Ben Greenfield interviews Dr. David Minkoff at LifeWorks Wellness Center about Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP), an amino acid supplement. Dr. Minkoff explains protein/nitrogen physiology, compares MAP's claimed nitrogen retention (99%) to foods (meat ~32%, egg ~48%, whey/soy/egg white ~16–17%), cites 44 peer-reviewed studies, and gives usage recommendations (take 30 minutes before exercise; dosing example: 10 units before and every four hours during endurance events). He also reports widespread amino-acid deficiencies in tested patients (athletes, menopausal women, chronically ill, vegetarians/vegans).
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Hey, this is Ben Greenfield, and I'm down in Clearwater, Florida. As many you know, I came down here to compete in the Half Ironman World Championships. I rode my bike over to a place called LifeWorks Wellness Center. And those of you who have been fans of the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast for a little while have heard the interview with Dr. David Minkoff, who gave us a fantastic interview on basically optimizing your body for performance and for health. And this is Dr. Minkoff's clinic. And this is Dr. Minkoff sitting right beside me.
What I wanted to talk about was this product that he has that he mentioned. And the reason I want to talk about it was because, as you know, I was recently tested. I was found to be deficient in amino acids, even though I'm eating a pretty healthy diet and taking care of my body. And Dr. Minkoff and I were talking, he reminded me he actually has an amino acid product called map and you're going to have to remind me again what that stands for.
Master amino acid pattern.
Master amino acid pattern. So why don't you hold that bottle? That's what it looks like. And what exactly you were explaining to me about how nitrogen works in the body and, and how this is different than some other, even like an egg or a piece of chicken. What's the deal with the master amino product?
Acid product. Acid product. Here's the deal. When you eat protein, the three basic components of food are carbohydrates, fats, and protein. The difference between carbohydrates and fats and protein is that protein has nitrogen and fats and carbohydrates have no nitrogen. And what we're looking for when you eat a protein is that that nitrogen gets incorporated into your body as protein. Now, when you eat a protein, the body has two choices. It can either use it to build itself, that is, muscle, bone, immune system, hormones, enzymes, all are made out of protein. So it can either take that protein or those amino acids and build itself up with it, or it can take the nitrogen off of that amino acid and use the carbohydrate that's left over as a fuel. So we have what we call anabolic pathway, which is it builds up the body, or catabolic pathway, which is it doesn't build up the body. It's used as fuel or stored as fat. So if you, for example, and you can measure this, you could eat chicken all day long. Measure how many grams of protein a chicken you ate, collect your urine that whole day, measure how many grams of. Of nitrogen came Out. And that balance between grams of nitrogen in and grams of nitrogen out gives you how quality that protein is because you're eating protein so that you get nitrogen retained rather than wasted. So if you eat a piece of chicken or beef or pork, all the meats, all the fish have about a 32% retention rate. So when it says that 4 ounces of turkey is 20 grams of protein, you're actually the usable part of that is about 32% of that. Now, if we look at whey or soy or egg white, it's only 16 to 17% utilized. So 83% is basically calories. You might as well eat a banana. That doesn't mean you can't eat enough of it to get good amounts of protein. But as the percentage of it isn't very good. Eggs are the best food for protein. But you have to eat the yolk. 48% of an egg is retained as protein. The only thing better is breast milk, which is like just half, it's just under half. So if an egg has six grams of protein, big egg, maybe seven grams of protein, you get about three and a half of usable protein. Assuming that you can digest it, you have stomach acid, you have pancreatic enzymes that you can get it in. And a lot of people have trouble with those things. They, they take medication that doesn't allow them to digest the food. It doesn't work. Map is 99% retained and it doesn't have to be digested.
And you guys have done tests to look at this.
44 published studies, peer reviewed journals. So you put this stuff in with water or sports drink in 23 minutes. It's in your blood at your cells, having your body make protein.
So somebody could take this after workout.
Well, take it before it works better. Take it 30 minutes before workout with water or sports drink. I have guys and I'm doing an Ironman in two weeks. I take it during the race, I take 10 before the race and every four hours during the race, I take 10 more. And you get a tremendous value from it because you know this whole theory about central fatigue and your brain turns off before your muscles really turn off. A lot of that is amino acid deficiency. When you put the amino acids in, your performance is longer lasting and it's better. It sounds like a Viagra commercial, but it's really true.
Yeah, wow. So called map. I'm going to put a link up with this video or a link over at BenGreenfieldFitness.com where you can get this stuff. You don't have to come all the way down here to Clearwater, Florida, and ride your bike to Dr. Minkoff's clinic to find it. I'll put a link. They actually, we were just over in their mailing room, and they just mailed this stuff out to anybody that needs it. So rather than it just being available exclusively to his patients, he's pretty much got it available to anybody. So definitely something for you to check out. If you're concerned about protein deficiency or amino acid deficiency.
Can I say one more thing?
Yeah, go ahead.
You're not unique. We have measured thousands of patients where we've done essential amino acid levels in their blood, and almost everybody is low. We see a lot of elite athletes in here. They're low. We see a lot of menopausal women in here. They're low. Anybody with chronic illness is low. And a lot of people who. Everybody who's vegetarian or vegan is low. So it's really a supplement that can help a lot of people to maintain their health.
And pretty unique supplement.
Very unique.
Much like that on the market. So check it out. This is Ben Greenfield and Dr. David Minkoff signing off from the LifeWorks Wellness Institute.
