There aren’t too many supplements which consistently demonstrate a positive effect on endurance performance, but beta-alanine is one of them. Let’s dive into how this supplement can help endurance athletes, and whether it’s worth using.
What Is Beta-Alanine?
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid. As we covered in our Nutrition Guide, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Non-essential doesn't mean it’s not important for your body. Rather, it means the body is able to synthesize it out of other nutrients.
Even though the body can produce beta-alanine, you can still enhance your performance by adding more beta-alanine into the body as a supplement.
How Does Beta-Alanine Work?
Once absorbed, beta-alanine supports the production of carnosine in muscles. Carnosine is the compound that plays a direct role in increasing fatigue resistance. There are two main theories on how elevated carnosine levels can enhance performance.
Primary Theory:
The more popular theory suggests that carnosine acts as a buffer for hydrogen ions, which helps normalize pH within muscle fibers during intense endurance exercise. This theory is based on the idea that a drop in muscle pH leads to fatigue.
However, there is very little evidence that demonstrates low muscle pH at physiological temperatures is a main cause of muscle fatigue. Thus, whether carnosine primarily benefits muscle function by stabilizing pH remains uncertain.
Alternative Theory:
Another theory about how beta-alanine works has to do with creatine phosphate and free phosphate (Pi). Creatine phosphate is one of the key molecules the body uses for muscle contractions.
As the creatine phosphate breaks down, it produces Pi as a byproduct. When there is a mismatch between creatine phosphate degradation and replenishment, Pi can accumulate in the muscles and interfere with muscle contractions, potentially leading to fatigue. Some research suggests that carnosine--and thus beta-alanine--can mitigate these negative effects of Pi buildup.
Note: Since both pH drop and Pi build up occur during intense exercise, either or both of these theories could be accurate. However, for athletes, understanding the exact mechanism of beta-alanine isn’t important. What’s important is to know how to use it.
When Does Beta-Alanine Work?
Beta-alanine works at intensities above the so-called critical power, or at an intensity that we cannot sustain for more than approximately 20 minutes.
Above this "critical" intensity, homeostasis in the muscle cells cannot be maintained anymore and anaerobic metabolism pathways do not match aerobic pathways, so that certain metabolites, including Pi, start to accumulate.
How to Use Beta-Alanine
For beta-alanine to work, it needs to be consumed regularly for multiple weeks in order to increase carnosine levels in the body. Taking beta-alanine for short periods of time will not have any positive effects on performance.
Beta-alanine usage typically involves a "loading" phase where a higher dosage is taken. After the loading phase, the dosage is decreased to a "maintenance" dosage.
After you stop taking beta-alanine, carnosine levels in muscle fibers will return to pre-supplementation levels after 12-16 weeks.
For specific dosages and instructions, see our beta-alanine ingestion protocol.
Use with Histidine
Histidine is an essential amino acid. Research shows that it works synergistically with beta-alanine to increase carnosine synthesis. Because of this, Nduranz Beta Alanine capsules also contain histidine.
What are the Potential Drawbacks of Beta-Alanine?
Beta-alanine is very safe supplement and there are no known serious side effects. In large doses, it can cause paraesthesia, or “tingling of the skin.” This is completely harmless and can be avoided by splitting the dose into several smaller doses throughout the day.
Conclusion
There aren’t many supplements which are actually proven to help endurance performance, but beta-alanine can help reduce fatigue when exercising at high intensities. However, it must be consumed daily for several weeks to see benefits.