Vegan Amino Lean Review: Can It Give You The Edge?

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Are you looking for a supplement that gives you the edge you need to push confidently through a workout?

Vegan Amino Lean is among the most popular vegan pre-workout supplements on Amazon with just over 3 thousand reviews, most of which are positive reviews of users praising its three unique flavors and, more importantly, the fact it gives you tons of energy despite relying totally on natural ingredients.

Personally, I think it’s highly likely that Amino Lean will provide you with an energizing effect, mainly due to ingredients like caffeine and beta-alanine. However, it’s difficult to judge whether its ingredients are dosed appropriately because they are hidden behind proprietary blends.

With that being said, I’m going to review this supplement by looking at its ingredients and determine whether or not they have a legitimate impact on exercise performance.

Vegan Amino Lean Ingredients & Potential Benefits

This vegan-friendly Amino Lean formula contains three different proprietary blends:

• Amino Acid blend;
• Weight Management blend;
• Energy & Focus blend;

Taurine, l-glutamine, beta-alanine, l-leucine, l-arginine, l-citrulline, l-isoleucine, l-valine, l-phenylalanine, l-threonine, and l-methionine are among the amino acids found in the amino acid blend, as you might expect.

Ingredients like l-carnitine, conjugated linoleic acid, green tea extract, and green coffee extract are present in the weight management blend. Caffeine, guarana seed, and organic matcha leaf are all ingredients in the energy & focus blend.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell how much of each exact ingredient is in this formula, but nevertheless, let me closely analyze each ingredient to determine whether there’s any documented use for it.

Amino Acid Blend

Not surprisingly, the amino acid blend contains a variety of amino acids, which are typically used to increase performance and boost muscle development, as well as recovery.

• Taurine

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is not involved in protein synthesis but is essential to cardiovascular function and the development and function of the brain, retina, and skeletal muscle.

Some studies have investigated whether taurine supplementation improves endurance exercise performance. ¹ 

Apparently, taurine has a small positive effect on time to exhaustion in both untrained healthy individuals and older adults with heart failure. ² However,  taurine does not seem to benefit time trial performance.

The main theory defends that taurine may aid performance by increasing the use of fat for fuel and reducing the contribution from glycogen, as well as improving the function of mitochondria. ³ 

Research was also conducted to understand whether taurine impacts muscle strength and power, but the findings were limited and inconclusive. With that being said, taurine has shown promise for reducing symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness and accelerating strength recovery following exercise. ⁴

In studies where positive results have been reported, between 1 and 6 grams of taurine were used. However, we don’t know how much taurine Amino Lean contains so we can’t tell whether you’d be able to experience the aforementioned benefits.

• L-glutamine

Based on the evidence we have found,  l-glutamine doesn’t seem to be particularly beneficial for the body as a supplement unless you’re glutamine deficient. ⁵

Even though there are claims suggesting that l-glutamine is useful for muscle gain, there’s no evidence for such.

In terms of physical performance, glutamine doesn’t seem to do anything for power output, in fact, a study conducted with healthy weightlifters didn’t see any positive results compared to a placebo. ⁶ Even higher doses of glutamine in an otherwise active population didn’t do anything. ⁷

If you’re someone that doesn’t consume animal-based foods or you struggle with a debilitating condition where muscle wasting occurs, then l-glutamine appears to be more beneficial.

• Beta-alanine

Beta-alanine is a modified version of the amino acid alanine, and it has been shown to enhance muscular endurance, with many people reporting being able to do extra reps in the gym even in high-rep sets. ⁸

There’s also evidence that beta-alanine can also increase performance for cardiovascular exercises like rowing or sprinting. ⁹

The effective daily dose is between 2 and 5 grams, however, we don’t know how much beta-alanine Amino Lean contains.

• L-leucine, l-isoleucine, and l-valine

These three amino acids are what you find in standard BCAA supplements, and the reason people often consume these in a standalone supplement is that they’re supposedly vital for muscle gain.

However, that’s not EXACTLY what the evidence suggests. The muscle growth and recovery effects you obtain from consuming these three amino acids seem to be dependent on how much protein you consume and your age.

For instance, studies that demonstrate that l-leucine can reliably increase muscle protein synthesis include only individuals that consume very little protein or elderly people. Additionally, it appears that you would need to consume significantly more of these amino acids to achieve some of the results that have been documented, and Amino Lean is clearly underdosed when it comes to these specific amino acids. 

With that being said, these amino acids are part of an amino acid blend, so it’s possible that they could work synergistically with other amino acids to provide you with some muscle growth and recovery benefits.

• L-citrulline

L-citrulline, also known as citrulline, is a non-essential amino acid that, according to the existing research, can increase muscle mass, lessen fatigue, boost power output, and improve endurance during both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. ^{10, 11}

The vast bulk of the existing data is, however, quite conflicting, so the effects of L-Citrulline are not convincingly established.

In addition, the documented benefits of l-citrulline on athletic performance were seen in subjects who consumed 6,000–8,000 milligrams of the supplement per serving, but Amino Lean clearly doesn’t contain that much. 

• L-phenylalanine, L-threonine, and L-methionine

These are other amino acids that, unlike the previous amino acids, are also essential but don’t seem to play a fundamental role in exercise.

They seem to be involved in the production of other molecules (i.e: tyrosine, epinephrine, dopamine), but I have not found any research suggesting their use in supplements, much less in aiding exercise performance.

Weight Management Blend

As the name suggests, the weight management blend combines ingredients that help you manage weight.

Some of the ingredients contain properties that promote thermogenesis, a metabolic process by which you burn calories. However, let’s see what the evidence says about these ingredients.

• L-carnitine

L-carnitine is an amino acid derivative that transports fatty acids into your cells to be processed for energy, so in theory, it should make sense that it promotes weight loss.

However, the results for both human and animal studies are mixed, which means that it’s difficult to assess whether or not l-carnitine is actually effective for weight loss.

For instance, there was no difference in weight loss between those who took L-carnitine and those who did not in an eight-week study involving 38 women who exercised four times per week. Additionally, five of the participants experienced nausea or diarrhea. ¹² 

However, one analysis of nine studies involving mostly obese people or senior citizens discovered that those who took carnitine lost an additional 2.9 pounds (1.3 kg) on average. ¹³

So, while it may aid in weight loss, more research is required before considering L-carnitine effective for weight loss.

• Conjugated linoleic acid

CLA are fatty acids that act on a system known as PPAR, which is connected to fat loss, but while CLA is still being researched for its fat-burning effects, human studies on it are very unreliable.

To say that CLA is capable of contributing to fat loss would be wrong as the research is quite weak.

• Green tea extract & Green coffee extract

Both green tea extract and green coffee extract contain Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is a plant-based compound that gets a lot of attention for its various benefits, namely weight loss.

Some long-term observational studies found that drinking about 2 cups (14.7 ounces or 434 ml) of green tea per day was associated with lower body fat and weight. However, the results of most studies were inconsistent. ¹⁴

According to studies on humans, EGCG only has an effect on fat loss when combined with caffeine. For instance, a systematic review discovered that consuming 80–300 mg of caffeine and 100–460 mg of EGCG daily for at least 12 weeks was associated with significant weight loss and a decrease in body fat. ¹⁵

Studies, where EGCG is consumed on its own, do not consistently show a change in weight or body composition.

The good news is that Amino Lean contains caffeine, which can be found in both green tea extract and green coffee extract, as well as the natural caffeine that was added to the energy & focus blend.

Energy & Focus Blend

The energy & focus blend combines natural caffeine, guarana seeds, and organic matcha leaves to support energy levels, focus, and alertness. These effects mainly occur because they all contain caffeine. 

Guarana seeds are known to contain more caffeine than coffee beans, and matcha leaves also contain caffeine, as well as a variety of other compounds like theanine, quercetin, vitamin C, etc.

However, keep in mind that if you have a high tolerance to caffeine, it’s possible that you may not feel these energizing effects. In addition, Amino Lean contains a total of 125mg of caffeine per serving, which is not that high when compared to other pre-workout formulas. 

Vegan Amino Lean Price

The price point of Amino Lean is $24 per 25 servings, which is the equivalent of $0.96 per serving, which makes it rather affordable for a supplement with such a variety of ingredients. 

Assuming that you train only during weekdays for five days a week, Amino Lean should last you for an entire month, which is ideal for someone that trains consistently.

Does Amino Lean Vegan Actually Work?

According to the ingredients present in Amino Lean, it’s very likely that you might feel energized as well as more focused and alert during your workouts due to the presence of caffeine, which is a well-established stimulant.

However, caffeine only works if you haven’t built any tolerance for it, so if you’re someone that is consistently consuming high doses of caffeine, you may not experience the aforementioned effects when taking Amino Lean. Additionally, Amino Lean contains 125mg of caffeine per serving, which is not as potent a dose as other formulas that typically have 180-250mg, so do keep that in mind before buying this supplement.

Other effects that you may also feel when taking Amino Lean are an improvement in your aerobic capacity and muscle endurance due to the presence of beta-alanine, as well as slightly accelerated muscle recovery due to taurine. This is what the evidence shows, but always take everything with a grain of salt. 

Some other ingredients such as l-carnitine, green tea extract, and green coffee extract may also aid you in weight loss due to the presence of both EGCG and caffeine, but keep in mind that this effect is dose-dependent, and unfortunately, Amino Lean doesn’t reveal the dose for each ingredient, so it’s difficult to fully assess its potential.

In conclusion, I think that the Vegan Amino Lean formula is quite effective as a pre-workout, but I don’t appreciate the fact it hides the doses of each ingredient behind proprietary blends. Also, Amino Lean might not be effective for people that are used to pre-workouts, particularly those with higher caffeine content. 

With that being said, if you still want to purchase Vegan Amino Lean, you can do it via iHerb or the brand’s official website.

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Editor’s note: The content on this website is meant to be informative, but it should not be taken as medical advice. The content of our articles is not intended for use in the diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. It’s always best to speak with your doctor or a certified medical professional before making any changes to your lifestyle, diet, exercise routine, or trying a new supplement.

References: 

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13. Pooyandjoo M, Nouhi M, Shab-Bidar S, Djafarian K, Olyaeemanesh A. The effect of (L-)carnitine on weight loss in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Obes Rev. 2016 Oct.

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15. Vázquez Cisneros LC, López-Uriarte P, López-Espinoza A, Navarro Meza M, Espinoza-Gallardo AC, Guzmán Aburto MB. Efectos del té verde y su contenido de galato de epigalocatequina (EGCG) sobre el peso corporal y la masa grasa en humanos. Una revisión sistemática [Effects of green tea and its epigallocatechin (EGCG) content on body weight and fat mass in humans: a systematic review]. Nutr Hosp. 2017 Jun.