Beta-Alanine Supplements Guide
In this guide, we’ll go over the beta-alanine benefits, and explore the everything you may need to know about this amino acid.
What is Beta-Alanine?
Beta-alanine is a modified version of the naturally occurring amino acid alanine. It’s considered a nonessential amino acid, which basically means that the body can make it on its own, so obtaining beta-alanine through the diet is not strictly necessary.
Alanine, as well as all the other amino acids, are the building blocks of protein. Amino acids are essential for muscle growth and for hundreds of processes within the body.
We obtain amino acids from our diet, and some are also produced naturally in our bodies. From dietary sources, amino acids primarily come from protein-rich foods like meat and dairy products. Beta-alanine, in particular, is mostly found in poultry products.
While we do get some of this amino from our diet, and some is naturally produced in the body, the amount is not ideal, particularly for athletic people.
What Are Beta-Alanine Supplements?
Beta-alanine is a particularly useful amino acid in regards to the fitness community. It’s a common nutritional supplement that’s used by many athletes. It’s one of the few supplements that has been tested in clinical trials to help improve muscle performance.
Beta-alanine is considered a nonessential amino acid, and it’s naturally found in the body, as well as in some foods. You likely obtain a decent amount of beta-alanine from foods like poultry, but probably not enough to make a real difference in your exercise performance.
Because natural beta-alanine levels in the body are usually not ideal for exercise performance boosting results, beta-alanine supplements are often recommended as a way to boost these levels, and therefore boost exercise performance.
There are a LOT of different options, so in this guide we’ll focus on the most effective beta-alanine supplements for your benefit.
Benefits of Beta-Alanine
There are many beta-alanine benefits that are quite significant. The majority of these benefits relate to beta-alanine’s ability to boost anaerobic endurance, but the amino acid also has some other useful benefits, including some antioxidant effects.
As mentioned, beta-alanine is primarily used as a sports supplement. It has been shown to have significant performance-boosting effects, mostly due to its ability to reduce fatigue and improve short-burst endurance.
Because of these properties, beta-alanine is commonly added to pre-workout supplements and other blends, and also of course offered as a standalone supplement. Good beta-alanine supplements have the potential to help improve your performance at the gym, which in the long run can lead to significantly better workout results!
Beta-alanine benefits stem from a number of different properties that this helpful amino acid provides. Much of the performance-boosting benefits can be attributed to beta-alanine’s ability to significantly increase carnosine levels. Essentially, as we exercise, hydrogen ions are released in our body, which affects the pH level of our muscles. This change in pH can decrease our ability to perform high-intensity exercise, and lead to fatigue. Carnosine is an excellent buffer against these hydrogen ions, and therefore against changes in our pH level and subsequent performance ability.
In other words, increased beta-alanine levels lead to increased carnitine levels, and increased carnitine levels help stabilize pH levels. Having stable pH levels helps to delay fatigue, which leads to longer, better workouts. This is a simplified look at the behind-the-scenes process, which is explained in greater detail here.
Next to creatine, beta-alanine is commonly considered to be one of the most effective performance boosters. Additionally, it’s a natural, simple option, with limited side effects.
Who Can Benefit from Beta-Alanine?
Primarily, beta-alanine is an athletic supplement, and therefore is mostly beneficial for fitness enthusiasts. With that said, there are some specific groups that can benefit most from strong beta-alanine supplements, such as:
* Athletes – whether you’re a strength trainer, competitive sports athlete, runner, or just a fitness enthusiast, you can greatly benefit from good beta-alanine supplements. Beta-alanine supplementation can have significant benefits related to improving athletic performance, which can clearly benefit the athletic community in a number of ways.
* Strength trainers – although most fitness enthusiasts can benefit from top beta-alanine supplements, strength trainers and weightlifters can experience the most benefit. Beta-alanine is most beneficial for short-burst endurance, which is generally defined as high-intensity exercise in the 60-240 second range. So, in other words, it’s most effective at boosting rapid, intense exercise – which clearly is beneficial for lifting weights. Conversely, beta-alanine is not as effective for runners and other endurance athletes, but can still be beneficial. Quality beta alanine supplements can be particularly beneficial for strength athletes who feel like they have reached a plateau, and need a helpful push in the right direction.
* Vegetarians/vegans – beta-alanine is naturally found in foods. However, the sources are almost exclusively meat-based. The best sources are chicken, beef, and fish; which, obviously, are not vegetarian-friendly. Vegetarians and vegans are much less likely to obtain adequate quantities of beta-alanine from their diets, so they can benefit from adding beta-alanine pills or powders to their supplement regimen.
* Those looking to lose weight – beta-alanine can benefit those looking to lose weight, mostly because it can help to increase endurance levels. By improving your physical endurance, beta alanine allows you to have more success at the gym, which will help towards your weight-loss goals. Keep in mind that this supplement is no wonder-drug: you still have to put in the work, but the beta alanine can help.
* Aging individuals – beta-alanine contributes to the natural production of carnosine, which is part of the reason that beta-alanine helps to improve exercise performance. Additionally, carnosine has some anti-aging properties, due to its role as an antioxidant. This makes beta-alanine an effective supplement for some individuals who are wanting to slow the effects of aging on the body. It’s no miracle supplement, in this regard, but it can help!
How to Take Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine generally comes in powder form, but capsules are also available. In its more popular powder form, the supplement needs to be mixed with water or another liquid. It can also easily be added to pre-workout shakes and other nutritional drinks.
Various flavors are available, as are flavorless versions. You may want to consider a flavorless version for versatility, so that you can mix it with various other supplements, protein powders, etc.
The beta-alanine dosage amounts vary, with 2-5g per day typically being the recommended amount. This amount is true of all forms of the amino acid; i.e. it makes no difference if you’re taking a powdered version vs beta-alanine pills. It’s wise to not exceed 5g/day unless otherwise instructed by a doctor. The more you take the more chance you have of experiencing side effects.
Beta-alanine is effective at boosting workout performance, which makes it no surprise that it’s so commonly used in pre-workouts. If you’re already taking a supplement that contains beta-alanine, make sure to consider that when calculating your appropriate dosage.
Although beta-alanine is commonly used in pre-workout blends, you don’t necessarily need to take it right before your workout. Some articles suggest that it may be better to split your dose up into 3-4 equal amounts throughout the day, although this is not strictly necessary.
Are There Any Side Effects?
Beta-alanine does cause some side effects in some people. The most common is a temporary condition known as paresthesia, which causes a tingling sensation on the skin. This is a normal reaction to beta-alanine, and is completely harmless.
It can certainly be surprising, at first, so it’s good to be aware of this side effect before you begin supplementation.
Generally, as your body gets used to this supplement this tingling effect will lessen or go away completely. Other than this common feeling of tingling, beta-alanine does not generally cause side effects.
- Published in Blog, supplements
Protein: A harmful or beneficial nutrient for bone
High protein intakes are considered essential to support the demands of training, and as such, athletes are recommended to consume more protein (between 1.2 and 1.6 g/kg/day, with up to 2.2 g/kg/day considered useful in some situations) than the general population (currently 0.8 g/kg/day). At the same time, there is a long held belief that higher protein intakes may actually have a negative influence on bone health. This is based on the “acid-ash hypothesis”, which suggests that animal proteins are acidic, and so can disrupt body pH. A balanced pH is essential for function of all body cells, and so the body will counterbalance an acidic state by increasing the availability of alkaline minerals, so normalising pH. The problem is, that most of the bodies alkaline minerals (e.g.,calcium) are stored within the bone. A chronic need to normalise pH in response to habitually high protein intakes, can, in the long term, result in bone mineral loss and weakening. Supporting this hypothesis is evidence that diets with a high potential renal acid load (PRAL), namely those high in animal proteins, are associated with a greater loss of calcium in the urine. This may be associated with lower bone mineral density, and an increased rate of bone loss.
The acid-ash hypothesis does have some possible merit, but it also describes just one of the pathways through which high protein intakes may theoretically influence bone, and is by no means the full story. For a start, the acid-ash hypothesis assumes that the calcium lost in the urine when protein intakes are high, comes from the bone. It seems, however, that higher protein intakes actually increase the amount of calcium that is absorbed from foods, and the increased calcium found in the urine when protein intake is high comes from this increase in calcium availability, and not from the bone, as was originally assumed.
Another important point, is that calculations of dietary acid load, are not only influenced by a high intake of acidic foods, but also by a low intake of alkaline foods. Most alkaline foods (e.g.,fruits and vegetables) are also rich in a wide range of micro- and phyto-nutrients that are essential to bone health. It is possible, therefore, that the poorer bone outcomes reported in individuals who consumed an acidic diet, were not actually due to high protein, but to a shortage of nutrient rich fruits and vegetables.
More importantly, evidence exists to show that not only is protein not harmful to bone, it can actually be beneficial. Bone tissue is made up of ~50% protein, which makes it essential that athletes consume sufficient protein to support the increased rate of bone turnover caused by athletic training. Additionally, protein ingestion is known to increase the production of a number of hormones and growth factors, such as IGF-1, which are also involved in the formation of bone. Perhaps most importantly, the physical loads caused by exercise training are recognised as the main determinant of bone. Athletes in high-impact sports are frequently reported to have stronger bones that non-athletes. These loads come from a combination of both gravitational and muscular forces. It follows, therefore, that if higher protein intake positively impacts muscle mass function, and the capacity to undertake exercise training, it should also positively influence bone.
Considering all of these factors, it seems paradoxical to believe that higher protein intakes could really harm bone. Ultimately, the only way to determine the net influence of protein intake on bone, is to examine original studies that investigate this. A large number of these types of studies have been conducted, and the results have subsequently been statistically combined in high-quality meta-analyses [5]. Considering all available evidence, the answer is clear: Provided calcium intake is adequate, there is no evidence to indicate a negative influence of protein on bone, and instead a positive, albeit small, effect on bone mineral density and fracture risk has been identified. And so, the consensus is that protein is an essential nutrient, not only for muscle, but also for bone.
- Published in Blog, Nutrition, supplements