Beta Alanine: Extra power for your muscles

Beta Alanine is an amino acid that is said to improve muscle endurance and maximum strength. As an ingredient in fitness supplements, it is intended to improve your physical performance and provide extra power. Can this work and are there any side effects? You can find out here.

Beta alanine is an ingredient in numerous dietary supplements. The amino acid is popular with athletes because it is said to improve muscle endurance and encourage new sporting achievements. After the amino acid was only one of several ingredients in supplements for a long time, it is now increasingly being taken as a single preparation. What can the amino acid do, what does it do for you and what can you achieve with it? Has their effect been confirmed in studies? And: If you decide to supplement beta alanine before your training, what should you take into account when taking it? We'll tell you!

Contents

• What is Beta Alanine?
• Beta Alanine Effect: How does beta alanine work?
• Beta Alanine Requirement: Diet and Deficiency Symptoms
• Beta Alanine as a supplement: intake, dosage and effects

What is Beta Alanine?

Beta Alanine (or ß-) is a non-essential amino acid. This means that your body can produce the amino acid, which serves as a protein building block for muscles and cells, as long as you get enough macronutrients in your diet from which your body can produce beta alanine. Theoretically, you don't need to take this amino acid as a supplement.

Alanine is a precursor of the protein compound L-Carnosine, which occurs in muscle and nerve tissue. At this point it also becomes interesting for athletes, because carnosine increases physical performance as it protects your muscles from hyperacidity and delays symptoms of fatigue. The ability of the muscle to contract is also improved after taking beta alanine. Carnosine, the peptide that is later formed from alanine, is said to counteract the aging process. However, these observations have so far only been observed in animals.

Beta Alanine Effect: How does beta alanine work?

Alanine leads to an increase in Peptids L-Carnosin in the body. Carnosine is, in turn, an important vital substance for muscles and nerve tissue, as we already told you before. Carnosine prevents muscle acidification, which is why you can perform better and have more power after taking beta alanine. (Incidentally, you cannot take carnosine itself directly, as it is transformed into alanine and L-histidine by your digestive tract). This improved performance can be observed especially during short, high-intensity physical performances, as carnosine is mainly found in fast-twitch muscle fibers (muscle fiber type 2). Carnosin also improves the ability to contract. Especially towards the end of an intense set, where the muscle would normally fail earlier, your muscles can now be controlled even better. Since beta alanine works briefly and intensely, it is a bit like the HIIT of supplements: it works primarily for short, intense sports performances that last in the 60-240 second range.

However, alanine doesn't just increase the intensity of your workout. Your endurance can also improve by taking it. Particularly in combination with creatine, beta alanine has been shown to lead to measurably better bench press performance in studies. Muscle mass also increased when the organic acid was taken together with creatine. This effect makes alanine a popular supplement in bodybuilding. Apparently it can promote muscle growth when taken as an adjunct to strength training. Contrary to what you might think, the supplement itself does not have an anabolic effect, but simply enables improved performance and greater stimulation of the muscles. Only as a result of these stronger stimuli does your body react with a muscular adjustment. However, the prerequisite for this is that you enough protein take to you.

Beta Alanine Tingling – an effect you feel

Normally, processes take place in your body without you noticing them. Noticeable physical reactions such as a pounding heart after too much coffee etc. are usually perceived as frightening. However, the situation is different with beta alanine. A physical reaction is the absolute norm here. Or to put it another way: There is no effect without what is known Beta Alanine tingling.

Taking beta alanine usually causes a tingling sensation in the face. This tingling sensation is completely safe and harmless and is known as “paresthesia”. The tingling sensation is your body just trying to tell you that your blood flow is now increased and you are ready for your workout. If the tingling still bothers you, you should experiment with the dose. As a rule, the tingling sensation subsides when the total daily dose is reduced. A dose of around 2.6 to 6.4 grams is recommended.

Who is the supplement suitable for?

Since beta alanine is particularly beneficial for short-term sporting activities, athletes with short, intense exercise over a period of time particularly benefit 60-240 seconds. The dietary supplement is also recommended for longer periods of exercise. However, these should preferably last less than 25-30 minutes, otherwise the increased performance will hardly be noticeable.

Effect of beta-alanine: 3 positive effects

1. More power, more repetitions

Longer, better, harder: Taking alanine can help you improve your performance and push your limits. This is shown by studies on athletes, such as a study on US students who achieved more repetitions in strength training after taking beta alanine. On average, athletes increased one or more repetitions after taking Beta Alanine as a pre-workout. So it stands to reason that beta alanine can increase your body's muscular endurance during training as well as your physical performance.

2. Improved fat burning

Beta Alanine is not a magic drug. That's why we're not going to tell you that this will help you lose weight effortlessly. Nevertheless, it can at least help you increase energy expenditure. So far it is unclear what this effect can be attributed to. It is possible that the increased energy expenditure is the result of your increased performance. What is as certain as it is obvious, however, is that increasing calorie consumption makes it easier to achieve a calorie deficit. This in turn is necessary to break down fat.

3. Creatine and Beta Alanine: Twice is better

Sometimes more helps more. At least this is the case with the ß alanine supplement, which is particularly effective when you combine it with another ingredient and use a combination preparation creatine and Beta Alanine puts. The combination of beta alanine and creatine is so effective because both amino acids complement each other perfectly: an intake of Beta Alanine increases the level of carnosine in the cells and thus prevents the PH value in your cells from reducing. The PH value is important so that lactic acid produced during exercise does not tire your muscles. This is an indirect effect of an increased PH value, which carnosine now counteracts. As a result, signs of fatigue take longer to appear. Creatine, on the other hand, increases it Energy provision and accelerates regeneration. These work better together than taking the respective ingredients separately. Another positive thing about taking the combination creatine-beta-alanine is that both substances work on different energy supply mechanisms: creatine works primarily in the area of ​​phosphate metabolism, which provides you with energy during strength training.

Alanine affects your glycolytic energy metabolism, which improves your muscle endurance. Translated: Creatine makes you stronger, beta alanine makes you more stamina. Your performance can also increase with creatine. In this respect, creatine and beta alanine, which also has a performance-enhancing effect, go well together. Unlike creatine, Beta Alanine can also reduce the stress that hard training has caused your body after exercise. Your muscles recover faster thanks to the combination of creatine and beta alanine and you benefit twice: With the combination of creatine and beta alanine you can train longer, harder, better and then get fit again faster. You will have the best beta-alanine effect if you combine the intake of your creatine-beta-alanine preparations. This shows intense performance gains in the hypertrophy area. The creatine-beta alanine combination also has a positive effect on the brain and ensures the normal functioning of the body and mind; Heart rate, breathing and sexual function are stimulated by the supply of both nutrients. To supply your body with beta-alanine, you should eat a variety of foods animal protein because the salary here is relatively high.

Beta Alanine Requirement: Diet and Deficiency Symptoms

Since beta alanine is non-essential and can be produced by your body itself and absorbed through food, a deficiency is rare. However, there are certain risk groups who have rather high consumption and therefore find it more difficult to meet their needs. Other vulnerable groups of people have inadequate nutrition. The following are often affected by a deficiency:

Deficiency: Who is affected and how does it manifest itself?

• People with deficiency or malnutritionwho are dieting or suffering from an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. An undersupply due to avoiding certain nutrients, such as in vegans, is also possible.
• Consumption of B-Alanine can be associated with acute or chronic Stress climb. A very high level of stress, whether through sport or at work, lack of sleep, air travel, emotional stress and a lack of leisure time, all take a toll on health and increase the need for alanine. People who feel addressed here should therefore consciously monitor their beta alanine intake and, if in doubt, incorporate more foods containing alanine.
• It's not just sport that causes physical stress. Even hard physical work, such as construction or gardening, challenges the muscles and demands a lot from your body. As a result of such physical work, your basal metabolic rate increases and your body tries to adapt to the demands placed on it by building muscles. As a result, your alanine requirement increases. And while we're on the topic: You generally need more macronutrients and amino acids in phases in which you want to build muscle. If you want to grow, you have to eat.

Natural sources of beta alanine

As we already told you, beta alanine is a non-essential amino acid. As such, the acid is produced by your body itself and you can absorb it through food. You get beta alanine through your diet primarily from various animal protein sources. Meat in particular is rich in beta-alanine; However, here too the proportion is rather small and not sufficient for athletes. Foods that contain a lot of beta-alanine are usually of animal origin. The following foods have a high content of the active ingredient:

1. A natural food source that is particularly rich in beta-alanine is Schellfisch. This contains around 2100 mg per 100g. The easily digestible protein is also easy to use.
2. Roast Beef is not only delicious - it is also an extremely valuable source of beta-alanine and contains a good 2000 mg per 100g.
3. Unfortunately, beta-amino acid is usually only contained in very small proportions in plant-based foods. A relatively good source is here soybeans with at least 540 mg per 100 g. Nevertheless: The content here is significantly lower than with other animal foods such as chicken, pork and others...

Beta Alanine as a supplement: intake, dosage, etc.

Beta alanine is widely represented on the supplement market, sometimes as a single preparation, sometimes as a beta-alanine-creatine combination, as the positive effect of both active ingredients is potentiated here. The amino acid is available as a powder or capsules. What you decide is ultimately a question of taste. Many athletes prefer the powder form because it can be easily dissolved in water, juice or the usual protein shake and tastes great. When choosing your supplement, you should rely on the transparency of the manufacturer. Where do the raw materials come from? Is your product made in Germany? This is a product that is made in Germany and provides you with valuable, transparent ingredients Gym Nutrition Beta Alanin.

In the Taking beta alanine An amount of 3 to 6 grams of beta alanine per day is usually recommended. The amino acid is best taken as a pre-workout between meals, but it can also be consumed with a meal. To avoid unwanted side effects, it helps to carefully approach the appropriate beta-alanine dosage.

Does beta alanine have side effects?

As you already know, the effects of beta alanine can be felt as a tingling sensation. This so-called paresthesia is normal and harmless, but for some people this actually harmless effect can feel like an unpleasant side effect: the burning sensation then becomes a real itch or burning sensation on the skin. You can avoid this side effect by slowly working your way up to the right dosage. At the beginning you should be a little more careful. Other side effects include redness of the skin or intolerance in the gastrointestinal area. Here too, it helps to find the right dosage.

Beta Alanin Studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29555069/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28121265/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31180638/

Je nach gewünschter Intensität 1 Messlöffel (4,5g) mit reichlich Wasser oder Saft trinken

Beta Alanin