Meal and beta-alanine coingestion enhances muscle carnosine loading
Controlled trialHumansWith beta-alanine (carnosine precursor)
This study tested carnosine together with beta-alanine (carnosine precursor). Its results cannot be assigned to carnosine alone. More combination studies.
- Design
- Controlled trial
- Subjects
- 7 men (study 1); 34 subjects (study 2)
- Dose used in the study
- study A: 4.8 g/day slow-release beta-alanine; study B: 3.2 g/day as pure beta-alanine between meals, pure beta-alanine at the start of meals, or slow-release beta-alanine at the start of meals
- Duration
- 5 weeks (study 1); 6 to 7 weeks (study 2)
- What was measured
- Whole-body beta-alanine retention with different macronutrient coingestion, and soleus and gastrocnemius carnosine loading by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy when beta-alanine was taken with meals versus between meals.
What the authors reported
In study A, whole-body retention of slow-release beta-alanine was 97 to 98%, did not decline over 5 weeks and was not changed by coingested macronutrients; 1 to 2% was lost in urine and about 3% went into muscle carnosine, which the authors say indicates most is metabolised. In study B, soleus carnosine loading was higher when pure beta-alanine was taken with a meal (+64%) than between meals (+41%), which the authors suggest means insulin stimulates loading. Slow-release and pure beta-alanine seemed equally effective.
Limits of this study
Small samples; the mechanism for the meal effect is inferred rather than measured directly. Full text not read.
Source
PubMed 23439427 · doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31828ab073
Entry checked against PubMed abstract (E-utilities) on 2026-10-19. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.