I got lucky and found Blox for $15 for 60 servings at one of those damaged freight places. This stuff is great. Super tastey. I felt great while drinking it and have to give it the "two thumbs up (way up)" ranking.
Do yourself a favor and give it a try. Interesting enough is the new Muscletech Nitro-Tech has a high dose of Alanine and Glycine added. These are the predominant components of Silk Amino Acids.
Could you get the same benefit? Maybe, I would say that it is also worth trying.
Silk amino acids have been a part of Chinese medicine for thousands of years and now the western world muscledom has jumped on board.
Silk amino acids or SAA are comprised of primarly of 5 short chain proteins in the below proportions.
Predominant composition of silk amino acids (by weight*)
•L-Alanine (34.36%)
•Glycine (27.23%)
•L-Serine (9.58%)
•L-Valine (3.49%)
•L-Threonine (2.00%)
•[*SAAs contains other amino acids but only those representing >2.00% are listed due to their greater relevance]
^ Shin S, Park D, Yeon S et al. Stamina-enhancing effects of silk preparations in mice. Lab Anim Res 2009;25:127–34.
BPI Blox gives SAA SEQUENCED PROTEINS™ in a 3,960mg serving containing Alanine, Glycine, Serine, Valine, and Threonine.
The reported benefits are as follows.
A recent animal study, found that when exercising mice were given three different doses of silk amino acids for 44 days, the mice experienced:
•Improved exercise performance
•SAA fed mice exercised more than twice as long as mice not fed SAAs (28 minutes vs 13 minutes)
•In terms of absolute improvement in exercise performance, SAAs produced improvements that were six times greater than that seen with just exercise (18 minute increase compared to 3 minute increase)
•Eliminated the increase in blood lactate levels (which were significantly increased with just exercise)
•Eliminated the increase in muscle oxidation (which was also significantly increased with just exercise)
•Maintained blood glucose levels (vs being significantly lowered in exercising mice)
•Increased muscle glycogen and liver glycogen (compared to exercise alone)
•
Increased testosterone levels (64% increase vs 36% reduction in exercise group; in absolute terms, blood testosterone levels that were 2.6 times higher in SAAs group compared to exercise group)
•
Reduced cortisol (140% increase in cortisol in exercising group while no significant increase was seen when SAAs were given)
•
Increased anabolic ratio (4-fold higher anabolic ratio; ie, the testosterone to cortisol ratio compared to mice not receiving any)
•
Increased muscle size (16% increase with high-dose)
Other effects of silk amino acids (SAAs) or silk protein hydrolysates include regulating the immune system, lowering muscle and liver damage, as well as having anti-tumor, and anti-viral effects.
1.Shin S, Yeon S, Park D et al. Silk amino acids improve physical stamina and male reproductive function in mice. Biol Pharm Bull 2010;33:273–8.
2.^ Ryu JM, Kim TM, Seo IK et al. Effect of repeated administration of silk peptide on the immune system of rats. Lab Anim Res 2008;24:361–9.
3.^ Kim TM, Ryu JM, Seo IK et al. Four-week repeated-dose toxicity of silk amino acids in rats. Lab Anim Res 2008;24:565–73.
4.^ Zhaorigetu S, Yanaka N, Sasaki M et al. Silk protein, sericin, suppresses DMBA-TPA-induced mouse skin tumorigenesis by reducing oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and endogenous tumor promoter TNF-alpha. Oncol Rep 2003;10:537–4.
5.^ Gotoh K, Izumi H, Kanamoto T et al. Sulfate fibroin, a novel sulfated peptide derived from silk, inhibits immunodeficiency virus replication in vitro. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2000;64:1664–70.
LINKS:
Is There a Silky Way to a Leaner, Healthier You? BPI Sports Introduces the First Silk Protein Supplement to the Market
Fat Burning Silk Peptides From Korean Labs: You Don't Even Have to Eat Worms to Gear Your Personal Energy-In-VS-Energy-Out Equation Towards Weight & Fat Loss