A two-gram per day dose of the RAMPS-branded dileucine from Ingenious Ingredients during a 10-week resistance training program led to significant improvements in leg press performance and repetitions to failure, according to findings published in PLoS ONE.
“This is the first study to examine the effects of daily supplementation with 2 g [dileucine] in resistance-trained males during a 10-week resistance training program on changes in resistance-training adaptations,” wrote scientists from Lindenwood University, Increnovo and Ingenious Ingredients.
“These findings suggest [dileucine] as a potentially effective supplement for improving adaptations to resistance training.”
RAMPS
There are only three BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine and valine, but leucine specifically is believed to be the trigger for muscle protein synthesis.
Dipeptides play a crucial role in human health, and the body has dipeptide transporters that absorb dipeptides faster and more efficiently than individual amino acids. Despite this, it was previously thought that dipeptides like dileucine would simply be broken down during absorption into individual amino acids, in this case leucine.
However, prior research showed that dileucine is partly absorbed intact, resulting in a significant increase in dileucine levels in the plasma. Not only that but dileucine may significantly increase muscle protein synthesis compared to isomolar amounts of leucine.
Research into dileucine has been driven by Ingenious Ingredients (ING2), a U.S.-based company that has patented the dileucine ingredient. The ingredient is distributed exclusively by NNB Nutrition under the brand name RAMPS.
A 2021 paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology reported that young men who consumed dileucine had 42% more muscle synthesis than men who ingested only leucine.
“Compared to amino acids, dipeptides like dileucine are absorbed more efficiently and faster, potentially offering superior benefits on muscle health and athletic performance,” Dr. Ralf Jäger, co-author on the new study and one of the founders of Ingenious Ingredients.
“In this new study, we investigated if the acute beneficial effects on muscle health translate into performance benefits when combined with a multiple week training program. Dileucine showed greater increases in total and lower body strength compared to placebo and greater increases in muscular endurance compared to leucine, while leucine alone did not provide any significant benefits,” he added.
“The importance of the study is that the beneficial effects on acute muscle protein synthesis translated into meaningful performance benefits when combined with a multiple week training program.”
Study details
The new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 34 resistance-trained men with an average age of 28.3. The men were divided into three groups and consumed 2 g of RAMPS (dileucine monohydrate), 2 g of leucine or placebo daily while following a 4-day per week resistance training program for 10 weeks.
The results showed that the dileucine group experienced greater improvements in leg press 1-repetition maximum, compared to placebo, and leg press repetitions to failure, compared to leucine.
No significant differences between the groups were reported for the other measures, including bench press performance and anaerobic capacity.
“These results are significant in light of previous research, which has been largely inconclusive regarding the benefits of essential amino acid and leucine supplementation on resistance training adaptations,” the researchers wrote.
Source: PLoS ONE
19(12): e0312997, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312997
“Dileucine ingestion, but not leucine, increases lower body strength and performance following resistance training: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial”
Authors: A.M. Hagele et al.
