Gary Brecka's Protein Bar Hypocrisy with Perfect Amino Bar | What the Fitness | Biolayne

Layne Norton devotes a substantial portion of the video to explaining why the Perfect Amino bar fails as a muscle-building product: its protein content cannot deliver enough leucine. He states, 'the threshold for leucine to stimulate muscle protein synthesis is right around 2 g for most people or 2,000 mg.' He references his own published work and corroborates it with other leading research groups. He then calculates that 8g of pea protein contributes less than 1g of leucine, and even combined with the 1,000mg proprietary EAA blend (whose leucine content is unknown but certainly a small fraction) the bar falls orders of magnitude short. This protocol is the actionable takeaway for listeners: look beyond total protein grams and target the leucine content of your protein sources.

Layne opens by stating he is an investor in David protein and would never call his own bars whole food. He then reads the Perfect Amino bar's macros and ingredient list: almond butter, almonds, soluble tapioca fiber, sugar, chocolate, chicory root fiber, pea protein isolate, glycerin, cocoa powder, and a proprietary 'Perfect Amino' essential amino acid blend with ATP. He calculates that the bar has only 8g of protein from pea protein isolate and an extra 1,000mg of proprietary EAAs — far short of meaningful muscle-building support. He points out that you could easily find a bar with better macros in any convenience store. The inclusion of non-bioavailable ATP is just marketing fluff. His final judgment: 'This is not a protein bar, this is a candy bar with some extra fiber thrown in.'

Layne focuses on the Perfect Amino bar's 1,000mg 'proprietary blend' of essential amino acids plus ATP. Because the blend is proprietary, you cannot know the leucine content. He explains that from his own lab's research and groups at McMaster and UTMB, the threshold for leucine to stimulate muscle protein synthesis is around 2g (2,000mg). The bar's 8g of pea protein (itself low in leucine) plus the 1g blend cannot possibly reach that threshold. He argues that proprietary blends are a deliberate tactic to prevent informed choices and should be viewed as a red flag.

He sarcastically asks, 'What the are we putting ATP in a protein bar for?' and then calmly explains: 'ATP, adenosine triphosphate, your body's energy currency, is not bioavailable.' During digestion, ATP is hydrolyzed and chopped into its nucleotide and phosphate parts, never arriving intact into the bloodstream. He mocks Brecka's lack of understanding: 'If anybody, I don't know, Gary, had a basic comprehension of basic ass chemistry, basic ass biochemistry, they would know this.' The inclusion of ATP is thus a superfluous add-on meant to create a 'pure energy' association that has no basis in physiology.

He states, 'Pea protein isolate is a very poor source of essential amino acids and leucine.' He compares it to whey: 'whey protein has about double the leucine, double the essential amino acids, and double the branched-chain amino acid content. Not quite double, but like right around double.' Therefore, 8g of pea protein yields less than a gram of leucine, far from the ~2g threshold required to maximize muscle protein synthesis. This analysis shows that even if the bar were otherwise well-composed, its protein source is inefficient for building muscle. For individuals aiming to stimulate MPS, this means they would need to consume much more pea protein (and its accompanying calories) to get the same leucine trigger as a smaller amount of whey.