NOW Foods Sports Nutrition, Amino-9 Essentials™ Powder, Enhanced Protein Synthesis, Amino Acids, 330-Grams

I'm a little different than most for this, because I take amino acids as I'm missing my colon and have an ileostomy bag. My food goes through fast and I was starting to have things that were pointing to a nutritional deficiency, along with flat out already being in pretty poor health for a bunch of reasons. Anyway, we decided to give amino acids a try, seeing that if I couldn't break down the protein I ate in time, maybe I wasn't getting my essential amino acids.First, this stuff is rancid gross tasting. Totally vile. Like licking pennies dipped in dust and sprinkled with bleach. My routine is a heaping tablespoon into about 8oz of juice like a string cherry/cranberry/grape juice and then adding a good heart squeeze of Mio drops or the like. It still will taste soured and sorta gross, but it's no longer undrinkable.For me, the results are so worth it. I stopped losing mass from my legs, the daily headaches stopped, I no longer was constantly freezing. My blood work started to improve, and I started having more and more energy to function. I started feeling good, enough to actually start doing more activity. My doctor and I are very, very pleased.This particular brand is the highest listed dose of any amino acid supplement with no "extras" that I can find. Most don't label the amounts, or they add caffiene. I've run out before for a week, and the cruddy feelings - cold, tired and headachy) started coming back. I felt better within a couple days after starting back on it. I fo through about 1 bottle per month.I really think that folks with altered guts should talk with their doctor about trying this, especially if they have constant tiredness, chills and headaches. My doctor and I are very pleased with the results I've had.

Everyone is right about the taste, it has a bite…but worth it. I mix mine in my plain plant based yogurt with my favorite fruits and favorite sweetener. After a lifting workout I, also, add a little extra plant-protein and spirulina for a post-workout protein boost. I actually, enjoy eating my pre and post workout yogurt protein bowl. Because of Kidney Disease (due to cancer treatment) I am significantly limited on the amount of protein, especially animal protein, that I can consume. That’s a bummer because lifting without the protein seems like a paradox. Now Essential Aminos has made me feel positive about my lifting sessions being more productive and my nephrologist approves. My kidney lab draws have actually improved.

I gave it four stars for the benefit of helping fatigued after work outs or long days on your feet. BUT, for taste...have to say it is awfully bitter. Even when missing with a smoothly, uiu can still taste the bitterness. We tried just plan OJ or apple juice...😝. Had to mix it on high speed with my Vitamix(from Amazon) 😊 with my carrots, power greens, frozen bananas, power fruits from Costco (blueberries, blackberries and strawberries or with the the pineapple, mango and peach), coconut milk and honey to make it palatable. Not sure I’d buy again because of the taste...The plus is that it is pure, no artificial colors added (my spouse is allergic to the Red, Yellow and Blue food dye’s.

Amino-9 essentials contains all of the amino acids that your body needs but can't synthesize on its own. They are all broken down to their simplest form so they are instantly absorbed into the body for use. All of the BCAAs are present which are a major part for muscle growth. Unlike BCAA powders, this product contains the other essential amino acids in the correct ratio. Too many BCAAs without the others isn't great for the body.While the label will tell you to consume the product with fruit juice, it isn't the best way. It doesn't mix well at all! Amino acids are very bitter and will make anything taste bad. I like adding it to apple sauce since it masks the flavor well and its thickness helps mix the amino acids much better than juice. If you want to drink it, add it to Accelerade which also does a pretty good job of killing the flavor if you use two scoops.

This product messed up my mood and made me feel off mentally. I am pretty sensitive to supplements, so this is not a huge surprise. I can't use protein powder because of how high it is in 'free glutamate', so I was looking for an amino acid blend that didn't include high amounts of glutamic acid (which this doesn't). However I still had a bad experience with this. Maybe I was taking too large of an amount. It tastes awful so I added some to orange juice one morning as I was driving home from out of town and I had a very unpleasant long car ride due to not feeling right and being overstimulated. I went back to just getting my protein from whole foods/meats.

The statement on the bottle says and I quote... "contains all 9 essential amino acids in their superior free-form state and in the proportions recommended by the National Academy of Sciences to optimize protein synthesis and tissue repair for adults age 19 and over." Yes, I verified the percentages against the actual RDA; they are identical. I provided a link below. No one paid me, but they should.Goto:http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/protein-building-blocks-of-the-body/Look at:Figure 1: RDA of Essential Amino AcidsSave yourself hours of bashing your head against unending nerd literature. This product contains the exact recommended scientific blend of the 9 essential amino acids in free form. It will digest faster than any other form of protein. This makes it superb for use before (winner!), during, and/or after workouts.However, it does taste kind of nasty because it's a bottle full of acid powder. You will have to try some creative mixtures to mask the flavor. I simply choke it down as my pre-workout with lactose-free skim milk and add creatine, which kick starts my system. Then, I eat normal protein meals the rest of the day since I don't want/need to keep choking this stuff down.Now, thank me.