Anabolic Minds community, there are a few threads on Beta-Alanine spread through out AM, but no single source of information showing the full picture on what Beta-Alanine is and how it works. In response, we would like to make things easier for the AM community and offer a single comprehensive thread on Beta-Alanine. This thread will be a place where anyone can come to learn more about how Beta-Alanine works and the science behind it. This thread, is open to any discussion related to Beta-Alanine and we are always happy to try our best to answer any related questions. When ever you see our logo at the top of the post,the following post will be a summarized topic.
So lets start with the basics and see where this goes. :cheers:
Benefits of Beta-Alanine as supported by Scientific Studies
Increases:
Lean body mass (LBM)
Total work done (TWD)
Power output (PO)
Time to exhaustion (TTE)
Aerobic endurance
Intramuscular carnosine concentrations, increasing buffering capacity
Delays:
The onset of fatigue at physical working capacity/fatigue threshold (PWCft)
Ventilary threshold (VT)
Lactate threshold (LT)
History of Beta-Alanine
Although only recently brought to the forefront, Beta Alanine was discovered over 100 years ago. Also known as 3-aminopropanoic acid, it is a non-essential amino acid and is the only naturally occurring beta-amino acid. Not to be confused with L- Alanine, Beta- Alanine is classified as a non-proteinogenic amino acid as it is not used in the building of proteins and enzymes.
The greatest natural dietary sources of Beta-Alanine are believed to be obtained through ingesting the beta-alanine containing dipeptides: carnosine, anserine and balenine, rather than directly ingesting Beta-Alanine. These dipeptides are commonly found in protein rich foods such as chicken, beef, pork and fish. However, obtaining Beta-Alanine through these dipeptides is not the only way, as our bodies can synthesize it in the liver from the catabolism of pyrimidine nucleotides which are broken down into uracil and thymine and then metabolized into Beta-Alanine and B-aminoisobutyrate. Of course, it can also be ingested through direct supplementation.
Recently (2003), researchers began studying Beta-Alanine and examining its effects on exercise performance and lean muscle mass. We owe a great deal of credit and respect to the scientists who are in the trenches doing the work and publishing the research on Beta-Alanine. If it wasn’t for them, great supplements like Beta-Alanine and creatine might never have seen the light of day. Their ongoing research has revealed how to properly use these compounds and how to safely and effectively maximize their benefits.
One of the key scientists pioneering the performance research on Beta-Alanine is Dr. Roger Harris. His name may or may not sound familiar, but it should, as he is the same man that changed sports nutrition with his groundbreaking creatine study in 1992. It looks like the good doctor has found another juggernaut of a supplement in Beta-Alanine.
However, he is not alone. In the last two years, highly respected research scientist Dr.Jeffrey Stout has been in a frenzy publishing and compiling research on Beta-Alanine and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. Other notable researchers who have been publishing research on Beta-Alanine include: Dr. Hill, Dr. Kim and Dr. Tallon.
How Does Beta-Alanine Work?
The support of high caliber researchers speaks volumes about the efficacy of Beta-Alanine and the science itself is even more impressive
Much of Beta-Alanine’s effects are realized by boosting the synthesis of carnosine, a dipeptide (two amino acids) intracellular (inside the cell) buffer. To understand how Beta-Alanine works, you must first understand its connection to carnosine. It is by boosting carnosine levels that Beta-Alanine exerts its outstanding performance benefits.
History and Background of Carnosine
The Russian scientist Gulewitsch was the first to identify carnosine in 1900. Eleven years later, he would discover and identify its constituent amino acids, beta-alanine and histidine. Seven years later, Barger and Tutin and Baumann and Ingvaldsen confirmed Gulewitsch’s findings. However, it wasn’t until 1938 that the first research on carnosine and its effects on muscle buffering were published.
Carnosine is found in both type 1 and type 2 muscle fibers, though in significantly higher concentrations in type 2 fibers (the fibers we primarily use in high intensity strength workouts and which are most responsive to growth). Before we discuss how carnosine works, you must first have a general understanding of what is physiologically occurring during exercise. Specifically, what is negatively affecting muscular pH, making us weaker and causing fatigue?
Hydrogen ions are released during exercise, causing performance to plummet.
When we exercise, especially when it’s high intensity exercise, our bodies accumulate a large amount of hydrogen ions (H+), causing our muscles’ pH to drop (become more acidic). This process is occurring whether you feel a burn or not.
The breakdown of ATP and the subsequent rise in H+ concentrations occur in all of our energy systems but H+ buildup is most prevalent in an energy system called glycolysis, which also produces lactic acid. At physiological pH, lactic acid dissociates H+ and is the primary source of released H+ ions during exercise, causing pH to drop. It is the released H+ from lactic acid that causes muscular performance problems, not the leftover lactate ions as many incorrectly believe. While lactic acid is the primary source of released H+, it is not the only source. H+ ions are also being released at a rapid rate when you break down the high energy compound ATP during exercise. With the presence of many sources during energy production releasing H+, pH quickly drops as does muscular performance, slowing progress and lean muscle gains.
While muscle acidity has certainly proven to decrease strength and contribute to muscular fatigue, new research is now showing that exercise-induced intracellular free radical production is another source of muscular fatigue. The combination of muscular acidity and increased free radical production greatly diminishes your performance during exercise, stopping your workouts cold and interfering with lean muscle gains.
Much more to come....
:djparty: