- Beta-Alanine is an endogenous amino acid that is naturally synthesized in the liver, but it can also be consumed through food.
- It has numerous benefits in the sports nutrition industry, such as increasing muscle mass, improving muscle strength and endurance, reducing muscle fatigue, and lowering its pH.
- Beta-Alanine is used in the production of dietary supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and animal feed.
What is Beta-Alanine?
Beta-Alanine is a chemical compound belonging to the group of endogenous amino acids. It belongs to the β-amino acids, which are characterized by the fact that the amino group is bonded to the β-carbon atom in relation to the carboxyl group.
Beta-Alanine is synthesized naturally in the human body, in the liver. It can also be supplied through the diet and is mainly found in red and white meat and fish.
Although it is not involved in building proteins, it has another important function. It is a chemical compound known to combine with another amino acid, L-histidine, to form carnosine, which is very important for the human body.
Beta-Alanine is also called 3-aminopropanoic acid. Want to learn more about this substance and its uses? Then be sure to read on!
Benefits of Beta-Alanine
As mentioned above, the most important function of Beta-Alanine is that it influences the increase of carnosine concentration in muscles. In general, it is beneficial for increasing muscle mass, improving muscle strength and endurance, and reducing the feeling of muscle fatigue.
Beta-Alanine has numerous benefits for the human body, which are:
- it causes a decrease in the pH in the muscles, which results in less Lactic Acid being produced in the muscles during exercise,
- it has antioxidant properties, i.e. it causes the neutralization of reactive oxygen species,
- it increases the buffering capacity of the muscles, which results in delayed fatigue.
- has a chelating effect, i.e. it reduces the toxicity of zinc, iron, copper and cobalt ions.
Beta-Alanine can be used alone, but it can also be combined with other compounds. It can be used together with Sodium Bicarbonate – this combination helps to improve the body’s performance during short-term and intense physical training.
What is Beta-Alanine used for?
Due to its properties, Beta-Alanine is mainly used to produce dietary supplements for athletes who specialize in high intensity physical activities. Although it is carnosine that has many beneficial effects, supplementation is not with carnosine, but with Beta-Alanine, because carnosine is degraded shortly after its absorption into the digestive tract. This amino acid in the form of powdered supplements is designed to increase physical performance and improve muscle function.
Beta-Alanine is also used in the pharmaceutical industry. It is an ingredient in capsules in medications for people with Beta-Alanine deficiency. It is also said that taking Beta-Alanine reduces stress.
It is also used in the cosmetics industry. It is a humectant, so it is added to skin care products because it keeps and retains moisture in them. Beta-Alanine can also be used in cosmetics as a pH regulator. If you want to know more about the types of ingredients in cosmetics and their functions, you can read more in our article on this topic!
It is also important to supplement Beta-Alanine in the diet of animals, so it is added to the feed. It is a nutritional ingredient that promotes the creation of carnosine in the body. This, in turn, assists in the neutralization of Lactic Acid build-up in the muscles and the removal of harmful free radicals. As a result, the animal’s muscles are able to regenerate much quicker and more effortlessly.
In the chemical industry, Beta-Alanine is used for the production of some chemical compounds, such as pantothenic acid.
If you want to read more about Amino Acids and their applications, check out our article!
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