Overview
Beta-Alanine is obviously a popular pre-workout ingredient that is found in many of the top products currently dominating the market.
From muscle building to performance enhancement, Beta-Alanine has proven to be as critical as other essential bodybuilding supplements.
Supplement Review
Beta-Alanine is an amino acid and antecedent to Carnosine, which is a known buffering means that helps reduce the acidic hydrogen ion accumulation in muscle tissue. This buffering effect, in turn, helps promote better muscular endurance and performance.
Beta-alanine is constituted of not only carnosine but also of anserine and vitamin B5. In normal conditions, beta-alanine metabolized into acetic acid.
Beta-alanine is not protein genic, meaning it is not used to manufacture proteins, and it is the only beta-amino acid that occurs naturally in the body.
As a dietary supplement beta-alanine is used to increase muscle concentrations of carnosine, and carnosine acts in muscle tissues to buffer against the effects of lactic acid.
Lactic acid is produced in muscles during anaerobic exercise, resulting in an accumulation of hydrogen ions, which lowers the pH balance of muscle tissues, resulting in muscle fatigue.
Carnosine acts by neutralizing hydrogen ions that can cause muscle fatigue and the “burning” sensation you get when working out at peak intensity, and ingesting beta-alanine supplements are the most effective way to increase muscle carnosine levels and prevent such premature fatigue.
Beta-alanine supplements are most times, used in pre-workout formulations together with creatine to enhance stamina and increase workout capacity.
CarnoSyn is a beta-alanine containing a product that is manufactured by NAI. It provides a Sustained Release formulation of beta-alanine which has several advantages over the generic supplement formulation.
However, generic beta-alanine supplements will exhibit the same effects as the sustained version, so long as you are buying your health supplements from a high-quality source, and observing dosage recommendations.
How to Choose The Best Beta Alanine Supplement
While Beta-Alanine may show up in many products, not all of them are equally made, and there can be significant differences between supplements in terms of purity, potency, and manufacturing standards.
It will be worth noting that of the more than 500 available beta-alanine products listed in the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD), Carnosyn beta-alanine has undergone the most clinical study and analysis.
Choosing the best beta-alanine supplements to buy can be overwhelming, given the wide range of products and inadequate information on product differentiation.
Not all supplements that inscribe “Beta-Alanine” on the label are the same and not all manufacturers follow the FDA rules on Good Manufacturing Practices, to ensure quality and pureness.
However, CarnoSyn is a brand of beta-alanine supplement that is widely recognized as being of good quality. Its maker is the NAI, a certified producer of sports supplements that have been recognized by Health Canada, the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia, and by NSF.
It is also the brand of beta-alanine that is commonly used in clinical studies and has an SR (Sustained Release) version of the CarnoSyn supplement.
This SR version has some advantages over generic products, as it is formulated to release its ingredient over a longer period of time, allowing for increased muscle retention of carnosine.
SR CarnoSyn also delivers a higher dosage of beta-alanine per serving, while taking all percussive measures to avoid paresthesia, which is a side effect of high-dose beta-alanine.
It may not be necessary to use SR CarnoSyn if you want the benefits of beta-alanine supplementation, but if you prefer taking a single dose as opposed to taking multiple smaller doses per day, then this SR supplement version may be best suited for you.
Summary
In summary, found below are few supplements that have proven to be of the most effective and highest rated Beta-Alanine supplements:
- Nutricost Beta-Alanine
- Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine
- Gat Essentials Beta-Alanine
- Universal Nutrition Beta-Ala9
- Bsn N.O. Xplode
- Bpi Sports 1.M.R, and
- Efx Sports Training Ground Pre
Note: this is not a comprehensive list.