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Determining The Effectiveness of Supplements

When you are happy with your dietary pattern and base supplementation i.e. protein powder, fish oil, creatine etc, you can start considering other supplements that may help you gain the results you are after. It is very easy to be taken in by the hype surrounding some supplements and rather than taking the word of the manufacturer, it is very useful to have a method that allows you to decide if a supplement is actually giving you the results you want. This is the method I use when I evaluate a potential supplement.

Once you have decided on what supplement you want to trial, decide what results you want from it. What does the manufacturer say it will do? Which of these do you rate the most highly?

Decide on how long you will trial the supplement. Does the manufacturer specify when you will see results? You can decide to trial the supplement for a certain period of time or for certain quantity of the supplement.

When testing supplements, only test one at a time and don’t make any other adjustments to your dietary pattern or training during the trial period. This gives you the opportunity to see how your body reacts to the addition of that supplement alone, without other factors coming into play.

Keep a log of your training, food, supplements, energy levels, sleep, mental state, measurements etc. for at least 4-8 weeks prior to and throughout the trial. Make sure that you are recording all the elements that the supplement is supposed to work on. It is important to see if the supplement gives the results that you are after without adversely affecting you in any way.

After the test period, look at your log. Did the supplement work – did it give you what you wanted? If so great, you have found an effective addition to your supplement program. If not, you can start the process again with your next supplement.

I have been hearing more and more about the value of Beta-Alanine and thought that it would be a good idea to have Mike Roussell, author of the Naked Nutrition Guide to give you the low-down on what may be the next must use supplement.

Beta-Alanine Boosts Performance and Prevents Aging

One of the hottest nutritional supplements to hit the market recently has been beta-alanine. Basically, beta-alanine is a precursor to the compound carnosine; which, works by “quenching” the acidic environment created by working muscles. If the cellular environment within the muscle becomes too acidic, then the muscle stops working- the theory is that carnosine attenuates the onset of an acidic environment allowing you to do more work (lift more weights, run faster, etc). As you can imagine this has gotten a lot of people in the fitness and performance industry excited, because the more work you can do and weights you can lift, the bigger, faster, and stronger you can become.

You may be wondering, “Why supplement with beta-alanine? Why not supplement with carnosine?” Carnosine is made up of beta-alanine and histidine (an amino acid). In the gut carnosine is split into beta-alanine and histidine and then re-assembled back to carnosine in muscle or other cells in the body. Since histidine is already very abundant in the body and food supply the limiting factor with carnosine synthesis is beta-alanine. Supplementing beta-alanine has been show in studies to increase intramuscular carnosine concentrations. That is why people supplement with beta-alanine and not carnosine.

As you can probably tell from a performance perspective, carnosine and beta-alanine have the potential to make a huge impact; however, what may be even more interesting is the role that carnosine may play in slowing the aging process.

One cellular process that is thought to play an integral role in the aging process is a non-enzymatic reaction known as glycation. Glycation, is a reaction that occurs between sugars and proteins in which sugar molecules bind to proteins altering their structure and function. These modified proteins are known as advanced glycation end products. (AGEs). In addition to aiding in the aging process, AGEs have also been implicated in the progression of heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer’s).

So how do carnosine and beta-alanine come into play? Carnosine prevents the negative effects of AGEs by two different mechanisms. One of the detrimental effects of AGEs is that they can cause oxidative damage. Carnosine is a potent anti-oxidant and can help prevent the oxidative damage caused by AGEs. Carnosine has also been shown to act as a “suicide peptide” preventing bodily proteins from being glycated.

As you can see there is a lot of very interesting (and valuable) research regarding beta-alanine and carnosine going on around the world. It is too early to start making claims about carnosine’s ability to “prevent Alzheimer’s disease”, but the research to date shows very promising health and performance effects for beta-alanine supplementation.

Mike Roussell is a nationally renown sports nutritionist studying to receive his doctoral in nutrition at Penn State University. Mike coaches people from a variety of background (athletes, business professionals, house wive, etc) in achieving the body of their dreams. Mike has distilled down his extremely effective approach to nutrition in the manual Your Naked Nutrition Guide. Go to http://www.NakedNutritionGuide.com to find out more.