BETA-ALANINE BASICS: WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
You’ve probably heard about beta-alanine or maybe even felt its tingle. You may have seen it in your pre-workout supplement facts panel. What is it and why is it in there? Why does it make your skin tingle? You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
WHAT IS BETA-ALANINE?
Beta-alanine is an amino acid that is found mostly in skeletal muscle. It functions a bit differently than other amino acids you may have heard of like leucine or arginine. Leucine and arginine are proteinogenic amino acids, meaning the human body incorporates them into proteins. Beta-alanine on the other hand is a non-proteinogenic amino acid. This special type of amino acid serves other functions in the body aside from forming the structure of proteins. In the case of beta-alanine, it combines with another amino acid called histidine to form carnosine in the muscles.
READ MORE: Amino Acids-Building Blocks Of Life
Carnosine functions as a muscle buffer which is needed during intense exercise because metabolic processes that happen in the muscles cause the pH of your muscles to become more acidic. Our bodies are quite sensitive to changes in pH, so this increased level of acidity can make it difficult for the muscles to contract and generate the energy needed to fuel your workout.
The consequence of this inefficiency is a more rapid onset of muscle fatigue. When your body has adequate stores of muscle carnosine, this acidity is tempered, allowing the muscles to function at their best for longer.3 Carnosine may also protect muscles by scavenging the free radicals that are created during intense exercise.2, 3 Due to carnosine’s role in protecting the muscles during intense exercise, many athletes attempt to increase the amount of this muscle protecting compound through supplementing with beta-alanine. This may lead to another question…
WHY CAN’T YOU JUST SUPPLEMENT WITH CARNOSINE?
Supplementing with carnosine is not an effective way to increase muscle carnosine stores because our body makes an enzyme that breaks it down before it can make it to the muscle where it is active.3, 4 This has led many athletes to look toward beta-alanine to increase muscle carnosine, as our body is pretty efficient at taking beta-alanine, combining it with histidine and creating carnosine in the muscle tissue.2
DOES BETA-ALANINE HAVE BENEFITS FOR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE?
The main benefits of beta-alanine supplements for athletic performance seem to be during anaerobic exercise like high intensity interval training (HIIT), lifting heavy weights, sprinting (running, swimming, or cycling), jump roping, trampoline jumping, plyometrics, and jump squats. This type of metabolism causes the muscle pH to decrease, becoming more acidic. This is when carnosine can really go to work.
- Some research shows beta-alanine is most beneficial for improving time trial work that lasts from 1-4 minutes.2
- Other studies suggests beta-alanine seems to have some benefits for prolonging the time that it takes to reach the point of neuromuscular fatigue, particularly in older subjects.2 Neuromuscular fatigue is simply explained as the point at which the body is unable to produce the force or power needed to complete a movement or exercise.5
- There are some early indicators that beta-alanine may have benefits for things like peak power, marksmanship and target engagement for tactical military athletes. This research is pretty limited but is an area for future exploration.2
- There may be some modest benefits of beta-alanine supplementation in aerobic exercise. This includes longer bouts of exercise like endurance cycling or running. Some of the research shows that beta-alanine can be beneficial for improving the amount of time that a participant can continue with a workout, also known as time to exhaustion (TTE). These results have been less consistent than the studies looking at anaerobic exercise, so there is more to study to understand whether beta-alanine may improve aerobic exercise performance.2
HOW MUCH BETA-ALANINE SHOULD I TAKE?
The research shows that you need about 3.2 to 6.4 grams of beta-alanine per day for 4-6 weeks to result in meaningful increases in muscle carnosine levels. 7, 8
After you’ve achieved optimal levels, you need to continue taking beta-alanine at a smaller dose, about 1.2 grams per day to maintain optimal levels. Once you cease normal consumption of beta-alanine, your levels will drop back to pre-supplementation levels between 6 and 20 weeks after your last dose.9
Beta-alanine is quite common in pre-workout supplements, but you need to use it daily for maximum efficacy. On rest day, skip your pre-workout and go for a standalone beta-alanine product to continue building or maintaining your muscle carnosine.
Check out Beyond Raw Lit and Beyond Raw Lit AF for 2 fully-dosed pre-workout options that contain 3.2g of beta-alanine per serving.
WHAT MIGHT I FEEL AFTER BETA-ALANINE SUPPLEMENTATION?
Supplementing with doses of beta-alanine greater than 800mg can lead to “paresthesia,” sometimes called the beta-alanine itch. Paresthesia is a prickly, burning sensation that is often felt in the face, neck or back of the hands shortly after consuming beta-alanine. Using a sustained-release form of beta-alanine may help to reduce the paresthesia. There is also evidence that using a sustained release form of beta-alanine may also increase muscle carnosine levels. If you want to avoid the tingly sensation, but still want to follow recommendations to take 3.2-6.4 grams to build your muscle-buffering carnosine levels, you can divide the doses throughout the day and shoot for less than 800mg per dose.
READ MORE: Signs You Might Want To Tweak Your Pre-Workout Supplement Routine
BETA-ALANINE—MORE THAN JUST THE BUZZ
Hopefully this answers some of those burning questions on beta-alanine. Though this ingredient is usually found in pre-workouts, you need to take it for at least 4 weeks to achieve the true benefits.
That characteristic tingly, buzzy feeling in your skin may be seen as an added benefit going into a workout, but it is short term. Everyday dosing is the way to go with this popular ergogenic aid.
READ MORE: 5 Common Pre-Workout Supplement Ingredients And What They Do
