Research today coming out of Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and brought to my attention by Eurekalert suggests that supplementation with beta-alanine improves muscle endurance in the elderly.

Beta-alanine is the rate-limiting precursor to carnosine, which is to say that levels of carnosine are limited by the available beta-alanine.

Supplementation with beta-alanine has already been established to raise the level of carnosine in the muscle, as reported here and here, and this study extends the list of potential beneficiaries to oldies.

In this double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 26 elderly men and women were given a 90-day course of BA supplementation or placebo pills. Their fitness levels were tested before and after the course. In the treatment group, 67% of the subjects showed an improvement in their fitness levels, compared to 21.5% of the people receiving the placebo treatment.

This is an extremely inexpensive supplement, and it’s available from Bulk Nutrition.

Carnosine is a dipeptide formed from beta-alanine and histidine. It plays a very important role in modulating the intramuscular pH, which is vital for normal muscle function during exercise.

Carnosine has been proven to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as alpha-beta unsaturated aldehydes formed as a result of the peroxidation of cell membrane fatty acids during oxidative stress. In addition, it can oppose glycation, and it can chelate divalent metal ions. Chronic glycolysis is suspected to accelerate aging.

The subjects in the study took 800mg 3x/day (2400 mg). The article in PDF form is currently archived here.