Does beta-alanine work for female athletes? 🧐
Is the paraesthesia worth it?
Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on exercise performance and related physiological outcomes in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Study Details
This new meta-analysis compiled data from 11 studies (312 participants) to establish the exercise performance effects of beta-alanine supplementation in women 🔍
Here is what they found ⬇️
Key Findings
💊 doses ranged from 1.6 - 6.4 g/day
🗓️ interventions lasted 21 days - 8 weeks
Overall beta-alanine showed a benefit to time to exhaustion ✅
However, for other outcomes including…
❌ Peak power
❌ Anaerobic performance
❌ VO2max
❌ VO2peak
❌ Body fat %
…there were no clear benefits observed 🙅♀️
Conclusion
There may be outcome-specific responses to beta-alanine supplementation for female athletes (especially for time to exhaustion) 🧐
The evidence base is somewhat limited and these findings may change with time 📚
But for the time-being, beta-alanine may not be worth the investment for female athletes, depending on your target outcome ‼️
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42370349/
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