Protein
In determining which of these supplements will benefit you more, it is important to know what each of them are and their benefits to some degree. Protein powder is exactly what it sounds like, whether it be made from dairy, soy, pea, rice, or any other ingredient. Usually low in carbs and fat, this artificially sweetened powder is usually around 90% to 95% protein and is very safe to use in moderation. It can be used in shakes mixed with water or milk, put into smoothies, combined with oats, baked into goods, used to make homemade protein bars, and endless other creative uses.
For practicality, protein powder is very convenient if you have trouble meeting your daily protein needs, and is cheap for what you are getting. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of protein powder should run you about an average of $30 and feed you for a month if you only use a scoop a day (which equates to a dollar a day for 20-25 grams of protein). Hypothetically to get enough protein to feed a 150 pound man for a day trying to gain or maintain muscle, it would cost you at most $6 of protein powder a day (but you shouldn’t need more than a scoop or two a day while the rest of your protein should come from whole foods), which is very cheap.
BCAA
BCAAs are actually molecularly the exact same as protein, but a bit more specific. Protein is made up of 20 amino acids that have countless uses in the body, but only a few are actually used to mainly help you build muscle. These three essential amino amino acids (known as branch chain because of their structure) are leucine, isoleucine, and valine. High-quality protein powder contains these BCAA’s but have one drawback that BCAA supplements don’t carry caloric energy. Since they do contain zero calories, supplemental BCAA’s has the benefit of promoting muscle growth (and sometimes more importantly preventing muscle catabolism, or the opposite of growth) without breaking a fast or wasting precious calories.
This is why BCAA’s are usually more beneficial in a calorie restricted diet, especially when muscle retention is important (i.e. fasted weight or cardiovascular training when muscle catabolism is more likely). Unlike protein powder, BCAA’s are not as diverse with their uses though, pretty much only being mixed with water and sipped straight.
Some recipes exist to make BCAA but don’t extend much further. Price wise, BCAA’s are harder to synthesize and flavor than protein powder (as well as the lack of calories too), making it a bit more expensive. 500 grams will cost about the same as a kilo of protein powder, making it about twice as expensive on average. Unlike protein itself though, you don’t need to hit a certain number of BCAA’s a day (if you are hitting your protein number for the day), meaning you don’t need to use as much or use it as often.
@Kad1 your right there the same but no cals from bcaa and protien powder is just a piece of the chain of 192aa or amino acids.
I completely understand your concern about both being used being that its such a small thing to worry about getting from the combination
