NutraBio Intra Blast: Premium Workout Fuel Beyond BCAAs

NutraBio Intra Blast Dragon Fruit

Intra Blast is NutraBio’s legendary intra workout suppement / sports drink, and their Dragon Fruit flavor system launched in early January 2019!

Amino acid drinks come in all shapes and sizes. Some offer just a modicum of proprietarily blended BCAA’s along with some other poorly dosed tagalongs ingredients. Others introduce things like “silk amino acids” with less research behind them.

Neither of those accomplish the goals of a true amino acid drink. The true goal is to fuel performance and accelerate recovery.

NutraBio’s Intra Blast contains a perfect blend of BCAAs, EAAs, ergogenics, and recovery agents to help you get stronger and recover better. Now, Intra Blast isn’t an all-new product to hit the market, but they have two brand new flavors: Orange Mango and Sweet Tea, and they are both fantastic.

We loved the Orange Mango Super Carb that we recently tried and think this is worth bringing to your attention as now you can get that same great taste before or during your workout.

But flavors aside, Intra Blast is all about the formula.

We’ll get into the details below, but first, make sure to check the best deal and sign up for price drop alerts:

NutraBio Intra Blast – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

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Our Intra Blast Reviews

First, you have to see our original review:

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Intra Blast Ingredients

As you’ll see with every single product in NutraBio’s extensive line of supplements, Intra Blast contains a completely open label – even down to the flavoring and sweetener used!

You’ll find the exact amounts explained in great detail to reassure yourself that you’re getting exactly what you pay for.

  • Muscle Growth EAA / BCAA (10,005mg)

    • BCAAs (7.4g)

      NutraBio Intra Blast Ingredients

      Intra Blast contains a whopping 7.4g dose of BCAAs as part of its 10g EAA maxtrix, which supports muscle building and recovery.

      Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are the backbone any amino acid drink, let alone any intra workout product. Intra Blast has recently revised the leucine content going from 3.6g up to 3.8g, while still keeping the same 1.8g of Isoleucine and 1.8g of Valine.

      This all totals up to an impressive 7.4g dose of BCAAs that will help stimulate muscle protein synthesis[1,2], speed recovery, and delay the onset of muscle soreness, also known as DOMS.[3,4]

      Right off the bat, we’re on to a good start. This is about 50% more than what other products are delivering, but now come the EAAs:

    • L-Lysine (850mg)

      L-Lysine is an essential amino acid that plays a primary role in the body’s production of carnitine, which supports the conversion of fatty acids to energy and reduced cholesterol levels.

      More importantly, lysine is heavily involved in calcium absorption, building muscle protein, and recovery from injuries.[5,6]

    • L-Threonine (850mg)

      Threonine is alpha amino acid that’s used in the body’s production of proteins. More specifically, it’s needed for the biosynthesis of glycine and serine to stimulate muscle protein synthesis in the body.

    • L-Histidine (450mg)

      NutraBio Intra Blast Orange Mango

      Say hello to the newest flavor addition to the Intra Blast lineup: Orange Mango!

      No doubt you’re aware of beta alanine’s reputation as a proven endurance and strength booster. In case you forgot why exactly, beta alanine bind to histidine in the muscle to raise carnosine concentrations in the muscle.

      Deficiency of Histidine reduces muscle carnosine levels, so it stands to reason that supplementing with it will increase carnosine levels.[7] You can supplement with all the beta alanine you want, but if you’re severely lacking in histidine you can kiss the benefits of BA goodbye.

      To get the most of both ingredients it makes sense to use both to make sure your carnosine levels are always at their top level.

    • DL-Phenylalanine (300mg)

      Also known as DLPA, DL-Phenylalanine is first converted to Tyrosine in the body and then later converted into epinephrine, norepinephrine, and L-Dopa. These 3 big-time neurotransmitters help improve mood and increase energy, both of which will come in handy during grueling workouts.[8]

    • DL-Methionine (100mg)

      Methionine is a precursor to L-Taurine and L-Cysteine that also acts as a potent antioxidant in the body. It helps the spread of free radicals and oxidative stress that’s brought about by repeated bouts of intensive training.

    • L-Tryptophan (55mg)

      NutraBio Smooch

      Even strolling through the park is the perfect time to sip on some Intra Blast.

      Tryptophan is the amino acid found predominantly in turkey and chicken that many mistakenly blame for their post-holiday nap. However, clinical trials demonstrate supplementation with tryptophan is able to improve stamina and endurance due to increasing the pain threshold the body can tolerate.[9]

      Still, tryptophan is a bit of a relaxant, which is why you see it in a very small dose here – just enough to accomplish whatever biological processes require it, but not so much that it can be used as a sleep aid.

  • Muscle Recovery Accelerator (5000mg)

    • L-Glutamine (5000mg)

      Glutamine is well-known, and well-debated, as an amino acid that helps spur muscle growth and recovery.[10] It’s considered a conditionally essential amino acid in that usually your body can synthesize enough to keep up with demand.

      However, athletes and weightlifters alike run through their glutamine stores rather quickly and the body’s production simply can’t keep up with demand. This is when supplementing with glutamine is crucial.

      Including a healthy dose of glutamine in Intra Blast will go a long way to ensuring proper recovery and allowing you to tackle the competition day after day.

      The 5000mg dose here is far bigger than what’s in most intra workouts, which are usually at around 1000-2000mg. So if you’re a fan of glutamine, this is immediately an intra for you to seriously consider.

  • Strength & Performance Matrix

    • Betaine Anhydrous (2g)

      NutraBio Mixed Up

      Complete serving of BCAAs & EAAs plus transparent dosing AND delicious tasting makes for a perfect intra workout product.

      Betaine Anhydrous, a.k.a. trimethylglycine, has become insanely popular in pre and post workout products on the market. Seeing it as part of an intra workout product is quite a rarity. However, including it here will help you improve endurance, power, and muscle protein synthesis during and after your workout, when it’s most important![11-13]

      If that’s not enough, other research into betaine shows it reduces muscle soreness.[14]

      Note that the clinical dose of betaine is 2.5g, Intra Blast gets you really close with an impressive 2g, but paired with the 1.5g in NutraBio’s Pre Extreme, you’re more than covered to get your daily fill.

      You can read more in our informational post titled Betaine: A Safe & Natural Muscle Builder, where we note that even 0.5g could start yielding results – so the 2g per workout here is definitely more than enough to kick off gains!

    • OKG (1g)

      L-Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate (OKG) is a salt formed from the combination of 2 molecules of ornithine and 1 of alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG). Moreover, OKG is a precursor of arginine and nitric oxide.[15]

      Greater nitric oxide production leads to greater blood flow in the body which helps supply the muscles with fresh oxygen and nutrients, culminating in better endurance and performance during your workouts.

  • Electrolyte & Hydration Optimizer

    • Taurine (2000mg)

      Taurine is another conditionally essential amino acid in the body primarily stored in the brain, muscles and heart. The muscles portion is where we want to focus here.

      Taurine causes your muscles to act as a sponge thanks to its role as a cell volumizer, which draws in water and additional nutrients.[16] This not only increases endurance, but also supports “water-based” pumps during your workout.

      Lastly, taurine can dramatically reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, which everyone inevitably suffers from in one form or another.[17]

      Yet another well-dosed ingredient. Normally, you see 1g of taurine – especially when in monster formulas like this. NutraBio went the full nine on this one too.

    • Calci-K (525mg)

      NutraBio Baby Gains

      With Intra Blast, you no longer have to settle for “baby gains” in the gym. Now it’s all about making EPIC gains!

      Calci-K is a patented blend of calcium and potassium developed by Albion Human Nutrition.[18] These two electrolytes are crucial to maintaining optimal performance during your workouts.

      Calcium is required for the formation and maintenance of healthy bones in addition to supporting muscular contraction (especially the heart and skeletal muscles).

      Potassium is primarily involved in muscle and nerve function in the body, most notably of the heart. Reduced levels of potassium lead to cramping, delayed reflexes, and fatigue, none of which help accomplish your training goals.[19]

    • Sodium Phosphate (157mg)

      Another of the body’s major electrolytes heavily involved in performance is sodium. If you’ve ever tasted a drip of sweat, you know it’s salty, this is due to the high amounts of sodium that are lost through sweat during exercise.

      Losing as little as 2% overall hydration can lead to impaired performance, altered CNS function, and severe cramping.[20]

    • Di-Magnesium Malate (140mg)

      Followers of our blog are well aware of our recent musing surrounding the importance of magnesium, the second most abundant mineral in the body.

      Like the rest of the electrolytes in Intra Blast, magnesium is necessary for A LOT of critical processes in the body, namely: protein synthesis, muscle contraction, energy production, and glucose control.[21-23]

      To ensure your body keeps firing on all cylinders throughout your workout, you need to include all of these electrolytes, and Intra Blast includes them in all the right amounts.

Flavors Available

NutraBio Intra Blast Ingredients

Remember, NutraBio even shares their exact flavoring/sweetener doses!

Aside from the new Orange Mango and Sweet Tea flavors that we already mentioned up top, see the entire list below:

    If you remember from our Super Carb review, Orange Mango was our runaway favorite. This version is no different – we’ve absolutely loved it. It’s solidly flavored without too much artificial sweetener (remember, NutraBio keeps their formulas 110% open!) and isn’t over the top, yet you can add quite a bit of water to make it last.

    Intra Blast Reviews

    Takeaway

    NutraBio Intra Blast

    Intra Blast is a fully loaded BCAA / EAA drink from NutraBio that not only enhances your performance but also speeds recovery.

    Intra Blast is awesome, and NutraBio is absolutely on fire with their sports nutrition supplements lately. They’ve long been a top trusted company for vitamins, minerals, and protein… but between this, Pre Extreme, and Super Carb, they’ve just entered the next level.

    Whether you’re working out fasted and want to prevent catabolism or looking to fuel your anabolic desires, Intra Blast contains everything you need to fuel your intense workouts in one tasty, well formulate package.

    The combination of electrolytes, performance enhancers and amino acids delivers the goods your body needs to go longer and harder while supporting optimal growth and recovery. If you’re looking for a prime intra workout fuel, you’d be hard pressed to find a more appealing option than Intra Blast.

    The one issue is that NutraBio’s stuff does cost a bit more, but in the case of budgeting, remember that you’re getting 7.2g BCAAs and can probably do well to use ¾ of a scoop to save money. These guys have shown that they’re worth it.

    NutraBio Intra Blast – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

    Get Price Alerts

    No spam, no scams.

    Disclosure: PricePlow relies on pricing from stores with which we have a business relationship. We work hard to keep pricing current, but you may find a better offer.

    Posts are sponsored in part by the retailers and/or brands listed on this page.

    About the Author: Mike Roberto

    Mike Roberto

    Mike Roberto is a research scientist and water sports athlete who founded PricePlow. He is an n=1 diet experimenter with extensive experience in supplementation and dietary modification, whose personal expertise stems from several experiments done on himself while sharing lab tests.

    Mike's goal is to bridge the gap between nutritional research scientists and non-academics who seek to better their health in a system that has catastrophically failed the public. Mike is currently experimenting with a low Vitamin A diet.

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    References

    1. Kim, D; Effect of BCAA intake during endurance exercises on fatigue substances, muscle damage substances, and energy metabolism substances; Department of Physical Education, Chonnam National University; 2013; Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241904/
    2. Blomstrand E, Eliasson J, Karlsson HK, Köhnke R; Branched-chain amino acids activate key enzymes in protein synthesis after physical exercise. J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1 Suppl):269S-73S
    3. Howatson G, Hoad M, Goodall S, Tallent J, Bell PG, French DN. Exercise-induced muscle damage is reduced in resistance-trained males by branched chain amino acids: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Jul 12;9:20.
    4. Sharp CP, Pearson DR. Amino acid supplements and recovery from high-intensity resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Apr;24(4):1125-30.
    5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24124612
    6. https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/lysine
    7. Salah, E, Garbilla, Alan j. Sinclair, Carnosine: physiological properties and therapeutic potential. Age and Ageing; 2000; 29: 207-210
    8. https://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=21664#P4
    9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3246461
    10. Bowtell JL, et al. Effect of oral glutamine on whole body carbohydrate storage during recovery from exhaustive exercise. J Appl Physiol. (1999)
    11. Lee EC, et al. Ergogenic effects of betaine supplementation on strength and power performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. (2010)
    12. Effect of betaine supplementation on power performance and fatigue
    13. del Favero S, et al Creatine but not betaine supplementation increases muscle phosphorylcreatine content and strength performance . Amino Acids. (2012)
    14. holewa, J; Effects of betaine on body composition, performance, and homocysteine thiolactone.; Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, Coastal Carolina University; 2013
    15. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15465801
    16. Hoffmann, E.K., I.H. Lambert, and S.F. Pedersen, Physiology of cell volume regulation in vertebrates. Physiol Rev, 2009. 89(1)
    17. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24383513
    18. https://www.albionminerals.com/calcium/calci-k
    19. https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/potassium
    20. Casa, DJ., Clarkson, PM., Roberts, WO., American College of Sports Medicine Roundtable on Hydration and Physical Activity: Consensus Statements. Current Sports Medicine Reports 2005, 4:115–127
    21. Institute of Medicine (IOM). Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D and Fluoride. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997.
    22. Rude RK. Magnesium. In: Coates PM, Betz JM, Blackman MR, Cragg GM, Levine M, Moss J, White JD, eds. Encyclopedia of Dietary Supplements. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Informa Healthcare; 2010:527-37.
    23. Stephenson EW, Podolsky RJ; Regulation by magnesium of intracellular calcium movement in skinned muscle fibers . J Gen Physiol. (1977)

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