BCAA is short for Branched Chain Amino Acid. The BCAAs are leucine, isoleucine and valine. These are 3 of the 9 essential amino acids in the human body. Essential amino acids cannot be produced by the body. You must get them through your diet. These 3 unique amino acids make up over 40% of your daily required essential amino acid intake. BCAAs are unique in many ways but one extraordinary aspect of these 3 amino acids is that they bypass liver metabolism and are transported and metabolized directly in muscle. They are the primary building blocks of muscle tissue proteins. They also are carbon and nitrogen precursors for the synthesis of alanine, glutamate, and glutamine. BCAAs are shown to have anabolic effects in human muscle. They are required for muscle tissue maintenance and preserve glycogen stores in muscle tissue. The BCAAs are the primary amino acids responsible for protein synthesis. In fact, the tissue building effects from protein are primarily due to BCAAs.