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We've heard
it before: this supplement or that supplement stands to
be the next creatine.
Only it never does pan out to be the
next creatine. Worse, whatever it was that initially prompted
such lofty comparisons usually gets dumped to the back of
history's medicine cabinet, forgotten and eventually discarded.
But this time, this time, I think
we've got it.
In many ways, Biotest's BETA-7 is
reminiscent of creatine in that it allows you to do more
work, and all things being equal, more work means more muscle.
Like creatine, it works for just about everybody, and there's
usually no guesswork involved: you know it's working; the
results are concrete.
What's more, BETA-7 also works for
endurance athletes. Soon, no one, professional or amateur,
strength athlete or endurance athlete, will dream of training
or competing without it.
Like creatine, it's found naturally
in the body, and by giving the body more of this substance,
it allows the body to do more work.
Sweet, elegant, if I do say so myself.
The active ingredient in BETA-7 is
called beta-alanine.
The trouble is, up until now, there's
been a fly in the ointment concerning the proposed use of
conventional beta-alanine:
If you take it once a day, it's not
very effective.
If you take it twice a day, it's not
very effective.
If you take it three times a day...
you guessed it, it's not very effective.
In fact, ordinary, run of the mill
beta-alanine must be taken 4 to 8 times a dayfor it to work
effectively, but Biotest bludgeoned that problem to smithereens
with a cool drug-delivery technique, making BETA-7 a time
released beta-alanine (more on that later).
Beta-alanine already has a list of
research studies behind it that might soon match that of
creatine's in length and scope, but in order to help you
understand this exciting new supplement better, we've interviewed
Dr. Jeff Stout, one of the world's foremost experts on beta-alanine.
Prepare to learn and prepare to be
blown away.
First of all, Jeff,
what is BETA-7 and what does it do?
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino
acid found naturally in both the body and in foods such
as chicken or whale meat... not that many of us eat whale,
of course.
When beta-alanine
is ingested, it enters the blood stream and is taken up
by muscle cells. It then becomes what I call the "rate
limiting substrate" to carnosine synthesis. Now, carnosine
is a dipeptide found primarily in fast-twitch muscle whose
primary function, as far as you and I are concerned, is
bufferinghydrogen ions (H+).
So without beta-alanine,
carnosine doesn't get produced, and you don't have the buffering
of hydrogen ions.
Why is buffering so important? What I want to know is this:
Will it make me hyoooge?
Well, we need carnosine to buffer H+.
If we buffer H+, the pH levels in our muscles don't drop
so low that our muscles start burning and force us to quit.
If we don't buffer, the acid levels in the muscle get very,
very, high, and we have to cut our sets off prematurely.
And, if you're
cutting your sets prematurely, you're not growing.
Increasing muscle
carnosine levels allows you to do more reps and more sets
in a given workout. It means more sets at a higher intensity
with less fatigue. That, my friend, means more growth and
more strength.
There's a theory,
of course, that we're limited not only by genetics, but
also how hard we can train to get huge. If fact, one of
the many actions of anabolic steroids is the ability to
train harder which results in much greater muscle and strength
gains.
It's also interesting
that steroids can significantly increase the muscle's ability
to delay fatigue by increasing creatine and CARNOSINE synthesis!
So, delaying fatigue, and thus increasing training volume
and intensity is extremely important to growth.
So why can't you just take sodium bicarbonate? Isn't that
a buffer, too?
Sodium bicarb (i.e. baking soda) will
increase your blood pH if you take enough of it. This may
indirectly help consume the build-up of H+ because the higher
extracellular (blood) pH may act like a magnet and pull
the H+ out before they cause muscle fatigue.
However, this
doesn't always work or guarantee exercise performance enhancement,
and it often ends up giving you a stomachache. Also, you
need to ingest the right amounts (it varies from person
to person) at least 45 minutes before every workout or competition
for the chance it might work.
However, with
beta-alanine supplementation you can increase carnosine
inside the muscle cell, thus preventing the build up of
H+ inside the muscle. That makes it 10 times more effective,
without the stomachache! It's really pretty cool.
Okay, so why can't a person just take a lot of carnosine?
Good question! First of all, carnosine
is not absorbed effectively in humans. Only a small amount
remains intact, but it's that nominal quantity where you
encounter the real problems. The intact carnosine is hydrolyzed
into histidine and beta-alanine, which is then taken up
by skeletal muscle and synthesized back into carnosine.
Because of the
initial hydrolysis, the ingested carnosine can't be taken
up into muscle intact. As such, the only value you gain
by ingesting expensive carnosine is the beta-alanine that's
formed, since it's the beta-alanine that can "remake"
carnosine in muscle.
So it's much
more logical and much more efficient and much less expensive
to take beta-alanine directly.
Is there any research supporting the effects of Beta-alanine?
You bet! There have been studies showing
significant increases in anaerobic threshold, training capacity,
effects of training, muscular strength, muscular endurance,
lean body mass, and even a significant drop in body fat
percentage.
I've personally
been involved in a few of these studies.
Tell us about the study that's going to appear in the International
Journal of Sports Nutrition?
Dr. Hoffman and his colleagues assembled
a highly trained group of 33 college football players and
split them into three groups: a creatine group who took
five grams twice daily; a creatine and beta-alanine group
who took the same amount of creatine plus a total of 3.2
g of beta-alanine daily; and a placebo group, who took nothing.
Prior to and
following the 10-week study, the researchers measured the
athletes' body composition, body weight, one-rep maxes in
the bench press and squat, and had them keep a log of their
training. All were placed on a weight training program that
included all the usual suspects: bench presses, squats,
deadlifts, power cleans, incline presses and flyes, rows,
etc.
Here's what they
found: when you combine creatine and beta-alanine, your
training volume goes up and you get stronger. The athletes
were able to knock out more reps with the same weights,
and although this was the case with the other groups, it
happened to a greater and more significant extent in the
creatine plus beta-alanine group. The one-rep bench and
squat max was significantly higher than that seen in the
placebo group.
The most impressive
results of beta-alanine, at least in this study, were its
effects on lean mass gains and fat loss, effects not seen
in either of the two other groups.
Only in the creatine
plus beta-alanine group did the investigators record a significant
increase in lean mass, with percentage of fat dropping roughly
1.2%.
Oh, by the way,
they were not on a restricted caloric diet. They ate whatever
they wanted and still lost fat!
This adds promise
to a supplement that, until this study, could only be viewed
as a performance enhancer. Fat loss is also a benefit you
just don't get from creatine alone.
Fat loss? Why would there be a reduction in body fat?
We were stumped on this one, too. When
we analyzed the diet of the creatine vs. creatine + beta-alanine
groups, we found no difference in total calories or protein
content in their diet.
However, the
creatine and beta-alanine group had a much higher training
volume for every workout for the 10 weeks. The only thing
we can think of is that the creatine and beta-alanine group
burned more calories (via higher training volume) per workout
than the creatine group, which led to loss in body fat.
Other mechanisms
are being explored (i.e. beta-alanine may have a small thermogenic
effect). The future will tell.
Forgive me for saying this, but don't the results of that
study suggest that I'd better take beta-alanine with creatine?
Well the problem with the Hoffman study
is that all of the benefits could have been from beta-alanine.
We don't know because there was no group using beta-alanine
only. Further, the football players were only taking 3.2
grams per day — a very small dose for a group of big
guys.
It would have
been interesting to see the same study, with a beta-alanine
only group. My guess is that the results would be just as
impressive.
However, another
very recent study that I'm aware of examined the effect
of training versus training plus beta-alanine supplementation
on strength and muscle hypertrophy. It was just completed.
The preliminary
results were amazing! Relative to body weight, the muscle
hypertrophy (muscle cross sectional area) and strength looked
more impressive than similar studies using creatine.
Also, in a research
study that I just got accepted for publication in The Journal
of Strength and Conditioning Research demonstrated that
beta-alanine was 70% more effective than creatine in delaying
fatigue and increasing physical working capacity in young
men!
Also, in another
study, we demonstrated a 7% increase in anaerobic threshold
in men after supplementing only 3.2 g of beta-alanine for
28 days. However, while significant, that doesn't come close
to the women's study we just completed! In that study we
also found a 13% increase in Physical Working Capacity and
16% increase in Anaerobic Threshold.
Anyway, I am
not saying there wouldn't be a benefit with stacking creatine
and beta-alanine, but beta-alanine alone definitely promotes
greater lean body mass, strength and endurance.
Speaking of endurance, what can you tell me about this study
from South Korea on Olympic caliber cyclists?
Sure, in a study presented just this
summer, Dr. Kim from South Korea, examined the effects of
supplementing Olympic caliber cyclist on either beta-alanine
(4.8 g per day) or placebo while training for 12 weeks.
The beta-alanine
group increased their carnosine levels by 33%, thus increasing
anaerobic threshold and time to exhaustion, while the placebo
group saw no or very little change.
The placebo group
changes are typical in elite athletes as very intense training
results in very small performance changes in elite athletes.
But the effect of supplementing beta-alanine is huge and
could be the difference between a medal and not finishing
in the top 10.
The specific
results of this study will be presented in 2007, but I can't
say anything more about it right now.
I understand that some of the athletes in your studies came
back to you several weeks after the conclusion of the study
and wanted to get back on beta-alanine because their workouts
now "suck" in comparison?
Ha! Yes, that's true of every study
on beta-alanine I've done thus far. Athletes came back 6
weeks later begging me for more beta-alanine because their
training "sucked!" without beta-alanine.
Just to make
sure, I did the same and stopped taking beta-alanine 6 weeks
ago. My subjects were right, my workouts "suck"
without it!
Are there any negative side effects?
There's one, at least in conventional
beta-alanine supplements. Users sometimes experience a slight
flushing/tingling effect with high doses (at or greater
than 1.6 grams) called paraesthesia. This is resolved by
taking 4 to 8 smaller doses several times a day.
Traditionally,
you take six grams daily, in the aforementioned 4 to 8 doses,
for at least two weeks to see its first effect. The reason
for taking multiple doses is to ensure a constant presence
of beta-alanine, which helps drive beta-alanine into the
muscle cell, where it's synthesized into carnosine.
HOWEVER, Biotest's
BETA-7 uses the very latest in time-release technology which
will allow for a 24-hour presence of beta-alanine in the
blood from only 3 doses a day.
This will solve
the problem of having to take 4 to 8 doses per days to get
the same effect and that annoying paraesthesia!! Nice!
So you do need to "load" it, like creatine?
Well, research so far suggest that
maximal increases in carnosine happen within 4 weeks with
about 6 g per day, or 40 to 60 mg per kg of body weight.
After that, I think you could cut the dose in half to maintain
your elevated carnosine levels.
Does it have this buffering effect on just slow-twitch fibers,
or fast-twitch fibers, too?
Dr. Harris — the man involved
in many of the early creatine studies — recently demonstrated
that after 4 weeks of beta-alanine supplementation (6.4
g per day), subjects experienced a significant increase
(60%) in muscle carnosine levels. The percentage increase
was similar in fast and slow-twitch muscle, suggesting the
increasing carnosine in slow twitch muscle will also benefit
the endurance athlete by enhancing the H+ buffering capacity.
So strength athletes and endurance athletes could benefit
equally?
Yes, finally a supplement that can
enhance performance in ALL athletes! Can you think of a
single sport that doesn't try to deal with delaying fatigue
during training or competition? I can't.
Do the effects diminish over time? Does it have to be cycled?
While the research isn't there yet,
it appears anecdotally, that if you stop supplementing,
your carnosine levels will return to baseline in about 6
weeks. I would suggest taking a maintenance dose (2 to 3
g per day) to keep carnosine levels up. I see no need to
cycle.
Are any groups of athletes using it now?
Yes, all the ones I've consulted and
as many as can get their hands on it (NFL, College FB, etc.).
Up to now, it's been hard to find a good Beta-alanine supplement.
I know that the South Korean Speed Skating team used it
prior to the last Olympics — I was invited to Italy
to watch and speak. The entire team from South Korea won
7 medals, 6 gold and 1 silver. All in Speed skating!
Is it on any banned lists?
NO! Typical NCAA rules state that coaches
can't give it out for free, just as they can't give out
any other amino acid or protein supplements to student athletes.
However, anyone can take it without fear of testing positive
for anything.
Let's wrap this up by synopsizing the effects of BETA-7,
Jeff. As I understand it, BETA-7:
• Increases anaerobic threshold
(muscular endurance)
• Increases aerobic threshold
(endurance in general)
• Increases physical work capacity
• Increases lean mass
• Increases intercellular carnosine
levels dramatically in both fast-twitch and slow-twitch
muscles
• Decreases body fat (possibly)
It sounds like you got it all.
Biotest's BETA-7 is available right now. To add it to your
supplement arsenal and become a physical juggernaut.
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