Natural Origin PureKIC® (Alpha-Ketoisocaproate Calcium) provides high purity of KIC, free from the foul odour.
Alpha-ketoisocaproate (KIC) is a keto acid of the amino acid leucine. Branched-chain keto acids are very similar to branched-chain amino acids, the only difference being the presence of a keto group instead of an amino group. KIC is anticatabolic, which means it contributes to muscle growth by helping to move the body from a catabolic (muscle wasting) to anabolic (muscle building) state.
ARG-KIC(L-Arginine KIC Combo) is available at the same time.
According to an NCBI study, More than 70% of athletes report using nutritional supplements to improve health and sports performance [1]; however, few supplements have shown ergogenic potential under controlled experimental conditions [19]. Alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (KIC), the ketoacid of leucine, has been shown to enhance high-intensity exercise performance when consumed in combination with glycine and L-arginine (GAKIC) [6,26], reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and preserve skeletal muscle force production when ingested with β-hydroxy-β-methyl butyrate (HMB).
With moderate- and high-intensity exercise, factors such as total energy supply or local muscle fatigue may limit maximal anaerobic power [8] through reduced force output in skeletal muscle [9]. Theoretically, supplemental KIC may enhance exercise performance by 1) promoting total muscle energy supply, [5,11,28] 2) attenuating NH3 accumulation, [15,21] 3) and reducing exercise-induced muscle damage [27]. For example, PureKIC® (Alpha-Ketoisocaproate Calcium) administration is purported to spare glucose utilization by skeletal muscle, possibly by inhibiting glycogen deposition and/or the pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex in skeletal muscle [5,7].
Further, the liver can convert KIC to ketone bodies [11,28], thus increasing the potential energy supply during exercise [2]. Additionally, PureKIC® (Alpha-Ketoisocaproate Calcium) is readily dehydrogenase to leucine, via leucine dehydrogenase and branched-chain amino acid transferase at the expense of NH3, in a variety of tissues, including skeletal muscle, [14,15,21] which may ultimately decrease fatigue and preserve lean muscle force production during intense exercise [3].
