The nine essential amino acids (histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine) must come from food because the body cannot make them. EAA supplements supply them as free amino acids, mainly for building muscle.
Also known as: EAA, EAAs, essential amino acid supplement.
ODS says most complete proteins are about 40% EAAs, so 25 g of protein provides about 10 g of EAAs. A 24-week trial in older adults used 15 g of EAAs a day (Markofski 2019). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: ODS says all EAAs are needed to stimulate muscle building, which appears best with high-quality protein providing about 10 g of EAAs within 2 hours after exercise, though a meta-analysis found protein timing within an hour of exercise did not significantly increase strength or size. In a 24-week placebo-controlled trial in 50 healthy older adults (average age 72), 15 g of EAAs a day plus aerobic training raised strength, but lean mass did not change in any group (Markofski 2019).
Safety: ODS says no upper limit has been set for protein, and diets with two to three times the protein RDA do not appear to harm kidney function or bone health in healthy people; it does not discuss free amino acid supplements separately. The sources here do not describe drug interactions.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for an essential amino acid mix that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one.
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