EAAs: What They Are And Why They Matter

EAAs are all the rage in bodybuilding but most people have no idea what they are or what they do. Today, we are going to give you a simple overview. Assuming you want to optimize your life here is what you need to know. 

woody on a morning would bottle

What are EAAs?

EAAs are essential amino acids. What are amino acids? The molecules that combine together to make proteins. As a bodybuilder, an athlete or otherwise overachiever, these are important for many different reasons which we will get into later.

Your body cannot produce all the amino acids. The ones it cannot produce on its own are known as the essential amino acids meaning it is essential you get them from your diet otherwise you will be lacking. The nine essential amino acids are: 

  • Histidine
  • Isoleucine
  • Leucine
  • Lysine
  • Methionine
  • Phenylalanine
  • Threonine
  • Tryptophan
  • Valine

(Note: Isoleucine, leucine and valine are considered BCAAs but we’ll talk more on that down the page.)

Of course, you’ll want to take them anyway because they have tons of different benefits. We will show you what those benefits are right now…

What are the benefits of taking EAAs?

The main benefits of taking EAAs are that are involved in:

  • Making hormones
  • Muscle generation
  • Repairing tissue

Making Hormones

Essential Amino Acids play crucial roles in making hormones, for example:

  • Phenylalanine & Tryptophan: Convert to tyrosine and 5-HTP respectively, which are direct precursors to important neurotransmitters and hormones (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin)
  • Methionine: Provides methyl groups essential for hormone synthesis and regulation through methylation processes
  • Histidine: Required for histamine production which regulates immune responses and digestive hormone secretion
  • Lysine: Supports growth hormone secretion and helps regulate cortisol levels

Having all the EAAs in your system ensures your endocrine system has the building blocks it needs to create peptide hormones and support the enzymes involved in steroid hormone synthesis. 

If you haven’t caught on yet, this is important because if you are like us, you are a bodybuilder. The main reason we put an amino complex into Morning Would is because we wanted to optimize muscle generation in any way possible. Speaking of which…

Muscle Generation

EAAs drive muscle protein synthesis in a coupl’a different ways:

  • Leucine: Directly activates the mTOR pathway, the primary trigger for muscle protein synthesis
  • All 9 EAAs: Must be present at the same time to create complete muscle proteins; missing even one creates a "limiting factor" that halts efficient muscle building
  • Lysine & Methionine: Critical for cross-linking proteins that give muscle its structural integrity
  • Histidine: Helps buffer acid during exercise, allowing longer and more productive training sessions

Repairing Tissue

Now that you’ve worked out, and destroyed your muscles, you are going to want to repair them. Of course, EAAs don’t just help with muscle repair, they literally work to repair everything whether it be during injury, muscular repair or anything in between. Here are a few examples:

  • Threonine & Lysine: Essential components of collagen and elastin formation for connective tissue repair
  • Phenylalanine: Supports the signaling processes that trigger tissue regeneration
  • All EAAs: Required for the rapid protein synthesis that must occur during recovery from injury or exercise-induced micro-damage
  • Methionine: Provides sulfur components needed for cross-linking proteins in healing tissues
  • Histidine: Supports the inflammatory response necessary for proper healing phases

When Is the Best Time To Take EAAs?

The best time to take EAAs, you guessed it, is the morning. You’ve likely not eaten in over eight to twelve hours because you have been asleep. Getting in some quick EAAs during a fasted helps prevent muscle waste before your next meal and sets you up for a day of health and well-being. 

Also, EAAs, like phenylalanine, tryptophan and methionine, provide some cognitive benefits as well. And almost all of them contribute to improving immune function.

Some other good times to take EAAs:

  • Pre-workout
  • Intra-workout (especially if you have gruelingly long lifts)
  • Post-workout
  • In-between meals
  • During extended fasts

BCAAs vs EAAs

Here’s a quick rundown of the differences between BCAAs vs EAAs. Just to let you know, we like both BCAAs and EAAs but we just happened to put more EAAs into Morning Would for the benefits they provide supported our goals with the product.

Morning Would EAA Formula

The Morning Would EAA formula contains the following:

  • Histidine 
  • Lysine 
  • Threonine 
  • Tryptophan 
  • Methionine
  • Phenylalanine

We also throw in tyrosine too which is a nonessential amino but has major benefits for cognition. Though we only have six EAAs in the formula, it is comparable to almost every other amino complex on the market in addition to the nootropic formula, the hydration complex and more.

That's it! There's a lot more we could say about EAAs, BCAAs, AAs and protein in general but we think that's enough for most people. If you are looking for the most comprehensive Morning Supplement on the market check out Morning Would. 

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