Biochemistry of Buffering Capacity and Ingestion of Buffers In Exercise and Athletic Performance
Peter M. Tiidus, Rebecca E. K. MacPherson, Paul J. LeBlanc, Andrea R. Josse in The Routledge Handbook on Biochemistry of Exercise, 2020
The contribution of carnosine toward intracellular buffering capacity is dependent upon its content and, as such, it is desirable for individuals with a high requirement for intracellular buffering (e.g., athletes who regularly undertake high-intensity exercise) to augment their supply (Figure 22.2). Beta-alanine is the rate-limiting amino acid for carnosine synthesis (45), and supplementation with this amino acid increases carnosine content (104) and is ergogenic in certain situations (102). These properties have led to its application as one of the most widely used sports supplements available today and justifies its inclusion as one of five effective sport supplements indicated for use by various international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee (68).
Dietary Supplements for Use in Extreme Sports
Datta Sourya, Debasis Bagchi in Extreme and Rare Sports, 2019
To date, beta-alanine supplementation has not consistently demonstrated ergogenic effects on all types of exercise. Studies have reported that beta-alanine does not improve performance during short sprints (i.e. <30 s)76 or repeated sprints.77,78Additionally, although beta-alanine has been reported to increase total training volume and reduce fatigue during resistance training,76,79,80 preliminary research has not consistently indicated that beta-alanine improves either muscular strength or muscular endurance.79–82 It also does not appear to augment performance during longer-duration (>10 min) aerobic exercise, though more studies are needed to confirm this finding.66 These findings are to be expected, as acidosis is not considered to be a major limiting factor in exercise that is extremely short (i.e. single-effort sprints or resistance exercise) or extending beyond 10 minutes in duration. Thus, it would appear that beta-alanine’s ergogenic effects are limited primarily to short-duration, single-effort, open-ended exercise testing lasting 0.5–10 minutes. Further research may expand the implications for beta alanine in the future.
Anaerobic endurance: the speed endurance sports
Nick Draper, Helen Marshall in Exercise Physiology, 2014
In recent years the buffering capacity of carnosine, a dipeptide derivative of the amino acids alanine and histidine, has been investigated. Carnosine, found in high concentration in muscle fibres, represents an effective H+ buffer. More recently, it has been suggested that the role of car-nosine might additionally, or possibly alternatively, serve to improve performance by increasing Ca2+ sensitivity, thereby offsetting one of the negative effects of Pi accumulation. The availability of carnosine within the muscle appears to be limited by the availability of β- alanine. As a consequence, research groups such as Harris and colleagues set out to investigate the effects of β-alanine supplementation on H+ buffering and performance. In their research, β-alanine supplementation was found to increase carnosine stores within the muscle by 42–80%, dependent on the loading regimen. In a study of maximal isometric contraction endurance, increased carnosine stores resulted in 11–14% improvements in time to exhaustion. In a cycle ergometer study, designed to elicit exhaustion in 150 seconds, time to exhaustion was increased by 12% and 15% after a 4- and 10-week supplementation period, respectively. It appears that β-alanine supplementation offers an ergogenic effect; however, the mechanism through which this works, increased Ca2+ sensitivity or as a buffer to H+, requires further investigation. Nevertheless, β-alanine supplementation does appear to provide an effective supplement to delay fatigue and improve performance in anaerobic endurance and short-term high-intensity aerobic endurance exercise. Further research is required to ascertain the potential benefits to sports performance and the mechanism through which it takes effect.
Beta-Alanine Does Not Enhance the Effects of Resistance Training in Older Adults
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2018
Christopher H. Bailey, Joseph F. Signorile, Arlette C. Perry, Kevin A. Jacobs, Nicholas D. Myers
Beta-alanine is an amino acid that has been reported to improve exercise performance in older adults (del Favero et al., 2012). Beta-alanine combines with histidine to form carnosine (Artioli et al., 2010). Beta-alanine is the rate-limiting substrate for carnosine synthesis in skeletal muscle (Artioli et al., 2010). Beta-alanine supplementation is a proven method for increasing muscle carnosine content (Artioli et al., 2010). Supplementation rapidly increases plasma beta-alanine levels, peaking between 30 and 40 minutes, before returning to baseline 3 hours after ingestion (Harris et al., 2006). A number of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the benefits of increased skeletal muscle carnosine content on muscular endurance, including enhanced calcium release in type I fibers (Dutka et al., 2012), improved antioxidant activity (Boldyrev et al., 2013; Dawson et al., 2002), increased buffering in skeletal muscle (Sale et al., 2013), and improved calcium sensitivity (Dutka et al., 2012).
Age Drives the Differences in Dietary Supplement Use in Endurance Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Cyclists, Runners, and Triathletes
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2023
Austin J. Graybeal, Andreas Kreutzer, Jada L. Willis, Kamiah Moss, Robyn Braun-Trocchio, Meena Shah
The positive association between age and use of DS in athletes (6) is therefore unsurprising given the belief that some DS may alleviate these decrements. For instance, omega-3 supplementation and using DS to alleviate joint pain are commonly reported in older adults (23), coinciding with evidence supporting that fish oil supplementation reduces osteoarthritis-specific pain in this group (24). OA may also benefit from planned electrolyte supplementation, given that strenuous exercise and compounding age-related declines in kidney function may lead to more severe imbalances (25). For sports-specific DS, studies show that products such as protein supplements and beta-alanine improve endurance exercise in older adults (26). Thus, it appears that OA have distinct dietary needs (27) and more so now, given recent findings showing that masters athletics is becoming increasingly more competitive (28, 29). Moreover, higher training hours in endurance sports are associated with greater use of DS compared to non-endurance sports such as sprinting (30, 31). However, there are few established DS shown to improve endurance performance (6) and the prevalence of DS in most common endurance events is unknown. Additional insight to the use of dietary supplements in older endurance athletes will further develop the knowledge about patterns of use for DS in a sample of competitive endurance athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the: (a) use of DS, (b) motivation for use of DS, (c) sources of information for DS, and (d) if these differ by age in endurance athletes who were cyclists, runners, or triathletes.
Effects of High-Dose, Short-Duration β-Alanine Supplementation on Cognitive Function, Mood, and Circulating Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) in Recreationally-Active Males Before Simulated Military Operational Stress
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2021
Alyssa N. Varanoske, Adam J. Wells, David Boffey, Idan Harat, Cheyanne L. Frosti, Gregory J. Kozlowski, Yftach Gepner, Jay R. Hoffman
β-alanine (BA) supplementation is an increasingly-popular method of enhancing high-intensity exercise performance through nutritional supplementation (Blancquaert et al. 2015). Performance improvements following BA supplementation are primarily attributed to pursuant increases in intramuscular carnosine content, rather than BA itself (Harris et al. 2006). Carnosine is a dipeptide composed of the amino acids L-histidine and BA, the latter of which appears to limit the rate of carnosine synthesis in humans (Harris et al. 2006). Although carnosine and BA are regularly obtained in the diet through consumption of meat products, most of the ingested carnosine is rapidly degraded into its constituents by the enzyme carnosinase, and food products only provide sufficient BA to allow for moderate increases in carnosine content (Fritzson and Pihl 1957; Harris et al. 2006). Therefore, chronic supplementation with BA remains the most effective method of increasing intramuscular carnosine content (Harris et al. 2006). Carnosine acts as an intramuscular buffer by sequestering H+ produced during high-intensity activities, thus delaying exercise-induced acidosis and improving exercise performance (Hobson et al. 2012; Saunders et al. 2017).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alanine
- Amine
- Biosynthesis
- Carboxylate
- Carnosine
- Dihydrouracil
- Amino Acid
- Beta-Peptide
- Locant
- Stereocenter