#whey protein gold standard 500g price

[sustainhealthmagazine]

The 10 best protein powders to whip you into shape

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Richard Jones Daily Telegraph

Protein shakes have an image problem. Historically, their marketing has focused on images of pumped up men trying to emulate charismatic Austrians (we love you Arnie!), instantly alienating half of the population in one fell swoop. 

The common misconception among women was that taking protein shakes would mean being lumped with a load of muscle. But the protein world has had a bit of a shake up this decade, with products specifically targeting the female demographic as the health and fitness benefits of supplementing your diet with protein (besides the muscle building) are becoming more widely known and promoted.

"Protein shakes are really useful for anyone who is doing a form of exercise and struggles to get it from their diet," reveals James Exton, co-founder of fitness company LDNM. "It isn’t necessarily for muscle building and is quite an important element to have in your diet for weight loss as well. Our whole ethos is that it’s not going to make you into a monster like the giant men on the tubs. That is just a marketing tool a lot of companies use. ​If you’re a woman, it’s not going to make you a man."

If you weigh 11 stone, it is recommended you eat about 52.5g of protein a day but you will need more than that if you are planning on exercising regularly. "It is quite difficult getting it from your diet alone," says Exton. "If you work busy jobs or you are on the move, than it is hard to get to the requirement. But if you are hitting the mark, don’t buy protein shakes. Most people are deficient to protein to some extent and could use a little help to bolster it."

So if you have decided to go the whey of the protein shake, what are the main things to consider? 

"If you are on a weight loss journey, all you're looking for is a high protein content, low carbohydrate content and low fat content. Some do have higher sugar content so bear that in mind. Some brands are selling at £80 to £90, but I can tell you now, that will not change the way a person looks over and above a protein powder that is £30 for the same size."

To help you decide which protein shake to make, we tried as many as we could get our sweaty hands on, and as if we were protein shake sommeliers, judged them on flavour, texture and how they made us feel after consumption – though unfortunately they didn't make us tipsy.

Here are our humble opinions:

1. Form performance protein 520g

£24, from Planet Organic

One of the main reasons why some people are turned off protein shakes is the high dairy and milk content in some powders, while vegan alternatives have a reputation for unappetizing flavours and smells (unflavoured pea protein will make you never want to eat a vegetable ever again).

Form are changing the game as far as this point is concerned. Their vanilla flavoured hemp, pea and algae protein mix will have you wondering how on earth they did it, while the chocolate caramel superblend tastes exactly like millionaire's shortbread - complete with that malty biscuit flavour.

They also manage to fit in 30 grams of protein per 40g serving along with probiotics and BCAA's to help synthesise and digest your protein intake. With it's cool, mindful packaging (no images of beach hunks and babes vying for attention here), Form is a market disruptor – and a welcome one at that.

10/10

Nutritional information per 40g serving: protein - 30 g, carbohydrates - 0.4 g, calories - 149 kcal

2. Protein World The Slender Blend 1.2kg

£25.99, from Protein World

The champion of the protein world. Having reached a level of notoriety in 2015 with a series of adverts that campaigners slammed for promoting "body shaming", Protein World still retains a monster following, with over 700,000 followers on Instagram.

Trying to ignore the marketing and prior conceptions of the brand, we found Protein World to exceed our expectations of what a protein powder could be. It tastes better than many vanilla milkshakes you get in restaurants, and it contains a shopping list of added vitamins and minerals.

As someone who has had issues with protein shake digestion in the past, I was particularly pleased to see the inclusion of a genius probiotic blend, designed to help your gut handle the lactose that's usually found in milky protein shakes.

This is not so much a health supplement as a lifestyle one. I felt oddly revitalised and refreshed after an early morning gym session that usually sees me in a floppy heap on the doormat. However, there is some debate around Protein World's carb count.

9/10

Nutritional information per 40g serving (vanilla): protein - 22.9 g, carbohydrates - 7.9 g

3. Whey box 300g

£16.99, from Whey Box

With it's cheesy tag-line ("It's the only whey") and fascinating range of weird and wonderful flavours (gingerbread anyone?), Whey Box is bringing some welcome fun into the protein game. They offer a monthly subscription service, with ten sachets per pack – useful, as you can just chuck them in your shaker without the need for faffing around with scoops or measurements.

The powder is low on calories compared to other products on this list, but high on carbohydrate percentage. Without offering the robust range of extra vitamins and probiotics of the previous two on our list, it was all down to taste with the Whey Box and we have no complaints on that front. Our favourites are strawberry and a surprisingly yummy cookies and cream.

8/10

Nutritional information per 30g: protein - 22 g, carbohydrates - 3 g, calories - 120

4. Neat Nutrition lean protein 1 kg

£34, from Neat Nutrition

Neat Nutrition follow Form's vibe of 'hipster' protein, with it's parcel like packaging and emphasis on organic ingredients. The vanilla might not be a match for the mighty form, but this is still a pleasant tasting protein shake (although we weren't so much a fan of their berry flavour).

It also has the added benefit of having matcha green tea blended in with the powder, so we decided to take this protein shake as a breakfast replacement, and found it kept us going all the way until lunch without the need for a coffee. 

8/10

Nutritional information per 30 g: protein - 23.1 g, carbohydrates - 2 g, calories - 117kcal

5. Multipower pure whey protein 2kg

£51, from Amazon

The banana mango flavoured Multipower whey protein tastes like those little marshmallow bananas you get at the pic 'n' mix (albeit in liquidised form), which is a lot nicer than it sounds. And the coffee and caramel reminds me of an iced coffee that I mistakenly order on a hot day from Costa. It's not the same as a piping hot coffee, but at least it tastes like what it proposes to be, which in the world of protein shakes is not to be sniffed at.

However the powder does cling to the side of the shaker, leaving some residue – and me wondering whether I've utilised the full amount of powder from the sachet.

They've also added vitamin B6 and Branched-Chain Amino Acids which helps stimulate protein synthesis and could explain the welcome extra kick on the pull-up bar.

7/10

Nutritional information per 30 g (banana mango): protein - 24 g, carbohydrates - 1.4 g, calories - 116 kcal

6. Bulk Powders Whey Protein 1 kg

£11.19, from Bulk Powders

This protein powder mixes very well without going bubbly, and tastes rather pleasant at the price point (albeit a little disappointing when compared to the gourmet options on this list). It also contains those very handy BCAAs (but no vitamin B6) which aid workouts – albeit not to the extent of Multipower's product. However it is nearly half the price so out of the cheaper options on the market, we crown Bulk Powders king.

7/10

Nutritional information per 30g (vanilla): protein - 24.2 g, carbohydrates - 1.5 g, calories - 122 kcal

7. Precision Complete Whey Protein Powder 2.28kg

£35.95, from Amazon

We're starting to get away from the artisan options, and into the more traditional looking tubs. To my surprise, Precision Complete doesn't taste as synthetic as the ingredients might hint.

While at first it feels like it is going to have a bitter aftertaste, much to my surprise it never reaches this place and instead carries on tasting like a slightly trashy kids party chocolate ice cream or something you'd drink by the litre in order to get over a painful break up. It settles well in the stomach – a lot better than other dairy products in it's price range - all of which makes Precision Complete a good 'cheap and cheerful' option for those none too bothered about flashy branding or marketing ploys.

7/10

Nutritional information per 34 g serving: protein - 24.5 g, carbohydrates - 3 g, calories - 129

8. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey 908 g

£44.99, from Holland & Barrett

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, like Precision Complete before it, promises us whey protein isolates - apparently the purest form of whey protein that exists. In truth, this powder does provide a very good workout indeed (I was going at that rowing machine like a madman for a whole hour). However, at the price point, I am left wondering if there is any thing more to this powder. 

In terms of taste, Optimum Nutrition is a very middle of the road option. It is not as sweet as Precision Complete, nor as creamy as Protein World or Form. However, it doesn't stick to the top of your mouth, the powder dissolves well, and it is relatively low on calories. There are better options out there, but you can still do a whole lot worse.

7/10

Nutritional information per 50 g serving: protein - 34 g, carbohydrates - 5.5 g, calories - 182 kcal

9. Purition original 500g

£22.95, from Purition

Having found favour among the likes of opera singer Katherine Jenkinsand sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher, Purition is flying the flag on this list for the new trend of wholefood protein ready to shake up the scene this year. Rather than a straight up powder, Purition is a flavoured blend of seeds (including our favourites, chia and kernal), nuts, whey and hemp protein and real flavourings (vanilla pods for examples as opposed to a vanilla flavoured construction from a lab).

With it all looking this uber-healthy it is with a little disappointment that we found the flavour a touch bland and in need of sugar. The directions also tell you to blend it up with milk or yoghurt, which obviously requires a blender. Now, I don't know about you, but I couldn't take a blender into the weights room while keeping a straight face, meaning you'll have to go home before you can take the protein, thus missing the golden 20 minute window after a workout where your protein intake is being optimised.

However we would highly recommend Purition for those terrified of long lists of odd sounding ingredients on the back of protein powders, and those wishing to take their protein with a meal (it works great sprinkled on muesli).

7/10

Nutritional information per 40 g (macadamia and vanilla): protein - 15.6 g, carbohydrates - 3.4 g, calories - 198 kcal

10. MyProtein Total Protein 1 kg

£21.99, from MyProtein

Since its founding in 2004, MyProtein has risen to the top of the protein game to become the largest sports nutrition retailer in Europe. We tried their total protein protein product, which scores very highly on the low calorie, low carbohydrate, high protein content scale.

The packaging can some across as a little low-end, and the powder, even when shaking it like a wet dog, doesn't blend very well in a shaker; you might be left with gloopy chunks of protein powder at the bottom. The chocolate initially tastes lovely, but has a clingy aftertaste, like something faintly nuclear is deploying on your taste buds. However with near daily discounts making their products the cheapest on the market (along with Bulk Powders), MyProtein is surely the go-to option for anyone who's primary concern is saving pennies.

6/10

Nutritional information per 30g: protein - 25 g, carbohydrates - 1.2 g, calories - 118 kcal

Our favourites

It definitely feels like a changing of the old guard in the protein world. Brands like Form are promoting more mindful imagery and selling their products almost like lifestyle supplements, with a host of vitamins and minerals to keep your health in check past building muscle.

Elsewhere, Whey Box are trying to flip the traditional, rather 'serious' feel of protein tubs and making it tasty and fun. Both are offering that something extra which we can't help but get behind.

View latest offers from Myprotein

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

[heathertruitt]

Ranking the best beta-alanine supplements of 2017

Beta alanine is an amino acid that you can take in supplement form to improve your workout performance, especially in short, high-intensity anaerobic efforts like HIIT training.

If you want to take your workout intensity and your overall athletic performance, (often mixed with a pre-workout), beta alanine is a good place to start.

Here are the top beta alanine supplements on the market.

1. Transparent Labs Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price

Transparent Labs gets the nod here for keeping it simple: pure beta alanine powder without any artificial coloring, no artificial coloring, and no preservatives.

Just mix one scoop (3,000 mg) 15-30 minutes before your workouts for optimal endurance and repetitions in your next workout.

2. BulkSupplements Pure Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

When it comes to cheap and pure supplement ingredients, BulkSupplements is the undisputable king. Their half-kilo (500g) beta alanine supplement is about as minimalist as it can get–it’s tested for purity and quality, and comes in a plain white bag.

All the measuring and blending happens on your end, which is great from a customization perspective, but can be a pain if you don’t have a high-quality scale. For DIYers, there is no better choice, but if you want something simple, get a supplement that comes in a pill.

3. NOW Sports Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

If all you want is a beta alanine supplement you can take before your workout, without having to hassle with scoops and scales and other ingredients, look no further than NOW Sports.

Each gelatin capsule (sorry, vegans) contains 750 mg of beta alanine and only a minimal amount of binders and stabilizing agents.

4. Optimum Nutrition Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Optimum Nutrition provides a nice middle ground between the ultra-minimal beta alanine supplements that are nothing but pure powder in a bag and a hyper-processed pre-workout supplement.

Optimum Nutrition provides a tub full of beta alanine, mixed with a few micronutrients and L-histidine to help keep your workout performance at its prime.

5. Micro Ingredients Muscle Up Pure Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

As another beta alanine supplement that comes in loose powder form, the obvious comparison is to BulkSupplements.

While they are pretty comparable in most respects, the scales tip towards BulkSupplements, simply because that company has a more established record of quality and purity in their supplements. Micro Ingredients is still a fine choice, though.

6. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Though there are a lot of ingredients in Optimum Nutrition’s pre-workout blend, beta alanine is the cornerstone ingredient.

Each scoop provides a hefty 1.5 grams of beta alanine, alongside B vitamins, caffeine, amino acids, and creatine. These work together to provide a robust performance-enhancing effect in your workout, especially if it involves short bursts of anaerobic activity.

7. Cellucor C4

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

This pre-workout blend features beta alanine in a central role, but it’s not the only active ingredient. It’s a great choice if you want beta alanine to work synergistically to boost your workout performance, because it contains an array of B vitamins, creatine nitrate, and caffeine.

Just watch when you use it; the caffeine and the other energy-boosting supplements will pump you up for a late night workout, but you might not be able to fall asleep later.

8. BSN N.O.-XPLODE

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

This one’s another in the category of pre-workout blends that incorporate beta alanine’s performance-enhancing properties as a central part of the supplement’s benefits.

However, N.O.-XPLODE has so many ingredients with so many different effects that it drifts towards “kitchen sink” territory. Plenty of people still swear by its results, but it’s not clear if all of the ingredients serve a cohesive purpose.

9. Primaforce Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Primaforce offers a loose powder form of beta alanine, but it doesn’t rank as highly because you only get 200 grams per container.

The quality is good; beta alanine is literally the only ingredient and it’s manufactured in the United States, but if you are going to get bulk powder, in most cases you’d probably want to opt for a 500 gram option.

10. ProLab Beta Alanine Extreme

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

ProLab makes a capsule-based beta alanine supplement which looks pretty convenient, but it doesn’t live up to expectations. Each capsule only contains 400 mg of beta alanine, which is barely more than half what you can get from other brands.

It does include L-Histidine, which not all other pill based beta alanine supplements have, but all in all, there are better options out there on every front.

Beta alanine benefits and side effects

Beta-alanine, also known carnosine precursor, is a type of non-essential amino acid that gets converted into a molecule called carnosine. Carnosine then acts as a buffer acid into the muscles that helps increase stamina, muscle development and physical performance in the range of 60 to 240 seconds.

Carnosine is basically stored in the cells and it is released when the PH level drops in the body.  It acts to counter the rising acidity in your muscles during high intensity exercise, and as such you can improve your performance by boosting the concentration of beta alanine inside your muscle fibers.

Beta-alanine is not so easily consumed in the diet that we eat regularly like chicken, whey, fish or beef. Therefore, beta-alanine supplementation is required. As it improves physical performance, this supplement can be quite helpful for those for those who engage in endurance exercise and train for long hours in the gym.

This article will provide a detailed understanding of the many health benefits of aeta-alanine supplementation, the recommended dosage and possible side-effects.

Benefits

The carnosine molecule that beta-alanine converts into buffer H+ ions help slow down the aging process. This effect is backed by various research studies and scientific works. According to studies, carnosine from beta-alanine acts like resveratrol.  This molecule is known to protect the heart and improve blood flow in the body. Also, it has been observed that muscle carnosine concentration drops up to 45 percent during the aging process ‎(1, ‎2) . This suggests that increasing carnosine stores in the body can slow down the aging process.

Other research studies conducted on beta-alanine suggest that carnosine lowers the cellular aging rate in cultured-fibroblasts. Thus, the anti-aging effect can be due to this molecule’s ability to lower telomere shortening in cultured-fibroblasts ‎(3).

Telomeres are strands of DNA that help prevent aging when your cells divide and multiply.  As they get shorter, your biological age increases, and you start to appear and feel older.  Decreasing the rate at which your telomeres shrink could have longevity-boosting effects, though this is yet to be confirmed in humans.

Carnosine made through beta-alanine has been found to have neurological antioxidant effects. Beta-alanine can moderate several neurological actions by taurine’s competitive inhibition. This is because both taurine and beta-alanine compete with each other for the same transporter to enter the brain. Just like taurine, beta-alanine acts via GABA receptors and glycine.

Besides this, when converted to carnosine, beta-alanine has shown to support antioxidant enzyme structures Cu/ZnSOD (Superoxide Dismutase). It reduces the aggregation of oxidized proteins in neural tissues, thereby supporting motor function in people suffering from mental disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases (4).

Research studies on beta-alanine have shown that its supplementation can increase muscle carnosine concentrations in the body that ultimately boost the ability to perform high intensity or endurance exercise ‎(5).

Raised muscle carnosine levels help reduce fatigue and build the stamina required to perform activities like jumping, sprinting and weightlifting for long hours. Carnosine facilitates buffering capacity of hydrogen ions which accumulate during rigorous or intense exercise (6).

If you can delay the buildup of hydrogen ions, you delay the onset of acidosis, the “burning” feeling you get after a tough effort.  This means that beta alanine can help you run faster, lift more, and push harder in your next workout.

In addition to this, the improved endurance exercise advantage through beta-alanine supplementation can be attributed to the fact that the muscle carnosine concentration increase also delays the onset of blood-lactate accumulation. A study showed that beta-alanine supplementation over the course of 28 days improved running performance in athletes as it helped in slowing down the negative effects relate to blood-lactate building in the bodies of athletes (7).

Other scientific research studies conducted on beta-alanine have proved that the increase in carnosine concentration due to beta-alanine supplementation can increase muscle mass by 20 to 80 percent as compared to high intensity interval training alone (‎8).

Intake of beta-alanine supplements daily for at least 30 days can significantly increase strength. A study published in the International Journal of Sport Medicine showed that athletes who took beta-alanine supplement for a month completed 22% more squats at 70% of their one rep max primarily because they had greater mean power that resulted from loading up on amino acids.

Side Effects

Large doses of beta-alanine supplements can result in parasthesia. Parasthesia is a condition that is accompanied with uncomfortable tingling or prickling feeling on the skin that commonly people experience on the face, chest, and abdomen. Besides this, over dose of beta-alanine supplement can also lead to itching and burning feeling in the ears or on the scalp. Studies have shown that doses of beta-alanine greater than 800mg pre-workout can cause mild to acute parasthesia that may last for an hour or sometimes even 90 minutes.

To avoid this side effect, use the time release formulation or take smaller doses of beta-alanine around 0.8 to 1g in a day.  This will allow you to reach the optimal dosage levels without getting the negative side effects that can result from taking large doses at once.

Recommended Dosage

As beta-alanine acts as a quick stimulant, consuming it pre-workout is a good idea. The benefits of aeta-alanine related to performance are largely based on the increased concentration of muscle carnosine over time. Hence the time of day doesn’t really matter as long as an athlete consistently consumes beta-alanine daily. The standard every dose of beta-alanine is approximately 3 to 5 g spread over 2 to 3 doses in a day for first 6 days.

However, as you move to the maintenance phase, 3g divided in 3 doses daily is enough. This is primarily because carnosine concentration in the body builds up with regular supplementation. However, it also drops by 2% in every 2 weeks in case the supplementation is stopped.

Recap

Also called b-alanine and carnosine precursor, beta-alanine is a supplement that can be best described as one of the types of non-essential amino acids. When this supplement is consumed, it gets converted into carnosine which is a molecule that quickly buffers acid into the muscles thereby increasing stamina, promoting muscle development, and improving physical performance. Other benefits include anti-aging properties and improved motor function in patients suffering from mental disorders.

The standard dosage of beta-alanine is 3 to 5g spread over two to three doses in a day. Large doses of beta-alanine have shown side effects resulting in an uncomfortable tingling feeling on the skin— a condition that is known as parasthesia.

  https://bodynutrition.org/beta-alanine/

https://bodynutritionorg.wordpress.com/2017/10/22/ranking-the-best-beta-alanine-supplements-of-2017/

[latriceduke]

Ranking the best beta-alanine supplements of 2017

Beta alanine is an amino acid that you can take in supplement form to improve your workout performance, especially in short, high-intensity anaerobic efforts like HIIT training.

If you want to take your workout intensity and your overall athletic performance, (often mixed with a pre-workout), beta alanine is a good place to start.

Here are the top beta alanine supplements on the market.

1. Transparent Labs Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price

Transparent Labs gets the nod here for keeping it simple: pure beta alanine powder without any artificial coloring, no artificial coloring, and no preservatives.

Just mix one scoop (3,000 mg) 15-30 minutes before your workouts for optimal endurance and repetitions in your next workout.

2. BulkSupplements Pure Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

When it comes to cheap and pure supplement ingredients, BulkSupplements is the undisputable king. Their half-kilo (500g) beta alanine supplement is about as minimalist as it can get–it’s tested for purity and quality, and comes in a plain white bag.

All the measuring and blending happens on your end, which is great from a customization perspective, but can be a pain if you don’t have a high-quality scale. For DIYers, there is no better choice, but if you want something simple, get a supplement that comes in a pill.

3. NOW Sports Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

If all you want is a beta alanine supplement you can take before your workout, without having to hassle with scoops and scales and other ingredients, look no further than NOW Sports.

Each gelatin capsule (sorry, vegans) contains 750 mg of beta alanine and only a minimal amount of binders and stabilizing agents.

4. Optimum Nutrition Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Optimum Nutrition provides a nice middle ground between the ultra-minimal beta alanine supplements that are nothing but pure powder in a bag and a hyper-processed pre-workout supplement.

Optimum Nutrition provides a tub full of beta alanine, mixed with a few micronutrients and L-histidine to help keep your workout performance at its prime.

5. Micro Ingredients Muscle Up Pure Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

As another beta alanine supplement that comes in loose powder form, the obvious comparison is to BulkSupplements.

While they are pretty comparable in most respects, the scales tip towards BulkSupplements, simply because that company has a more established record of quality and purity in their supplements. Micro Ingredients is still a fine choice, though.

6. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Though there are a lot of ingredients in Optimum Nutrition’s pre-workout blend, beta alanine is the cornerstone ingredient.

Each scoop provides a hefty 1.5 grams of beta alanine, alongside B vitamins, caffeine, amino acids, and creatine. These work together to provide a robust performance-enhancing effect in your workout, especially if it involves short bursts of anaerobic activity.

7. Cellucor C4

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

This pre-workout blend features beta alanine in a central role, but it’s not the only active ingredient. It’s a great choice if you want beta alanine to work synergistically to boost your workout performance, because it contains an array of B vitamins, creatine nitrate, and caffeine.

Just watch when you use it; the caffeine and the other energy-boosting supplements will pump you up for a late night workout, but you might not be able to fall asleep later.

8. BSN N.O.-XPLODE

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

This one’s another in the category of pre-workout blends that incorporate beta alanine’s performance-enhancing properties as a central part of the supplement’s benefits.

However, N.O.-XPLODE has so many ingredients with so many different effects that it drifts towards “kitchen sink” territory. Plenty of people still swear by its results, but it’s not clear if all of the ingredients serve a cohesive purpose.

9. Primaforce Beta Alanine

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

Primaforce offers a loose powder form of beta alanine, but it doesn’t rank as highly because you only get 200 grams per container.

The quality is good; beta alanine is literally the only ingredient and it’s manufactured in the United States, but if you are going to get bulk powder, in most cases you’d probably want to opt for a 500 gram option.

10. ProLab Beta Alanine Extreme

Click here for the lowest price on Amazon

ProLab makes a capsule-based beta alanine supplement which looks pretty convenient, but it doesn’t live up to expectations. Each capsule only contains 400 mg of beta alanine, which is barely more than half what you can get from other brands.

It does include L-Histidine, which not all other pill based beta alanine supplements have, but all in all, there are better options out there on every front.

Beta alanine benefits and side effects

Beta-alanine, also known carnosine precursor, is a type of non-essential amino acid that gets converted into a molecule called carnosine. Carnosine then acts as a buffer acid into the muscles that helps increase stamina, muscle development and physical performance in the range of 60 to 240 seconds.

Carnosine is basically stored in the cells and it is released when the PH level drops in the body.  It acts to counter the rising acidity in your muscles during high intensity exercise, and as such you can improve your performance by boosting the concentration of beta alanine inside your muscle fibers.

Beta-alanine is not so easily consumed in the diet that we eat regularly like chicken, whey, fish or beef. Therefore, beta-alanine supplementation is required. As it improves physical performance, this supplement can be quite helpful for those for those who engage in endurance exercise and train for long hours in the gym.

This article will provide a detailed understanding of the many health benefits of aeta-alanine supplementation, the recommended dosage and possible side-effects.

Benefits

The carnosine molecule that beta-alanine converts into buffer H+ ions help slow down the aging process. This effect is backed by various research studies and scientific works. According to studies, carnosine from beta-alanine acts like resveratrol.  This molecule is known to protect the heart and improve blood flow in the body. Also, it has been observed that muscle carnosine concentration drops up to 45 percent during the aging process ‎(1, ‎2) . This suggests that increasing carnosine stores in the body can slow down the aging process.

Other research studies conducted on beta-alanine suggest that carnosine lowers the cellular aging rate in cultured-fibroblasts. Thus, the anti-aging effect can be due to this molecule’s ability to lower telomere shortening in cultured-fibroblasts ‎(3).

Telomeres are strands of DNA that help prevent aging when your cells divide and multiply.  As they get shorter, your biological age increases, and you start to appear and feel older.  Decreasing the rate at which your telomeres shrink could have longevity-boosting effects, though this is yet to be confirmed in humans.

Carnosine made through beta-alanine has been found to have neurological antioxidant effects. Beta-alanine can moderate several neurological actions by taurine’s competitive inhibition. This is because both taurine and beta-alanine compete with each other for the same transporter to enter the brain. Just like taurine, beta-alanine acts via GABA receptors and glycine.

Besides this, when converted to carnosine, beta-alanine has shown to support antioxidant enzyme structures Cu/ZnSOD (Superoxide Dismutase). It reduces the aggregation of oxidized proteins in neural tissues, thereby supporting motor function in people suffering from mental disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases (4).

Research studies on beta-alanine have shown that its supplementation can increase muscle carnosine concentrations in the body that ultimately boost the ability to perform high intensity or endurance exercise ‎(5).

Raised muscle carnosine levels help reduce fatigue and build the stamina required to perform activities like jumping, sprinting and weightlifting for long hours. Carnosine facilitates buffering capacity of hydrogen ions which accumulate during rigorous or intense exercise (6).

If you can delay the buildup of hydrogen ions, you delay the onset of acidosis, the “burning” feeling you get after a tough effort.  This means that beta alanine can help you run faster, lift more, and push harder in your next workout.

In addition to this, the improved endurance exercise advantage through beta-alanine supplementation can be attributed to the fact that the muscle carnosine concentration increase also delays the onset of blood-lactate accumulation. A study showed that beta-alanine supplementation over the course of 28 days improved running performance in athletes as it helped in slowing down the negative effects relate to blood-lactate building in the bodies of athletes (7).

Other scientific research studies conducted on beta-alanine have proved that the increase in carnosine concentration due to beta-alanine supplementation can increase muscle mass by 20 to 80 percent as compared to high intensity interval training alone (‎8).

Intake of beta-alanine supplements daily for at least 30 days can significantly increase strength. A study published in the International Journal of Sport Medicine showed that athletes who took beta-alanine supplement for a month completed 22% more squats at 70% of their one rep max primarily because they had greater mean power that resulted from loading up on amino acids.

Side Effects

Large doses of beta-alanine supplements can result in parasthesia. Parasthesia is a condition that is accompanied with uncomfortable tingling or prickling feeling on the skin that commonly people experience on the face, chest, and abdomen. Besides this, over dose of beta-alanine supplement can also lead to itching and burning feeling in the ears or on the scalp. Studies have shown that doses of beta-alanine greater than 800mg pre-workout can cause mild to acute parasthesia that may last for an hour or sometimes even 90 minutes.

To avoid this side effect, use the time release formulation or take smaller doses of beta-alanine around 0.8 to 1g in a day.  This will allow you to reach the optimal dosage levels without getting the negative side effects that can result from taking large doses at once.

Recommended Dosage

As beta-alanine acts as a quick stimulant, consuming it pre-workout is a good idea. The benefits of aeta-alanine related to performance are largely based on the increased concentration of muscle carnosine over time. Hence the time of day doesn’t really matter as long as an athlete consistently consumes beta-alanine daily. The standard every dose of beta-alanine is approximately 3 to 5 g spread over 2 to 3 doses in a day for first 6 days.

However, as you move to the maintenance phase, 3g divided in 3 doses daily is enough. This is primarily because carnosine concentration in the body builds up with regular supplementation. However, it also drops by 2% in every 2 weeks in case the supplementation is stopped.

Recap

Also called b-alanine and carnosine precursor, beta-alanine is a supplement that can be best described as one of the types of non-essential amino acids. When this supplement is consumed, it gets converted into carnosine which is a molecule that quickly buffers acid into the muscles thereby increasing stamina, promoting muscle development, and improving physical performance. Other benefits include anti-aging properties and improved motor function in patients suffering from mental disorders.

The standard dosage of beta-alanine is 3 to 5g spread over two to three doses in a day. Large doses of beta-alanine have shown side effects resulting in an uncomfortable tingling feeling on the skin— a condition that is known as parasthesia.

  https://bodynutrition.org/beta-alanine/ http://bodynutritionorg.blogspot.com/2017/10/ranking-best-beta-alanine-supplements.html

[gwolfe1717-blog]

Supplements, Diet & Tech.

***THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LONG POST***

So all of my supplements arrived yesterday morning, and originally I intended to post this then however I had plans to go out and get very drunk with some friends as a birthday celebration. I took full advantage of the night since I felt like I needed to be a little bit reckless because of the break up and also since I will be giving up alcohol for three months (without counting a few weekends that were planned before I decided to do this but everyone is allowed to cheat a little on their diet!)

And as you can imagine I was feeling -very- mortal today when I had woken up. 

Back on topic, I decided to follow Lee Labrada’s guide on Bodybuilding.com as he had a full list of supplements and also a diet plan on there for those wanting to use them. I didn’t go for his recommended choices as a lot of the products I couldn’t get hold of in the UK but I found decent alternatives and I also had some left over whey protein that I still need to get through.

I should probably say that I’m no expert and I’m extremely new to supplements and I only really have a basic understanding of what these products do and basically from what I have read up on them online and what it says on the packet.  Roughly it set me back around £40 give or take and I probably could’ve gotten a better deal but I didn’t have the time to invest in doing any price crunching and comparing - but maybe next time I will hunt and shop around a little bit more. 

Supplement list:

-About 500g left of a 1kg toffee impact whey protein by MyProtein

-1kg sweet banana whey protein by GoNutrition

-250g of maple syrup & pancake whey protein by GoNutrition which I had received for free with my order

-1kg of strawberry cream flavour meal replacement powder (MRP) by USN

-330g of watermelon flavoured gold standard pre-work out powder by Optimum Nutrition

-Fat burner capsules (x100) “Thermo Detonator” by Grenade. (It comes in a really cool container!)

-300ml of pure cod liver oil for Omega-3 intake by Seven Seas

-Multivitamin tablets (x90) by Centrum and covers A to Zinc vitamins.

Diet plan:

I will point out that a lot of these images are not mine, and I take NO credit at all in creating these and I will source the materials correctly in the hope that nobody takes my blog down because of it. 

Source: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/lee-labrada-12-week-lean-body-trainer-nutrition-overview.html

Protein: fish, chicken, turkey and using some egg whites.

Complex Carbs: brown rice, oats, beans, sweet potato and whole wheat pasta.

Vegetables: broccoli, spinach, asparagus and peppers.

And I will be using those three mainly in my meals and also be applying the “rule of thirds” to all my meals for the next 12 weeks.

Image source: http://kelseykinney.com/rule-of-thirds/

Fruit: apples, oranges and blueberries.

Fats: Olive oil, flaxseed oil, avocado and nuts.

Thankfully, along with my night out I also did indulge in a McDonalds the other night to appreciate junkfood whilst I’m allowed to have it. Fortunately, my diet is actually pretty good normally anyway, but I’m serious about getting a new body and I want to make sure I can fully optimize my results by being as strict as possible on myself for this diet. I’m so committed to getting this done! 

On this diet I’m not allowed:

-Unhealthy dressings, dips and butter. Including soy sauce, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce (I am strong enough to do this, god give me strength)

-Staying away from fried foods, anything saturated, trans fats and hydrogenated oils. Opting for Olive oil and flaxseed oils rather than the unhealthy options.

-Staying away from lunch meat, cheese, chips, ice cream, crisps and any non-wholemeal breads and carbs. 

-Cutting out soda, alcohol (AAAAAAH) and any high creamy high fat dairy products. As well as any sweeteners and sugars for coffee and tea. Although I think honey is fine, and honey in green tea is looovely. I’ll also be aiming to be drinking around 2 litres of water a day to keep my appetite sated and to also stay hydrated. 

I’ve also read that cheating once a month or 2 weeks is okay, but kind of be clever about it, so sticking to the rule of thirds and maybe being a bit naughty with sauces or dressings. 

Oh and apparently sorbet is ok to eat on this diet? I’m so happy about this.

Tech:

I know this is a bit of a weird thing to add onto this, but I figured that listing these is a useful since they are there to aid me through this and help me stay on track. 

I have a fitbit flex which I got given for Christmas and I’ve not really used it very much, but the app seems pretty good and it also lets you track how much water you have drank in that day and also let’s you set a goal for calories consumed in a day. It also let’s you know about your sleeping pattern, the distance you travel while wearing the fitbit, tracks your steps and also shows your “active minutes” which is basically when your heart rate has increased.

Fitstar is a app that is available on the app store and is pretty good for home work outs, and it also syncs up with your fitbit app and applies your calories lost and your “active minutes” onto the fitbit app. The treasure chest workout is actually so good, but I’ve only done it a handful of times, hopefully I will change that (since upper body for me is going to be a big struggle for me... since I’m genuinely not very physically strong #sosmoll)

I also use a fitness app called “Full Fitness” which lets you create work out routines, has access to pre-made routines and also has a large list of stretches and exercises sorted into muscle groups. This app is really good, I would really recommend getting it if you have some cash to spare! 

I use a routine app to help me stay on track and also to remind me when I need to eat and be taking my supplements. It’s called “SimpleRoutine” and it’s free on the app store. This good for people like me who need reminding about stuff like this and stay disciplined. 

Lee Labrada’s 12 week work out also comes with an app you can download and it also lets you sign up to an e-mailing list to help you stay motivated. In the app is more or less tells you what you are doing that day and I’ve yet to use it, but I’m sure he gives you an exercise routine to follow on that day. Full Fitness is a good alternative if you want to work the same muscles but with a different exercise since it lets you navigate exercises by muscle groups. I will probably state my opinion on this app the more I use it. 

I should probably mention that I have access to a nutribullet, which is very handy for protein shakes and for blending some fruit for desserts or snacks! 

I think that’s all I need to mention at the moment. I’m glad I typed this since it made me research the products a bit more and also made me look back at the diet plan and I even wrote a shopping list for when I go to get food for next week! 

I know this is a long read, but I hope this is a reasonable guide for anyone wanting to also under go something similar and I hope it also motivates them to get started!