ketones for energy, the sooner you’ll start burning fat for fuel and losing weight.
In addition, exogenous ketones are a fast-acting source of energy your body can use in place of glucose. Taking exogenous ketones before and during exercise can provide you with a welcome energy boost, allowing you to exercise longer and harder than you could without. Exogenous ketones after exercise can help speed up recovery.
BPI Keto Aminos contain no glucose so they won’t kick you out of ketosis. The ketones in Keto Aminos are in the form of BHP (beta-hydroxybutyrate) salts, one of the best exogenous ketones available.
Medium-chain triglycerides – medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs for short, are a special kind of fat. Typically extracted from coconuts, unlike most fats MCTs do not need to go through a long digestive process before being available for energy. Instead, after eating, they are rapidly transported from your stomach to your liver where they are converted into ketones. Think of MCTs as a precursor for ketones.
By taking MCTs, your body has more of the material it needs to make ketones. More ketones mean faster fat loss and more energy.
MCTs are also good for your digestive health, your heart and circulatory system, and for your brain too. That’s why a lot of people have made the switch from things like butter and margarine to coconut oil. However, coconut oil only contains about 50% MCTs, while MCT oil is 100% medium-chain triglycerides.
Whether you want more energy, to boost ketosis, or just want to supply your body with healthy fats, MCTs can help.
The combination of exogenous ketones and MCT oil provides the perfect environment for increasing ketone production for faster fat loss and more energy. More ketones mean your ketogenic diet will be even more effective.
Amino acids – BPI Keto Aminos contain a range of amino acids. This product contains all nine essential amino acids plus glutamine and citrulline. Glutamine and citrulline are very useful for exercisers and dieters. Glutamine has been a staple of athletes for years because it helps support recovery and prevents muscle breakdown, while citrulline increases increase nitric oxide levels, leading to increased blood flow, promoting better exercise endurance and performance.
Three of the amino acids in Keto Aminos are the so-called branched-chain amino acids, BCAAs for short. The BCAAs are leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These three aminos are often used in sports supplements because of their ability to prevent muscle breakdown and speed up recovery after exercise.
The benefits of BPI Keto Aminos
BPI Keto Aminos are available in two flavors, Tropical Freeze and Watermelon Ice, both of which are reported to taste very good. This product comes in 30 serving tubs, with each serving being two scoops. According to BPI, the benefits of using Keto Aminos are:
More energy – on keto, with no carbs to use for fuel, your body needs an additional source of energy during exercise. Keto Aminos can help boost your energy in several ways. Exogenous ketones artificially increase ketone concentrations in your body while MCTs provide your body with the raw materials it needs to make more ketones.
More ketones mean more energy. In addition, your body can also use BCAAs as energy, especially during exercise. Unlike many energizing sports supplements, Keto Aminos does not contain caffeine so it won’t interfere with sleep if you take it late at night.
Increased exercise performance – more energy means longer, more intense workouts. That’s good news whether you are exercising for fat loss or increased muscle size, strength, or tone. In addition, using Keto Aminos before fasted cardio will help speed up fat loss while preventing muscle breakdown.
Build lean muscle – unlike a lot of muscle-building products, Keto Aminos are low in calories and should not cause fat gain. Lots of muscle building supplements contain hundreds of calories while Keto Aminos only contains 40 calories per two-scoop serving. By providing all the muscle-building materials you need without too many calories, you should find that you can build lean muscle rather than just bulk.
Faster recovery – exercise has a catabolic affect on your muscles. That is to say, it causes muscle breakdown. That might sound like bad news, but that breakdown is the trigger for muscle growth, and, with adequate rest and recovery, they will grow back bigger and stronger. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle repair and growth. By taking amino acids after a workout, you provide your body with the materials it needs to repair your muscles precisely when it needs them most.
How to use BPI Keto Aminos
Keto Aminos are a very versatile product and can be used in a variety of ways. The manufacturer BPI recommends that you mix two scoops (provided) with 16 ounces of plain water. Shake/stir well to make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
Before exercise – take one serving of Keto Aminos 15-30 minutes before your workout for increased energy. This is especially useful if you do your workouts in a fasted state, i.e., on an empty stomach to enhance fat burning.
During exercise – if you are working out for an hour or more, you can use Keto Aminos during your training session to maintain your energy levels. Simply add the product to your water bottle and sip as you work out.
After exercise – using Keto Aminos after exercise will help you recover faster from your workout. The quicker you recover, the sooner you’ll be able to exercise again, and the better your results will be.
Whenever you need a low-calorie energy boost – ketones and MCTs are a fast-acting source of energy. Use Keto Aminos any time you need a quick but lasting boost of energy, such as during the afternoon at work.
Note: While you can use Keto Aminos almost anytime, you should only use this product twice a day and preferably several hours apart. Using too much could lead to unwanted side effects.
Potential side effects of BPI Keto Amino
BPI Keto Aminos should be safe for most users but may cause stomach upset. Both BHB salts and MCTs can cause this problem. An upset stomach is not unique to Keto Aminos and is a common complaint with most exogenous ketone and MCT oil products. You may also experience nausea, bloating, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.
If you experience any form of stomach upset, just use smaller servings (one scoop instead of two) and limit yourself to one serving per day. Increase gradually as your tolerance improves.
People with diabetes, liver disease, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should consult their doctor before using BPI Keto Aminos. While they are considered safe, taking exogenous ketones and MCTs could prove problematic for some users.
Conclusion
BPI Keto Aminos is one of the best all-in-one keto-friendly sports supplements around. It provides you with everything you need to get the most from the ketogenic diet (exogenous ketones and MCTs) and also get the most from your workouts (amino acids). Because of this, and unlike many keto diet products, it is ideal for exercisers.
If there is a downside, it is that by combining three great ingredients into one product, you don’t get as much of each one compared to taking them individually. For example, one serving of Keto Aminos provides you with just three grams of MCTs, when most MCT products contain 10-15 grams per serving.
Because of this, some users may wish to use BPI Keto Aminos alongside additional MCT and exogenous ketone products to ensure they are getting enough of these valuable ingredients.
