Beta Alanine Slow Release

Description

During high intensity exercise, lactic acid is formed in the muscles and split into lactate and hydrogen ions (H+). These H+ ions cause the blood to become more acidic (causing a drop in pH), which is one of the main causes of fatigue for this type of exercise. When such acid build-up takes place, the muscle loses contractility and strength capabilities making it impossible to continue exercising at the same intensity. Therefore, to deal with this acidity the body uses buffers/acidity regulators and one of them is called carnosine. Carnosine is made up of histidine and beta-alanine. We have plenty of histidine in our body, but a lack of beta-alanine. Therefore, it is this lack of beta-alanine that affects the amount of carnosine that exists in the muscle. So, beta-alanine supplementation can help increase the amount of muscle carnosine, a buffer that will regulate acidity during high intensity exercise. This will enable the body to cope with higher levels of acidification.

Who can benefit from using Beta-Alanine? 

Beta-alanine works in high intensity exercise and would therefore be very useful for a large group of athletes. Firstly, beta-alanine is recommended for those who perform sustained high intensity efforts/sports, exercises lasting between 1-7 minutes, such as 800m-3000m. It can also improve high intensity interval performance which can be incorporated into preparation programs for all types of athletes. In line with this, it would be useful to delay fatigue in team sports such as football, hockey, handball, basketball... that require repeated efforts in high intensity running. Finally, even endurance athletes can benefit from taking beta-alanine in situations such as a final sprint, change of pace or climbing a mountain pass.