Does Beta-Alanine Work? (Benefits, Side Effects, and Everything Between)
Beta-alanine: with a name like that ("beta" sounds like "better", no?), you'd expect it to have loads of strength training benefits. But does it?
You know how in TV shows, there are always “filler” episodes that don’t contribute to the show’s plot but are just … there? To take up space?
The whole filler-episode-in-a-TV show is a great analogy for beta-alanine’s role in pre-workouts.
At least when you strength train with optimal muscle growth in mind.
Continue reading to learn why we have such a negative (but entirely justified!) outlook on beta-alanine.
What does beta-alanine do?
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid.
Your body binds it with L-histidine, an essential amino acid, to form carnosine.
Which is … what, exactly? And why is it important? To answer those questions, we’ll first need to understand how your body produces ATP or energy during high-intensity exercise* lasting roughly 10 to 90 seconds.
*The keywords here are “high-intensity exercise”.
Keep this in mind.
So. During high-intensity exercise, your body must rely on the anaerobic lactic energy system for ATP replenishment.
This process converts muscle glycogen (i.e., stored glucose) into energy — but also generates 2 “problematic” by-products:
- Lactate
- Hydrogen ions
As both lactate and hydrogen ions have low pH values, their accumulation in the muscles over time creates an “acidic” environment that results in:
… which makes it difficult for you to keep exercising at this intensity.
Unless! There’s a way to neutralize all that acidity in your muscles? *lifts eyebrow* OK, OK, there is indeed a way, and you probably saw this coming a mile away, but it starts with “C”.
Carnosine.
As it turns out, this one-part-beta-alanine, one-part-L-histidine compound can directly react with protons (such as hydrogen ions) to lessen reductions in pH during high-intensity exercise, delaying fatigue.
Uh. Wait. So, let’s get this right:
- Beta-alanine increases intramuscular carnosine levels, which
- Delays the creation of acidic conditions that compromise the muscle contraction process
The result is improved endurance: so, why did we pooh-pooh beta-alanine’s usefulness in the introduction?
