We updated our article, Carnosine and beta-Alanine, to include the research since our previous update.
A summary of the changes:
- In the American College of Sports Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada’s 2016 Joint Position Statement on nutrition and athletic performance, beta-alanine was included in the list of supplements with evidence-based uses in sports nutrition (Thomas, 2016). They cite a 2014 systematic review of randomized controlled trials looking at carnosine’s impact on performance (Quesnele, 2014).
- A 6-month intervention study had 40 meat-eating women follow one of three diets: a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet without supplementation, a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet plus daily beta-alanine and creatine supplement, and a continued omnivorous diet as a control (Blancquaert, 2018). The vegetarian plus beta-alanine group experienced a significant increase in muscular carnosine at the end of the study. At 3 months, muscle carnosine content didn’t change in the vegetarian group that didn’t take beta-alanine or in the control group suggesting that a vegetarian diet doesn’t result in decreased carnosine in the body (muscle carnosine wasn’t measured at 6 months in these groups).
Longer, high-quality studies are needed to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of beta-alanine supplements.
We don’t know of any studies on beta-alanine supplementation or carnosine levels in vegans.
For those wishing to take them, there are numerous vegan beta-alanine supplements.
