A bigger arm did not come with a stronger hand
Pooling five trials in cirrhosis, branched-chain amino acids improved muscle index and mid-arm circumference from before to after treatment, while handgrip strength did not move.
What the study found
In cirrhosis the muscle got bigger and the grip did not get stronger
Cirrhosis strips muscle, so this is a population with room to gain. Pooling five trials, branched-chain amino acids improved skeletal muscle index and mid-arm muscle circumference from before to after treatment, while handgrip strength did not move. Bigger is not the same as stronger.
The caveat · Compared with before, not a control
Only five of twelve studies could be pooled, and the main analysis compares before with after inside the supplemented group rather than against a control, so it cannot separate the supplement from everything else that changed. Cirrhosis is a malnourished state. None of this transfers to a well-fed person.