When our company came out with their new weight loss program (they call it the inch loss program) I didn't even have a clue what Leucine was. I did know it must be pretty important factor for weight loss though. As a Shaklee Distributor I realized early on that research is one of the things that makes our company a cut above the rest. So... What is Leucine? L-leucine is one of the 20 "common" amino acids that are most abundant in our food. As we've known for many decades, amino acids are the raw materials that are put together in the body to form proteins. But certain amino acids also serve other vital roles in many tissues and organs besides juts being protein building blocks. Leucine is one of the three amino acids called "branche d chain of amino acide" because of the branched shaped of their chamical structures. Unlike other amino acids, Lucinethat is eaten in the diet is not readily metabolixed in the liver, but rather enters the bloodstream, where it is taken up by the muscle cells. In the muscle cell, leucine does an important job - it turns on the mechanism to make proteins from amino acids. This protein can then be used to build new muscle. The new protein is made in tine factories inside the cell called ribosomes. Ribosomes are assembled from many pieces. One of these pieces is called eIF4E. When leucine is present the muscle cells, eIF4E is turned on by another protein called mTOR. The ribosome can now be used to make proteins. As long as the supply of amino acid raw material holds out ( ie.. protein in the diet), with an additional supply of leucine, more of the amoio acid building blocks can be made into the muscle. For this mechanism to work, protein intake needs to be in the range of 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, which is more than the RDA but still considered moderate. The studies also show it's important to have some of that good protein at breakfast. Weight lifters and bodya builders have been using this information for several years to safely add muscle. But building muscle is improtant for people losing weight as well. Most weight loss diets cause loss of muscle along with the fat. But muscle burns calories, even at rest. For every pound of muscle that we can add (or retain), the body burns and additional 50 calories per day. Leucine does another special job that can benefit healther and help with weight loss. It aids in insulin metabolism to help us control our blood sugar. That's a whole other article..
Check out our NEW "INCH LOSS" Plan it's really a cool site.
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