Beta-Alanine or β-Alanine is a non-essential beta amino acid. β-Alanine is the only naturally occurring β amino acid in the human body! β-Alanine can be found in any food that has protein but it found in its highest levels in meats such as beef, chicken and fish. ß-Alanine can also be ingested through supplements .
Often β-Alanine is confused with α-Alanine. The difference is that α-Alanine is an essential amino acid that aids in the synthesizing of protein and aids in the functioning of enzymes. β-Alanine, on the other hand, doesn’t produce any protein at all. Instead, β-Alanine helps to create carnosine in the muscles. It is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, which simply means that its function isn’t to produce protein.
Both of these amino acids aid in energy production. However β-Alanine works with the muscles to increase endurance, which translates into increased energy for longer periods of time.
Not all types of physical activity are suitable for everyone. Users take training advice at their own personal risk.
Beta-Alanine and Carnosine The benefit of increased carnosine levels is easy to see once you understand what carnosine is. Carnosine is di-peptide that naturally occurs in the muscle fibers. Your muscles are used for different things and carnosine appears the most in type 2 muscle fibers, ... more
The benefit of increased carnosine levels is easy to see once you understand what carnosine is. Carnosine is di-peptide that naturally occurs in the muscle fibers. Your muscles are used for different things and carnosine appears the most in type 2 muscle fibers, which are the muscle fibers you use for lifting weights.
When you work out, your muscles actually start to lose their natural pH balance. As your pH balance lessens, so does your strength and energy. By increasing your carnosine levels, you are creating a buffer between that drain on your pH levels and the amount of time you workout.
This leads to you having the ability to work out longer and use heavier weights as well. This increases the impact of your workout as well as enables you to develop muscle much faster than you could without the additional carnosine.
There is a lot of science behind this process that is, frankly, difficult to understand. What you really need to know is that carnosine benefits the muscles by preventing loss of strength because of a pH imbalance in the muscles.
Like many nutritional supplements, β-Alanine doesn’t have a lot of science to back it up. There is a single study that virtually every supplement site uses as a basis for the benefits of β-Alanine. The truth is that more studies need to be conducted in order to prove the benefits and to ensure that there are no long-term use side effects.
A study on Skeletal Muscle Carnosine was conducted in 2006 by students in several major research universities around the world. The study included 13 men who were given 400mg of Beta-Alanine for specified periods of time. Five men took the β-Alanine for 4 weeks while 8 took the β-Alanine for 10 weeks. There were 12 men in the placebo group as well.
Every 2 weeks a biopsy was taken of each participants muscle to determine their carnosine levels. After 4 weeks, all of the participants had at least a 58.8% increase in carnosine levels. The participants who stayed in the study for 10 weeks saw an 80.1% increase in their carnosine levels. The placebo group showed no difference in carnosine levels.
These results are quite exciting, but a 10-week study is not enough to determine the long term benefits of β-Alanine. For example, the study did not monitor the men after the fact to determine how long the carnosine remains in the body after you stop taking it. What’s more, there is no indication if using β-Alanine for longer than 10 weeks will begin to hurt the body.
Regardless, this study does show that β-Alanine offers an excellent benefit for at least those 10 weeks. Many supplements instructions recommend only using a β-Alanine product for 10 to 12 weeks and then taking a break before starting on the supplements again.
If you are wondering if you should skip the intermediary and take carnosine supplements instead of β-Alanine supplements, don’t. In that same study, one subject was given carnosine to see if their results would be any different than those on β-Alanine. After 4 weeks, there was a 13% increase in carnosine levels and after 10 weeks, there was only an additional 3.2% increase.
There have been several smaller studies for shorter periods of time that have yielded similar results, but there have been no extended studies. In order for a study to be considered medically significant, a clinical trial has to be conducted in several phases and take place over several years to provide solid data.
In order for this to occur, a pharmaceutical company would have to take interest and that’s not likely to happen with a supplement like this. If β-Alanine were to suddenly take on the properties of a cancer fighter or a cholesterol reducer then that would be different in terms of pharmaceutical interest.
The truth is that anyone who is interested in increasing their fitness levels can benefit from β-Alanine. However, body builders will probably be most excited by the benefits that β-Alanine has to offer.
Beta-Alanine can help you to increase your muscle strength, delay muscle fatigue, increase muscle mass (faster), increase anaerobic stamina and increase aerobic stamina.
Anaerobic exercise is exercise that is typically performed by weightlifters and includes exercises that require you to go all out on the exercise for short periods of time.
While sprinting is considered to be an anaerobic exercise, lifting heavy weights for short periods of time is usually what is associated with anaerobic exercise. β-Alanine enables your high intensity exercise to last longer. This allows you to develop muscle mass faster!
Aerobic exercises are typically performed by individuals who are interested in increasing their metabolism as well as their endurance. β-Alanine aids in allowing these individuals to last longer while running, swimming, biking and more. Rather than building muscle mass, β-Alanine is training your muscles to be able to last longer.
About 33% of participants experienced skin irritation and flushing. The skin irritation either made the skin sensitive to touch or caused a tingling sensation. Flushing, which is becoming red and hot under the skin, occurred in the face, head, chest, arms and behind.
Most participants who experienced side effects noticed a reduction in the side effects after about 2 weeks of use.
All of the participants had normal blood and toxicity levels at the end of the study, which means that the β-Alanine had no adverse affect on the body. As noted before, β-Alanine has only been studied for continuous use for 10 weeks.
Another thing to note is that this study did not include any women participants. In fact, none of the studies on β-Alanine have included women, so this is something for you to consider if you are a woman who is considering using β-Alanine.
If you are a woman who is pregnant or nursing, then you need to talk to your doctor before taking a supplement with β-Alanine. In addition, if you have any medical conditions or are taking medications, you need to talk to your doctor about possible interactions.
You doctor should be able to look at the mechanism of action for beta-Alanine and determine whether it is safe for you to take with your medical condition or the medications that you are taking. If you have determined that you feel this is right for you, use the supplement finder to locate the exact formulation you want now!
| Flushing |
| Skin Irritation |
| 3-aminopropionic Acid, b-Ala, B-alanine, B-aminopropionic Acid, Beta-alanine, Beta-alanine Ethyl Ester, Beta-amino Acid, Non-essential Amino Acid |
| Endurance |