Sinob Juiced BCAA - Vegan Branched-Chain Amino Acids

What is Sinob's Juiced BCAA?

Sinob Juiced BCAA is a branched-chain amino acid drink powder, flavoured and with no added sugar. A 7 g serving provides 5 g of BCAAs in a 2:1:1 ratio, plus L-tyrosine and vitamin B6. The 500 g tub covers roughly 70 servings, from cola to iced peach tea.

BCAAs are three essential amino acids — leucine, isoleucine, valine — whose particularity is that they are branched, hence the name. They are among the nine amino acids the body cannot make and which therefore have to come from food. At a 2:1:1 ratio, a 5 g serving provides 2.5 g of leucine, 1.25 g of isoleucine and 1.25 g of valine.

This product is first and foremost a training drink. That is what explains the work put into the flavours — from cola to iced peach tea — and into solubility. A drink you finish during the session is worth more than an austere powder left at the bottom of the shaker. The rest of the German brand's range can be browsed in our Sinob aisle, and the other products in the category in our BCAA aisle.

What is in a serving of Juiced BCAA?

5 g of BCAAs per serving is a sound and honest dose for this format, in the upper range of the training drinks on the market. The 2:1:1 ratio is the most common and the most studied; the 8:1:1 or 10:1:1 ratios put forward by some brands mainly amount to loading up on leucine, which has never been shown to bring any advantage.

Two figures are missing from the manufacturer's documentation, and they are not trivial ones: the exact amounts of L-tyrosine and vitamin B6. We are not going to invent them. It also means we cannot say whether the vitamin B6 content reaches the threshold that would allow a nutrition claim to be made — so we refrain, rather than implying otherwise. The values appear on the packaging as supplied.

On the substance, one thing has to be said that few sellers in this aisle own up to: no health claim is authorised in Europe for BCAAs. None on recovery, none on performance, none on muscle protection. And the state of knowledge has moved on: in someone whose daily protein intake is sufficient, adding isolated BCAAs does not bring much, because three amino acids are not enough to build muscle — you need nine. That is precisely what brought EAAs to the fore.

So in which case does this product still make full sense? When it plays the part of a drink: drinking during a long session, hydrating with a pleasant taste and zero sugar, getting through a fasted session in the morning. That is a real use, and it does not need to be dressed up as a physiological promise.

Ingredients list

BCAA 2:1:1 blend (L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-valine), acidifier (citric acid), maltodextrin, L-tyrosine, flavourings, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame K), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride). Colours according to flavour: natural food colours (hibiscus, beetroot, chlorophyll), caramel for the iced tea flavours.

May contain traces of MILK, SOYA, GLUTEN, CRUSTACEANS and EGGS.

How do you take Juiced BCAA?

Serving: 7 g, that is one heaped scoop; 10 g per hour on long efforts. Liquid: 250 ml of cold water. Timing: 30 minutes before the session, during training, straight after, or between two meals. Frequency: one serving per session; two to three in a heavy training phase. Duration: no set course.

It dissolves instantly and that is a genuine strength on this type of product: flavoured amino acid powders often tend to foam or to leave a deposit. Shake vigorously, drink it cold — the manufacturer recommends it, and that is indeed where the flavours come across best.

You can adjust the volume of water to the intensity of taste you want: 250 ml gives a bold drink, 400 to 500 ml a lighter one to sip through a long session. That is the main adjustment available to you and nobody will make it for you.

The most defensible time to take it is during training, precisely because that is where its function as a drink makes full sense. For an early-morning fasted session, taking it before the effort also has a logic to it. Taking it after the session on top of a protein shake, on the other hand, is redundant: your whey already contains the same amino acids, and the other six with them.

The product combines without difficulty with creatine monohydrate, a pre-workout or a carbohydrate source during the effort. On long sessions and in hot weather, add electrolytes: this formula provides no sodium.

Who is Juiced BCAA for, and who is it not for?

It suits anyone looking for a pleasant training drink, with no sugar and no notable calories, and an amino acid intake into the bargain. The choice of flavours lets you switch around without tiring of it, which counts for more than people think on a product drunk four times a week.

The manufacturer advises against it for pregnant and breastfeeding women, for children and for people on medication, with prior medical advice in the last case. People with allergies should note the possible traces of milk, soya, gluten, crustaceans and eggs.

The formula contains sucralose and acesulfame K. If you avoid artificial sweeteners, this product is not for you. Also worth noting: the manufacturer asks that the tub be finished within three months of opening, which is shorter than for most powders.

What you should not expect from it, and this is the point on which we are most blunt. It does not replace a protein: three amino acids do not build muscle, you need nine. It does not “protect” muscle during the effort — that wording is not authorised and rests on nothing solid in someone who eats enough. It provides no energy and contains no stimulant. If your daily protein intake is already adequate, this product is a pleasant drink, not a lever for progress.

BCAA or EAA?

That is the question that really counts in this aisle, and the answer has changed in recent years.

BCAAs provide three essential amino acids out of nine. Leucine, the main one of the three, acts as a trigger in protein synthesis — but starting a building site without delivering the materials builds nothing. That is the most accurate image, and it explains why BCAAs on their own have lost ground.

EAAs provide all nine essential amino acids, BCAAs included. At a comparable price, they do everything BCAAs do and the rest besides. If your aim is nutritional rather than a matter of taste, our EAA aisle is where you should go, and we say so even when it means selling something other than what the customer came in for.

In which case do BCAAs remain a good choice? When you take them for what they are here: a training drink with a worked-on flavour, zero sugar, that gets you drinking during the session. That is a legitimate use. And if your priority is muscle mass, the answer is neither BCAAs nor EAAs but a complete protein, the only category in this aisle with authorised claims on muscle.

Frequently asked questions

How many BCAAs per serving?

5 g for a 7 g serving, at a 2:1:1 ratio, that is 2.5 g of leucine, 1.25 g of isoleucine and 1.25 g of valine according to the stated ratio. That is a straightforward dose for a training drink, in the upper range of the market.

Which flavours are available?

The flavours available: iced peach tea, mango, melon, green apple, iced lemon tea, cola and cherry. It is one of the product's strong points: on a drink consumed several times a week, being able to alternate avoids the weariness that leaves a tub half full.

BCAA or EAA, which should you choose?

EAAs provide all nine essential amino acids, BCAAs included, and are therefore more complete at a similar price. Choose BCAAs if what you want first of all is a pleasant, sugar-free training drink; choose EAAs if your aim is nutritional.

Is the 2:1:1 ratio the right one?

It is the most studied and the most common ratio, and it roughly matches the natural proportions of these three amino acids in dietary proteins. The 8:1:1 or 10:1:1 ratios do nothing but load up on leucine, with no demonstrated advantage. Do not pay more for a bigger number.

Should you take it after the session?

If you already take a protein after training, it is redundant: your whey contains the same amino acids and the other six. The most coherent use of this product is during the session, as a drink, or before a fasted workout.

How many servings are there in the tub?

Roughly 70 servings of 7 g in the 500 g tub. At four sessions a week, that comes to more than four months. One caveat though: the manufacturer asks that the tub be finished within three months of opening.

Are there any calories or sugar?

The formula is sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame K, with no added sugar; it contains a small amount of maltodextrin as a carrier. The calorie contribution remains marginal, which makes it a drink compatible with a cutting phase, unlike a carbohydrate drink.

Where can you buy Sinob's Juiced BCAA?

The 500 g tub can be ordered from this page, in one of the flavours available, and we ship throughout France and Europe. At the Vendargues shop, about ten minutes from Montpellier, the question we ask first is a simple one: are you looking for a drink for your sessions, or for an amino acid intake? Depending on the answer, we bring out this tub or a tub of EAAs, and that is not the same advice. The rest of the aisle can be browsed in our sports nutrition selection.