This double-blind, counter-balanced study investigated the effect of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation on the body composition of male college students majoring in physical education. The body composition of 19 (19~22-year-old) male university students was measured with a segmental bio-electrical impedance analyzer (SBIA) during the post-absorptive stage. Based on the swimming score for 600 m of the crawl stroke, students were divided into two groups: placebo (n = 9, BMI = 24.2 ± 2.1 kg/m2; 12 g glucose/day; in capsules) and BCAA ( n = 10, BMI =22.7 ± 1.5 kg/m2;12 g BCAA/day; in capsules, leucine 54%, isoleucine 19%, valine 27%) groups. Participants maintained their regular dietary intake and exercise activity with moderate/low intensity (60~70% maximum heart rate reserved, swimming and rowing, ~ 1.5 h/day) during the study. Body composition, measured before and after the 14 days of supplementation, of either group was not affected by dietary supplements. After pooling the data of the two groups, BMI was more closely correlated with body fat mass (r2 = 0.57, p < 0.05) than with fat-free mass (r2 = 0.35, p <0.05). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was highly correlated with body fat mass (r2 = 0.83, p < 0.05) and fat mass index (FMI = fat mass/height2; r2 = 0.91, p < 0.05), but relatively less correlated with BMI (r2 = 0.67,p < 0.05). FMI was highly correlated with triceps skinfold thickness (TSF; r2=0.86, p < 0.05). WHR and TSF can be used as potential indexes of body fat an its distribution. With SBIA, we not only can measure the body composition accurately but also can perform anthropometric assessments efficiently.
This double-blind, counter-balanced study investigated the effect of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation on the body composition of male college students majoring in physical education. The body composition of 19 (19~22-year-old) male university students was measured with a segmental bio-electrical impedance analyzer (SBIA) during the post-absorptive stage. Based on the swimming score for 600 m of the crawl stroke, students were divided into two groups: placebo (n = 9, BMI = 24.2 ± 2.1 kg/m2; 12 g glucose/day; in capsules) and BCAA ( n = 10, BMI =22.7 ± 1.5 kg/m2;12 g BCAA/day; in capsules, leucine 54%, isoleucine 19%, valine 27%) groups. Participants maintained their regular dietary intake and exercise activity with moderate/low intensity (60~70% maximum heart rate reserved, swimming and rowing, ~ 1.5 h/day) during the study. Body composition, measured before and after the 14 days of supplementation, of either group was not affected by dietary supplements. After pooling the data of the two groups, BMI was more closely correlated with body fat mass (r2 = 0.57, p < 0.05) than with fat-free mass (r2 = 0.35, p <0.05). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was highly correlated with body fat mass (r2 = 0.83, p < 0.05) and fat mass index (FMI = fat mass/height2; r2 = 0.91, p < 0.05), but relatively less correlated with BMI (r2 = 0.67,p < 0.05). FMI was highly correlated with triceps skinfold thickness (TSF; r2=0.86, p < 0.05). WHR and TSF can be used as potential indexes of body fat an its distribution. With SBIA, we not only can measure the body composition accurately but also can perform anthropometric assessments efficiently.