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Washing Down 6g/d of Beta-Alanine not Enough to Saturate Muscle Carnosine? Beta-Alanine Research Update 07/2020

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Carnosine saturation!? It may occur (if at all) only at much higher dosages / longer supplementation periods  than they're currently recommended. If you've been a faithful SuppVersity reader for the last almost 10 years, you will have noticed that my initial excitement about beta-alanine (#BA) has been fading ever since the classic meta-analysis by Hobson et el. was published in 2012. Yes, there were small benefits (2%) but only in the high(er) intensity 'long sprint' exercises... after having read the latest meta-analysis by Rezende et al. (2020), I am asking myself if this rather mediocre result could be in part due to the relatively low median dose of BA. In the studies Hobson et al. reviewed, the median amount of cumulative #BA intake was 179 g of β-alanine. Now, Rezende et al. hypothesize that "commonly used BA supplementation protocols may not come close to saturating muscle carnosine content?" Let's take a look at how a group of Brazilia...
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Bicarbonate + Beta-Alanine Supplementation, HIT Exercise Performance and Energy Substrates in 71 Trained Cyclists

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If there's one take-home message from the study at hand, it is: While both SB& BA work, it depends on the sport/exercise test if the effects will be significant. If you've been following my articles at the  SuppVersity  for some time, you will know that I have covered beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate , two of the few ergogenic supplements for which we have enough evidence to assume that they actually work, extensively in the past. You will yet also remember that the synergistic effects you'd expect to see when you combine intra- (beta alanine) and extra-cellular (sodium bicarbonate) H+ buffers didn't show in every pertinent study in the  SuppVersity  archive. Danaher, et al. (2014) , for example, found no effect of combining both during performance test with fixed intensity and volume, while  Tobias et al. (2013) , whose study tested upper body performance and didn't limit either intensity or volume, did - it almost doubled the total work th...
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Cordyceps militaris Improves Tolerance to High Intensity Exercise - Effects Take Time and High Dosages (4g/day)

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In China, cordyceps is also used in dishes - here: Chicken With Mushroom & Cordyceps Militaris Soup. Cordyceps is the tribulus of adaptogens... why's that? If you look at the scientific evidence supporting its efficacy the results are similarly ambiguous as they are for tribulus and still, Cordyceps has been among the supplemental topsellers for years - and rarely in the way it is used in classic Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) for respiratory and kidney diseases, renal dysfunction, and cardiac dysfunction (Zhu, Halpern, & Jones, 1998b). The popularity dates back to bogus rumors about Chinese female athletes in the 1990s - god knows what these "world-recordbreaking" athletes took, but cordiceps was almost certainly not the most effective of the PED cocktail. For longer sprints bicarbonate may be the more effective choice The Hazards of Acidosis Build Bigger Legs W/ Bicarbonate HIIT it Hard W/ NaCHO3 Creatine + BA = Perfect Match Bicarb ...
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Caffeine & Bicarbonate - Individuality is Key: Using Supps That Work for You Make a >90% Performance Difference

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Right vs. wrong supps can make a victory or defeat difference of >90%. I've written about the individual response to caffeine and bicarbonate before. To tackle both of these ergogenic supplements I can actually recommend, however, based on a single study that as just been published in the  Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism  is news. The study was conducted at the Derby University's   Department of Life Sciences, Sport, Outdoor & Exercise Science (Higgins. 2016) and evaluated the effects of ingesting sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or caffeine individually or in combination on high-intensity cycling capacity. In a counterbalanced, crossover design, 13 healthy, noncycling trained males (age: 21 ± 3 years, height: 178 ± 6 cm, body mass: 76 ± 12 kg, peak power output (Wpeak): 230 ± 34 W, peak oxygen uptake: 46 ± 8 mL·kg−1·min−1) performed a graded incremental exercise test, 2 familiarisation trials, and 4 experimental trials. You can learn more about...
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Cacao, Delicious + Ergogenic - Performance Up and Muscle Damage Down After 7d on 21g/d of Hershey's 100% Cacao

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Hershey's 100% Cacao, soon also available at your local GNC? If you look at the results of the study at hand, it does appear likely that a regular "food item" can compete with sign. more expensive sport supplements. From previous SuppVersity  articles you know that several studies have demonstrated the protective effects of cocoa consumption, due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. From the news and my critical evaluations of the study results, you do yet also know that (a) regular chocolate lacks most of these beneficial effects and that the effects have (b) often been hilariously exaggerated in the laypress. Furthermore, studies that probe the efficacy of cacao or high cacao chocolate on exercise performance are, unlike studies on its anti-oxidant effects (e.g. Berry. 2010; Davison. 2012), something in-between "rare" and "quasi non-existent". In spite of its relatively small size (fifteen 15-18 year old soccer players), a rece...
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