Are Amino Acids calories

Trying to get some clarity, I understand a gram of protein contains 4 calories but does a single amino acid yield any calories?

Yes, to varying degrees but they can all be converted to glucose/fat.

Thank you but how many calories does an AA yield?

Around 4, it varies based on the animo being talked but usually around 4.

I know there is a paper with the exact number but I am having trouble finding it atm. I think @Mike knows the one

Found it

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This is a hot topic lately and will get even hotter with NutraBio’s True Facts labels coming and Twinlab’s REAAL project.

Yeah for ease, I’d put the free forum BCAAs at six calories per gram if you’re being a nut or are drinking so many of them that it would start to affect your calorie count

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What about individual AA’s like say glutamine?

3rd page on this
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/20915822_Energy_content_of_diets_of_variable_amino_acid_composition

4.2 for glutamine

Absolutely! This is why a lot of people who were dieting and drinking BCAA’s all day were wondering why their fat loss stopped. It was because of all the extra calories the BCAA’s were providing. It’s not much but plenty to put you over your macros for the day.

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Yeah, the whole idea of sipping on BCAAs while fasting is completely counterintuitive.

I’m down for using BCAA/EAA during your fasted workout if you’re at the end of the fast and are totally fine with breaking your fast, but you gotta realize that they will indeed break your fast the moment you start drinking them

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The idea of digesting anything while fasting is counter-intuitive IMO. But Depends a lot on WHY you’re fasting as well.

I fast for 24 hours once every other or every 3 weeks and drink nothing but water

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I’ll do an intermittent fast once a week. I feel it helps me clean out the system.

For me it’s for carbohydrate sensitivity and mental clarity. Consume 500-600+ carbs a day and you’ll get pretty resistant

My gosh. If only I were so lucky… more than 250 and I’ll spill over (unless I’m depleted).

Still gotta do this just for fun. Probably a nice easy way to get into temp ketosis and let some of dat diabetes clear out :wink:

Do you drink coffee or take stims though?

Black coffee will definitely stop a fast, technically. Although I’m not one to tell people not to drink coffee, the pros outweigh the cons in general

Nope! I’ll generally go 12pm to 12pm so the second day I just tough it out.

Longer fast also have some good benefits.

The way I go about it is no calories, supplements and stimulants are still ok

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Yes, amino acids have four calories per gram.