Perfect Amino is a dietary supplement manufactured by a brand called BodyHealth. The manufacturer claims that this supplement is “99% utilized" and that it helps to support muscle mass.
But does Perfect Amino contain research-backed ingredients for supporting muscle and metabolic health? Does the utilization ratio of protein sources even matter? Why did Perfect Amino's manufacturer receive a warning letter from the FDA? And why do we take issue with some of the claims on the brand's website?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Perfect Amino to give our take on whether or not the supplement is likely to be effective, and whether or not it's healthy.
We'll also explain why BodyHealth received a warning letter from the FDA, highlight some questionable health claims on the brand's website, and compare Perfect Amino to other popular exercise supplements to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Manufacturer received FDA warning letter over unproven health claims
- We don't see value in amino acid supplementation
- We don't currently recommend Perfect Amino
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Perfect Amino are shown below:
L-leucine, l-valine, l-isoleucine, l-lysine HCL, l-phenylalanine, l-threonine, l-methionine, and l-tryptophan are all "essential" amino acids, meaning they must be obtained from diet or supplementation; they are not produced by the body.
There are actually 9 essential amino acids, and the one missing from Perfect Amino is histidine. BodyHealth wrote a blog post claiming that there is “scientific debate” about whether histidine is truly an amino acid.
A medical review of histidine published in the well-respected Nutrients journal describes the amino acid as essential in the very first sentence of the publication: “L-histidine (HIS) is an essential amino acid...”
Food products which are considered “complete proteins” contain all nine essential amino acids (including histidine). According to the USDA, a cooked chicken is a complete protein (as just one example of many).
We haven't come across any research studies suggesting that essential amino acid supplementation improves any health outcome in otherwise healthy individuals, nor does BodyHealth cite any on their product page.
Put simply, we don't really understand the purpose of this supplement or why anyone would buy it.
The good news is that there are no unhealthy active or inactive ingredients in this product, so we don't believe it's likely to be harmful or cause any side effects.
FDA Warning Letter
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sends warning letters to dietary supplement companies that make unfounded health claims which technically categorize their products as drugs.
In 2020, the FDA sent a warning letter to BodyHealth instructing the company to correct several health claims they were making about their products. Below are some of the questionable health claims called out by the FDA:
- “Body detox gives a necessary boost to your body’s natural detox pathways along with some extra help for removing heavy metals, viral particles, and other harmful chemicals…”
On your product page, under “Description”:
- “[S]aving your kidneys from the damage and overwork common in many detox programs…”
On your product page, under “Ingredients”:
- “Protease inhibitors- are a class of compounds used to treat or prevent infection by viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C.”
We recommend that consumers be extremely wary of supplement brands that were warned by the FDA about health claims on their website, although it's worth noting that the letter had nothing to do with the marketing of Perfect Amino.
Strange Health Claims on Perfect Amino Site
There are a number of questionable and uncited health claims on the Perfect Amino website. As shown below, the brand claims (without providing any proof) that “almost everyone is protein deficient without realizing it":
This is simply untrue in developed nations.
A 2018 medical review on the topic was even titled “Protein deficiency - a rare nutrient deficiency.”
The study authors stated the following in the very first sentence of their abstract: “There is a widespread myth that we have to be careful about what we eat so that we do not cause protein deficiency.”
Most consumers in developed nations have access to a wide range of protein-rich foods. Even “processed foods” which are considered unhealthy such as pizza or hamburgers contain high protein doses.
The brand also claims that “the protein in food is not converted into body protein”:
This is an uncited and unscientific claim. Humans have been digesting protein from food for millennia, and in the absence of gastrointestinal disease, protein is well-absorbed.
A medical review published in the Annual Review of Medicine journal documents that dietary protein is efficiently absorbed and assimilated in most cases.
Update: the brand appears to have removed these claims since our article called them out.
The brand's website also publishes a "Protein Utilization Chart":
This graphic suggests, without any proof or citation, that only 32% of energy from meat is used to build protein, while 68% is converted to sugars or fats.
We have never come across any medical studies suggesting this, and we have no idea where the brand is getting these numbers from.
We recommend again that consumers be wary of supplement brands that make questionable health claims without providing any proof of those claims.
Perfect Amino vs. Popular Exercise Supps
Here's how Perfect Amino compares to other popular exercise supplements in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Six Star Creatine
Contains creatine at an effective dose, which is clinically shown to increase power during exercise and support muscle-building.
This brand uses no unhealthy additives.
Winner: Six Star Creatine
Citrulline Malate
Clinically shown to have multiple ergogenic effects, including increased endurance and increased strength.
This supplement may also improve blood flow and have secondary health benefits, as we documented in our citrulline malate benefits article.
Winner: Citrulline Malate
Total War Preworkout
Company founders arrested over introducing drugs into interstate commerce, and this supplement contains many unhealthy ingredients.
From a health and safety perspective, Perfect Amino is the clear winner here.
Winner: Perfect Amino
Our Clean Protein Picks
MBG Whey Protein Isolate+ is our top overall protein powder.
Whey protein is a "complete" protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids.
Anthony's Organic Hemp Protein is our top vegan protein pick.
It's extremely nutrient-dense, providing 25% of the Daily Value (DV) of iron and 8% of the DV of potassium.
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Perfect Amino Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Safe formulation
- Shouldn't cause side effects
- No unhealthy ingredients
- May support athletic performance
- Positive Amazon reviews
Cons:
- Manufacturer received FDA warning letter
- Strange and uncited health claims on brand website
- Doesn’t contain all essential amino acids
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- We can't find any convincing evidence suggesting this product would benefit health of otherwise healthy adults
