How does Beta Alenine work and why does it make me feel tingly?
Supplement Geek Spotlight Hello BOSS family. I'm back after a week hiatus.Let's talk about everyone's favourite tingler, Beta Alanine.We have all been annoyed by the tingles, the bugs crawling under your skin feeling, whatever you want to call it. This and only this is the culprit.BA is a non-essential amino acid. Like all non-essentials, we produce small amount in our bodies and consume small amounts through diet. BA, together with histidine, produces carnosine. Carnosine is then stored in our skeletal muscle. Carnosine reduces lactic acid accumulation in your muscles during exercise, which leads to improved athletic performance. Here is the downside, our muscles have naturally high histidine levels and low BA levels. This limits the production of carnosine. Supplementing with BA has been shown to raise carnosine levels in muscles by 80%. Studies also show that BA is best used for short, high intensity exercise (ie.weight training) but can have an effect during endurance-type exercise (ie. Soccer).I have personal experience using BA while I was still playing soccer. I would take a 3g of BA before every game. I did notice a difference in the fact that I wouldn't get fatigued as quickly. Then I added creatine to the mix along with a carb powder and those 3 were amazing. This cocktail would also work well for weight training.BA is pretty straight forward. It is a great product for endurance. I will add that it has no effect on muscle growth. So if you hear otherwise, it's false.I'll share something that will bring you hope. That annoying tingle does in fact go away. I have not felt a tingle in a very long time from the clinical dose (3.2 grams) and no I don't miss it one bit. Your body does get use to consuming BA but it doesn't mean it stops working. You don't need to increase the dose because you think it isn't working. It still is, trust me. You can increase your dose up to about 5 grams depending on body weight and activities but realistically, 3.2 grams should be sufficient. Until next time...Cheers!