Hype or Helpful: Amino Acid Supplements - Dr. G's Quick Health Tip | EP 369.B

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Hype or Helpful: Amino Acid Supplements – Dr. G's Quick Health Tip

The Dr. Gundry Podcast – Episode 369.B
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Dr. Stephen Gundry (with brief host intros)

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Episode Overview

In this "Quick Health Tip" episode, Dr. Stephen Gundry explores the truth and misconceptions behind amino acid supplements, debating whether they are beneficial or just hype. Drawing on decades of research and referencing renowned nutrition experts, Dr. Gundry demystifies amino acids, their dietary sources, and their real impact on muscle building, aging, and overall health. Special attention is given to the plant vs. animal protein debate, the role of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), vegan nutrition, and the function of collagen supplements.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Amino Acids 101: Foundations

[01:55]

• Definition & Importance:
  • Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins in all organisms; there are 22 types that create body tissues: muscles, cartilage, bone, etc.
• Types of Amino Acids:
  • Non-essential: Produced by the body from other amino acids or sugars.
  • Essential: Must be obtained from diet.

2. Plant vs. Animal Protein: Debunking the Myths

[03:30]

• Bodybuilding Claims:
  • Dr. Gundry argues against the idea that animal protein is necessary for muscle growth, using examples from nature:

  “If we actually needed animal protein to bulk up our muscles, then horses and gorillas would be skinny... they're eating plants.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 04:28)

• Complete Amino Acids in Plants:
  • Both plant and animal proteins contain all essential amino acids; plant proteins may have less but are still adequate if diet is diverse.
• Absorption & Use:
  • Most dietary protein (≈87%) is converted to sugar, not muscle. Only 13% becomes bone or muscle.

3. Protein Absorption: Whole Foods vs. Supplements

[05:57]

• Traditional Diets:
  • Our ancestors consumed whole foods, not protein powders or amino acid supplements, leading to leaner physiques.
• Fast-Absorbing Proteins:
  • Breaking protein down into quickly absorbed forms (powders/supplements) increases the chance it’s stored as sugar or fat.

4. The Problem with Excess Protein & Supplements

[07:15]

• No Protein Storage in the Body:
  • Excess dietary protein is converted to sugar and then stored as fat.
• Practical Implication:

  “If we consume more protein than we need... we will convert that into sugar and convert it into fat.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 07:00)

5. Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs): For Whom, At What Risk?

[09:21]

• Role in Muscle Synthesis:
  • BCAAs are crucial for muscle building, but with caveats.
• Aging & Health Risks:
  • Stimulate mTOR and IGF-1, which can raise cancer risk as we age.

  “I do have a problem [with BCAAs] if you’re older. Because insulin-like growth factor is one of the biggest mischief makers in aging properly.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 09:49)

• Lack of Human Studies:
  • No evidence that BCAA supplements increase muscle synthesis or prevent muscle loss in humans; some studies show the opposite.

6. How the Body Recycles Protein

[11:55]

• Endogenous Protein Reuse:
  • Gut lining sloughs off and provides up to 20g of protein daily, further reducing dietary needs.

7. Vegan & Vegetarian Nutrition: Addressing Common Myths

[12:21]

• Adequacy of Plant-Based Diets:

  • Athletes on vegan/vegetarian diets build the same muscle mass as those on animal protein diets.

• Sources of Amino Acids in Plants:

  • Root vegetables (beets, leeks), nuts (especially baruca nuts), aged cheeses (for vegetarians), and leafy greens are rich in amino acids.

• ‘Protein Combining’ Myth:

  • No need to strategically combine plant foods in a single meal for complete protein.

  “There’s nobody on the other side of your gut looking at what’s coming in and saying, 'Oh my gosh, we are deficient in this particular amino acid.'”
  (Dr. Gundry, 12:45)

• Creatine for Vegans:

  • Vegans and vegetarians may need supplemental creatine for optimal brain health.

8. Collagen Supplements vs. Individual Amino Acids

[14:20]

• Efficacy Questioned:
  • Collagen supplements are broken down during digestion, so they don’t rebuild collagen directly.

  “Study after study... has not shown that collagen that you swallow will be made back into collagen once you absorb it.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 15:06)

• Best Practice:
  • Dr. Gundry personally takes lysine, proline, and glycine supplements (adding vitamin C) for collagen synthesis instead of whole collagen.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Plant vs. Animal Muscle Mass:

  “If we actually needed animal protein to bulk up our muscles, then horses and gorillas would be skinny...”
  (Dr. Gundry, 04:28)

• Supplements and Muscle Growth in Older Adults:

  “There is nothing in you that you want to grow anymore [after age 50].”
  (Dr. Gundry, 09:42)

• Protein Combining:

  “The next bite, that amino acid will show up and you'll have enough again. Just look at all the largest animals on earth and they just happen to be vegans.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 13:04)

• Collagen Supplementation Reality:

  “You can have all the bone broth in the world, and that’s not going to make more collagen on the other side of your gut.”
  (Dr. Gundry, 15:45)

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Important Timestamps

• [01:55] – Understanding amino acids and their dietary relevance
• [04:28] – Debunking animal protein necessity for muscle building
• [07:00] – Protein conversion to sugar/fat
• [09:21] – Risks and limitations of BCAA supplements
• [12:45] – The myth of protein combining for vegans
• [14:20-15:45] – Collagen supplements vs. targeted amino acid supplementation

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Conclusion / Practical Takeaways

• All essential amino acids can be obtained from a varied plant-based diet.
• Most protein needs for building and repair are lower than often stated.
• Excess protein is stored as fat, not muscle – especially when consumed in rapidly absorbing forms like powders or supplements.
• BCAA supplementation may be risky for older adults due to links with aging and cancer risk.
• Collagen supplements offer no advantage over simply consuming the constituent amino acids with vitamin C.
• Vegans do well to supplement with creatine and DHA/EPA, the latter of which is available from algae.

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Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

Where Dr. Stephen Gundry shares his groundbreaking research from over 25 years of treating patients with diet and lifestyle changes alone. Dr. Gundry and other wellness experts offer inspiring stories, the latest scientific advancements and practical tips to empower you to take control of your health and live a long, happy life.

What the heck are amino acids? Well, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins in both plants and animals. Now amino acids, there are 22 different amino acids and these combine in different ways in different patterns throughout your body to form the proteins that create the tissue that make you you. They make your muscles, they make your cartilage, they make your bone, they make your muscles, they make everything. So saying that amino acids are important is in a way an oxymoron. You have to have amino acids, but where they come from is where all the controversy and the hype comes from. Now there are essentially two types of amino acids in humans. There are what are called non essential amino acids. They're important for your health, but they're called non essential because you can produce them on your own from other amino acids or even from sugar molecules. So you have the enzyme system to make one amino acid from a different amino acid, so those are non essential. On the other hand, there are Essential amino acids. We don't manufacture them ourselves, so we have to obtain them from our diet. And that's where it gets entertaining. Now, many people are told you have to acquire amino acids for bulking. And many bodybuilders and many people who advise athletes say that you've got to get these amino acids primarily from animal protein. Now, what a bunch of bumps. First of all, the head of nutrition professor Christopher Gardner at Stanford has some fabulous online videos showing that in fact, there is no human need to get muscle building amino acids from animal protein. And he's got no skin in this game. The point is, as I've reiterated many times, that if we actually needed animal protein to bulk up our muscles, then horses and gorillas would be skinny. In fact, a gorilla has far more muscle mass than you and I will ever achieve. And yet the gorilla is not eating bone broth or amino acid supplements to bulk up. Neither is a horse. They're eating plants. Now, the point of all this is, as Christopher Gardner points out, that we've been told that plant proteins are deficient in certain amino acids, amino acids that are essential for making protein. Now, believe it or not, both plant and animal proteins have a complete array of essential and non essential amino acids, both plants and animals. It's true that plants may be less of certain amino acids, but the point Professor Gardner makes is there's still plenty there, even if there's not much of these, particularly if you're eating a lot of plant based material, which explains why a gorilla or a horse does just fine in making huge amounts of muscles, just eating plants. And every time you get into the hype that you got to have animal protein to do this, please just go down to the zoo and watch a gorilla or go out to the farm and watch a horse. Plenty of muscle there, folks, and they're not pumping amino acids. Now, the majority of protein that we eat, about 87% of it in some studies, is not converted into muscle. It's converted into sugar. Sorry about that. We have very little need for protein in our diet, for repairing protein, for building muscle. In fact, only about 13% of labeled protein is incorporated into bone and muscle in the foods you eat. Now here's the bad news. Back in the good old days, our great great grandparents ate whole food and they ate it whole. Now, there was no such thing as a protein powder. There was no such thing as an amino acid supplement, and they were pretty lean and mean. Why? Because they got plenty of protein slowly delivered into their bloodstream. So you were more likely to be able to use that protein for muscle building than converting it immediately into sugar. And one of my arguments and other arguments is the more you break that protein down into rapidly absorbing protein like protein powders, like amino acid supplements, the more likely you are to convert that into sugar rather than muscle mass. And remember, we have no storage system for protection protein. We do have a storage system for sugar. It's called fat. And we do not waste energy. So if we consume more protein than we need for wear and repair and muscle synthesis, we will convert that into sugar and convert it into fat. So that's where all this goes. Sorry about that.

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[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

Now what about branched chain amino acids? BCAAs? These are truly involved in muscle synthesis. I have no question about that. And there is no question about that. But the problem with branched chain amino acids is that they stimulate mtor, the mechanistic target of rapamycin, and in turn stimulate insulin like growth factor one. Now if you're 30 years old and building muscle, I have no problem with branched chain amino acids. I do have a problem if you're older. Because insulin like growth factor is one of the biggest mischief makers in aging properly. And as I tell my patients who are 50 or older, there is nothing in you that you want to grow anymore. And sadly, in my practice and others, people who have elevated insulin like growth factors as they age have a much higher incidence of cancer than people who have low insulin like growth factors. So always consider what you're trying to accomplish by taking branched chain amino acids. Now sadly, there are no human studies that show that branched chain amino acids will increase muscle synthesis or even prevent muscle loss. In fact, two studies actually showed it would decrease muscle muscle synthesis. And just remind you, gorillas and horses do not take branched chain Amino acid supplements, and they seem to do fine. We recycle a lot of our protein. Remember, the lining of our gut is the same surface area as a tennis court. And that lining is constantly sloughed. And we actually re eat the protein in those cells that we slough. And some studies show that we actually get 20 grams of protein just by re eating the wall of our gut every single day. Now what about the vegetarian and vegan community? Now there's a huge myth that vegans and vegetarians don't get enough amino acids. That's not true. They get it from the food they eat. And there are multiple controlled studies with athletes giving them a vegetarian or vegan diet or an animal protein diet showing absolutely no difference in muscle mass or incorporation of muscle mass. Now where do you get amino acids from plants, you may ask? Well, they're in everything you eat. They're particularly present in some root vegetables like beets and leeks, if you're a vegetarian. Parmesan cheese, other aged cheeses, nuts, leaves, nuts like baruca nuts. Baruca nuts have all the essential amino acids. But just remember, because one or two products of plants may not have enough of a particular amino acid, that's going to be counteracted by the other thing you're eating. The other idea that we have to combine foods if we're vegans or vegetarians to get the right amino acids. There's nobody on the other side of your gut looking at what's coming in and saying, oh my gosh, we are deficient in this particular amino acid. We can't make such and such a thing. The next bite that amino acid will show up and you'll have enough again. Just look at all the largest animals on earth and they just happen to be vegans.

[Podcast Host]

Sorry about that.

[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

Eggs are another great source of protein. Now it's true that vegans do have low levels of creatine, an amino acid derivative. And interestingly enough, there's several studies that show that vegans are deficient in creatine in their brains. Also, there are several studies that vegans who rely on short chain omega 3 fats like flaxseed oil for their omega 3s have smaller brains than people who get their long chain omega 3 fats from fish oil. But the good news is there are algae based long chain omega 3 fats readily available. So now really, vegans have no excuse. I do recommend to my vegan patients that they supplement with with creatine to make sure their brains have plenty of creatine to go around. Now if you're eating the plant paradox way, you're getting plenty of amino acids. In some cases, supplementing with individual amino acids may be useful. Now, I personally take lysine, proline, and glycine in supplemental form. They're easy to find and they're cheap. Why? Because collagen is made primarily from those three amino acids. And it's a lot easier and a lot cheaper to actually take the amino acids that make collagen rather than a collagen supplement. Just remember, you do not absorb collagen. And study after study after study has not shown that collagen that you swallow will be made back into collagen once you absorb it. There's no instructions that said, oh, you just ate collagen. You better make collagen on the other side of your intestine. That's not how it works. So collagen has to be broken down into individual amino acids to be absorbed. That doesn't mean you're going to take those amino acids and make collagen again. You might, but you might use them for other processes so you can have all the bone broth in the world, and that's not going to make more collagen on the other side of your gut. Cows don't eat collagen. Cows make collagen from the plant amino acids that they eat. And so the idea that you have to have animal collagen to make collagen makes absolutely no sense because the animals that you're eating got their collagen by eating plant amino acids. Sorry about that. So just take a lysine, a glycine and proline supplement, add some vitamin C, which is essential for knitting collagen together, and you'll be all set.

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[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

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[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

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