Phosphatidic acid speeds up muscle formation

Newest studies show that lecithin and the included phosphatidic see to it that muscles are built up up to 100% faster (with proper training).

But let us start at the beginning: what exactly is phosphatidic acid? It is a phospholipid and resembles the cholin of the same name. It can be found in soy lecithin as well as in sunflowerlecithin. Several studies show that phosphatidic acid plays an important part in building up muscles.

Of course, building up muscles is a process that usually takes months or even years. Because of that, especially bodybuilders try to speed up that process. The procedure itself is regulated by the so called “mTor”. mTor is mainly responsible for the growth of muscles. It stands for “mammalian target of rapamycin” and gets activated by flexing muscles (for instance while working out). It is important to know that once activated, mTor takes effect for several hours and does not disappear immediately. Combined with protein, the activity of mTor can be stretched up to 36 hours.

Phosphatidic acid makes sure that the activity of mTor gets nearly doubled. Even better: phosphatidic acid can activate mTor in the first place, without having to flex the muscle. In a nutshell: phosphatidic acid regulates the intensity of mTor and if the body secretes it. Therefor, phosphatidic acid and muscle formation are linked directly.

The study of Joy et al. was performed with two different groups. One of the groups got lecithin / phosphatidic acid, the other group was given placebos. The preconditions of both group were nearly identical: athletes in training, about 1,77m high and weighing above 85kg.

In almost every test, the probands of the phosphatidic acid group did twice as good. This applies for muscle section, lean mass gains and fat reduction. Even the strength increased by 80% to 90%. The connection between lecithin, phosphatidic acid and muscle formation was already confirmed by Hoffmann et al. in 2012. In this study, the probands were even able to gain 1,5kg of muscle mass, the placebo group only gained 200g.

These studies show very well, that the effect of lecithin on muscle formation was underestimated a long time. The further advantages of lecithin (brain activity, reduced cortisol-values, etc.) make it a very good dietary supplement.