BCAA's before bed, or will it give you insomnia?

jcr1

Banned
Straight forward Q. Lately ive been taking my bcaa's pre bed with my protein shake. Ive been having a hard time falling asleep at night but it could be a number of things. Im just wondering if taking bcaa's could be contributing to my insomnia. What i understand bcaa's help with energy production, so could this be hindering my sleep? thanks
 
No it does not to my knowledge. As some proteins have bcaa's in them as well. Maybe u taking ur pre workout supp near bedtime? I take bcaa before bed as well for years and never had that problem...try taking melatonin before bed
 
Taking them before bedtime shouldnt affect ur sleep.
 
Amino acids pre-bed have never given me any issues and depending on how much time there's been since you've consumed food before bed, I think it's a great idea to keep your body primed.

You say you're taking them with your protein shake - how close to before bed is this? and what kind of shake is it? Is it a casein shake? or is this like a post-workout whey shake you're having before bed?
 
MidwestBeast said:
Amino acids pre-bed have never given me any issues and depending on how much time there's been since you've consumed food before bed, I think it's a great idea to keep your body primed.

You say you're taking them with your protein shake - how close to before bed is this? and what kind of shake is it? Is it a casein shake? or is this like a post-workout whey shake you're having before bed?
Click to expand...

Yeah its just post workout shake, regular whey protein with bcaa's. And i take it a half hr. before bed.
 
??? thats like asking if i eat a steak before bed will it give insomnia- no ur good i do bcaa before bed every night
 
I down my protein right before bed all the time with no issues and it's loaded with BCAA's. It might be something else you are having in the late afternoon causing you to stay up. I sometimes use my pre-workout supplements late in the day and it keeps me up so I tend not to have them past 5p.m.
 
jcr1 said:
Yeah its just post workout shake, regular whey protein with bcaa's. And i take it a half hr. before bed.
Click to expand...

If you're working out this late and this is your last meal of the day, I'd look at using a whey isolate / casein blend to have both fast and slow digesting proteins in your body.

This also leads me to believe what others are saying and that it may be your pre-workout (or something else) keeping you awake. Also, is it pure BCAAs? If it's an amino acid product that was used as an intra or pre-workout as well and had caffeine or something else in it, that could be a cause, too.
 
IIRC one (or all) of the BCAAs reduces serotonin in the brain, making you feel less fatigued. This is partly why BCAAs help lower percieved effort during training. If your serotonin machinery is sensitive to this, taking a large amount of BCAAs before bed may upset this, making you feel more awake.

Just move the BCAA to earlier in the evening and you should be ok.
 
Robboe said:
IIRC one (or all) of the BCAAs reduces serotonin in the brain, making you feel less fatigued. This is partly why BCAAs help lower percieved effort during training. If your serotonin machinery is sensitive to this, taking a large amount of BCAAs before bed may upset this, making you feel more awake.

Just move the BCAA to earlier in the evening and you should be ok.
Click to expand...

what if you took your bcaa's and some 5htp at the same time before bed? could this counter these possible effects
 
jcr1 said:
i dont even know what 5htp is. Im taking enough supps as it is.
Click to expand...

Its an intermediate step in the conversion of L-Tryptophan to serotonin. 5htp = 5-HydroxyTryptophan. Taking it would essentially help you to relax, as you are attempting to augment your serotonin levels with said product.

Edit: Serotonin's IUPAC name is 5-Hydroxytryptamine, so you can see, at least in a superficial sense, how they are related.
 
Experiment with not taking it before bed. If the problem goes away than try substituting with cottage cheese and some sugar free jam to replace the shake. Btw, Iffb pro Troy Alves takes bcaa's before bed.
 
criticalbench said:
I really fail to see how they would affect your sleep pattern in any which way.
Click to expand...

There is a large variation in brain chemistry between people. For every 100 that experience no issues, there may be one that does.

giantbrandon said:
what if you took your bcaa's and some 5htp at the same time before bed? could this counter these possible effects
Click to expand...

Just don't take the BCAAs so close to sleep and you won't have to!
 
Serotonin? If im not mistaken is that a chemical in the brain that has to with your moods and stuff like that. I had a crazy ex gf that suffered from depression and i think her serotonin levels were jacked up... if thats the case i deff. dnt wanna mess with that stuff!!
 
I take IBCAA's all the time before bed somtiem i have it in my water next to my bed that i sip during night if i get thursty and im fine.
Im pritty sure it dont.
I like to use Need2Sleep to help me sleep (backpain from car accedent makes it hard somtimes)
maybe you can look into that?
 
Robboe said:
IIRC one (or all) of the BCAAs reduces serotonin in the brain, making you feel less fatigued. This is partly why BCAAs help lower percieved effort during training. If your serotonin machinery is sensitive to this, taking a large amount of BCAAs before bed may upset this, making you feel more awake.

Just move the BCAA to earlier in the evening and you should be ok.
Click to expand...

this is likley best answer you'll get. BCAAs should lower seratonin i believe, maybe through block transport of tryptophan or through another mechanism. As robboe said, you could be a bit more sensitive then others and thats why its keeping you awake.

I use Axcell before bed time with no problems though again u just may be more sensitive to changes in seratonin levels.
 
Blergs said:
I take IBCAA's all the time before bed somtiem i have it in my water next to my bed that i sip during night if i get thursty and im fine.
Im pritty sure it dont.
I like to use Need2Sleep to help me sleep (backpain from car accedent makes it hard somtimes)
maybe you can look into that?
Click to expand...

kewl, where do you buy ur need2sleep?
 
Back when I was still fat and I would get home super late to go to bed straight away I would mix up about 10-15g BCAAs and prepare for bed. Sure it wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but it did help with the weight loss. I don't recall the branch chains affecting my sleep. Then again I was pulling 14 hour days on the nights where that particular protocol occurred so I probably could have passed out on red bull too.
 
What's the point of taking free form BCAAs before bed if you are also consuming a protein(casein) shake as well?
 
ersatz said:
What's the point of taking free form BCAAs before bed if you are also consuming a protein(casein) shake as well?
Click to expand...

Well 4 one i dont use casein. If i do have a shake before bed its just a reg protein shake. I usually have tuna with some white bread before bed. 2nd you cant get enough grams of BCAA's from typical 40 gram protein shake. You would have to consume over 100grams to do so.
 
jcr1 said:
Well 4 one i dont use casein. If i do have a shake before bed its just a reg protein shake. I usually have tuna with some white bread before bed. 2nd you cant get enough grams of BCAA's from typical 40 gram protein shake. You would have to consume over 100grams to do so.
Click to expand...

So long as your protein intake over the course of the day is sufficient it probably won't matter.
 
I have had no issues with Gear or N2Matrix before bed but Robboe's explaination is spot on!
 
I know this is an old post but for any body reading this and having the same problem, I have had it as well. Some people are just more sensitive, especially if you have just started taking BCAA's. It is a very real problem but the easy answer is, if you get insomnia from BCAA's just take them earlier in the day.
 
Lol @ resurrecting a 2 year old thread but **** it I've been having the same problem could be the citrulline malate in mine
 
gzwoerner said:
I know this is an old post but for any body reading this and having the same problem, I have had it as well. Some people are just more sensitive, especially if you have just started taking BCAA's. It is a very real problem but the easy answer is, if you get insomnia from BCAA's just take them earlier in the day.
Click to expand...
I remember some guys here saying were like "hurr durr bcaa no give energy derpaderp"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top