lowering pH of BCAA's?

[tnubs]

so i realize BCAA's are acidic by nature, as is protein. but bcaa's mainly give me very bad breath and sometimes give me stomach aches after i take too much. a family friend ate a lot of lemons as a kid and now as an adult his teeth are all jacked up from the acid. im not sure how acidic aminos are, but i will be testing it this coming tuesday when i go back to my chem lab at school. my question is, how would i go about taking them without having to worry about a stomach ulcer or it eating the enamel off my teeth with long term use? i just tried baking soda added to some bulk and it literally turned it into salt water tasting stuff. im fine with drinking this if it saves my teeth. but im not sure if by adding that i turned the aminos into... a salt? as that is what happens when u mix an acid and a base, or if it changed the structure so it will be unable to absorb? duno, need some chem majors!

 

[matthias7]

... if you're really worried use indigestion tablets.

Teeth ... you live in the country they make Coca Cola right? Do you add baking soda to Coca Cola? It'd help your teeth.

The cost of BCAA means its hard to over dose IMO.

SERMS, PHs, supplements, supplements, supplements vs. a bit of acid?

 

[tnubs]

BCAA's arnt that expensive, a kilo for $40. when its the only supplement i buy besides protein, not bad at all. most people wouldnt think twice about paying that much for a test booster that would last a month, so its about equal but more results!

coke is a good comparison. i guess we do have a lot of ppl who are obsessed with soft drinks.

 

[CrazyChemist]

The bad breath and stomach ache is not from the "acidic" nature of BCAAs. First off, not all BCAAs are acidic - some are basic and some are neutral. If you want to get really technical, all peptide back bones have protonatable sites, allowing them to take an acidic (protonated) or a basic (deprotonated) form. The side chains may also be protonatable.

The bad breath is merely the ketone side product from the digestion of the BCAAs. The stomach ache is more likely the result of your stomach flooding with its own digestive acid when you take in a large amount of AAs. As far as the effect on teeth, the "acidic" content of BCAAs is significantly lower than citric acid, found in fruits like lemons. Frankly, I wouldn't worry about neutralizing aminos before ingesting. This may result in weird changes to the AAs.

 

[Steveoph]

You can calculate the pKa of individual amino acids at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Aa.svg or see http://www.chem.ubc.ca/courseware/pH/aadata.html . They're all 3 around a pH of 6.0 which isn't very acidic at all.

 

[Resolve]

I really wouldn't concern myself with the acid.

And $40/kg is kinda high... IMO, at least.

 

[matthias7]

At heavy dose of 50g per day means 20 doses at $2 each.

If its the only supplement fair enough, otherwise gets a bit pricy.

 

[Space Viking]

Acid is a relative term. Organic acids are typically pretty weak and shouldn't be causing damage to your teeth.

 

[tnubs]

good to know. thanks, everyone!!!

anyone have any info on leucine tolerance? google didnt seem to know but ive heard it referenced a few times around here on the forums but no detailed info

 

[CrazyChemist]

You can calculate the pKa of individual amino acids at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Aa.svg or see http://www.chem.ubc.ca/courseware/pH/aadata.html . They're all 3 around a pH of 6.0 which isn't very acidic at all.

Yup - considering a diet coke is about pH 5.0 (which is more acidic than pH 6.0) and natural stomach acid is pH 3.0.

To address the stomach ache, take your BCAAs with a meal, perhaps something that can absorb some of that stomach acid.

To address the bad breath and potential (if any) tooth decay, brush your teeth post BCAA shake and chew some gum.