What are the effects of "beta"-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and performance?
Beta-Alanine, a systematic review and meta-analysis in 1461 participants (Br J Sports Med 2016, PMID 27797728) — a significant overall effect size of 0.18 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.28) was found for "beta"-alanine supplementation. Training status, intermittent/continuous exercise, and total "beta"-alanine ingested did not significantly moderate effects.
Source: Br J Sports Med 2016, PMID 27797728 ↗ · Research map · How Magellan grades evidence · evidence confidence: high
Br J Sports Med · 2016 · PMID 27797728 · DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096396
"beta"-alanine supplementation can improve exercise capacity and performance, especially for exercise lasting 0.5-10 minutes and when co-supplemented with sodium bicarbonate.
The question
What are the effects of "beta"-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and performance?
What they tested
The study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze existing evidence to determine the effects of "beta"-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and performance.
How they did it
This systematic review and meta-analysis followed PRISMA guidelines. Researchers searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science for double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies on chronic "beta"-alanine supplementation and exercise measures in healthy participants. Cross-over designs were excluded. A 3-level mixed effects model was used to analyze effect sizes from 70 exercise measures across 40 studies and 1461 participants.
What they found
A significant overall effect size of 0.18 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.28) was found for "beta"-alanine supplementation. Exercise duration significantly moderated effect sizes (p=0.004), as did exercise type within the 0.5-10 minute timeframe (p=0.013). Greater effect sizes were observed for exercise capacity (0.4998) compared to performance (0.1078) in this timeframe. Training status, intermittent/continuous exercise, and total "beta"-alanine ingested did not significantly moderate effects. Co-supplementation with sodium bicarbonate showed the largest effect size (0.43).
| Overall Effect Size | 0.18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise Capacity (0.5-10 min) | 0.5 | |
| Exercise Performance (0.5-10 min) | 0.108 | |
| Co-supplementation with Sodium Bicarbonate | 0.43 |
The chart illustrates the overall effect size of beta-alanine supplementation and specific effect sizes for exercise capacity, performance (within 0.5-10 minutes), and when co-supplemented with sodium bicarbonate.
What it means
"beta"-alanine supplementation has a significant overall effect on exercise capacity and performance, with exercise duration and type being significant modifying factors. These findings can help individuals make informed decisions about using "beta"-alanine based on their exercise modality.
Limitations
The abstract does not explicitly state limitations of the study.
Where the published abstract does not list limitations, we say so rather than inventing them. Read the full paper on PubMed before drawing conclusions.
The paper at a glance
| Title | beta-alanine supplementation to improve exercise capacity and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
|---|---|
| Journal | Br J Sports Med |
| Year | 2016 |
| PMID | 27797728 ↗ |
| DOI | 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096396 ↗ |
| Topic | General aging biology & healthspan |
Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗
Where Magellan uses this paper
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Beta-Alanine
Meta-analyses of controlled trials indicate that beta-alanine produces a small but statistically significant overall ergogenic effect, most evident for high-intensity exercise lasting roughly 1-4 minutes, where it can increase exercise capacity and time to exhaustion and delay neuromuscular fatigue;
Carnosine
Meta-analyses of randomized trials indicate that carnosine or beta-alanine supplementation modestly improves glycemic control, lowering fasting glucose and HbA1c, in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, and pooled trials of histidine-containing dipeptides also report reduced waist circumference and a small…
Beta-alanine is a non-essential (non-proteinogenic) amino acid that serves as the rate-limiting…
Carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) is a naturally occurring dipeptide, composed of the amino acids…
Research describes the compound or intervention studied. It is not a claim about any specific product.
Cite this page
These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.
Magellan Longevity. (2026). What are the effects of "beta"-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and performance? [Plain-English summary of Br J Sports Med 2016, PMID 27797728, DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096396]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d27797728.html@misc{magellan_d27797728,
title = {What are the effects of "beta"-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and performance?},
author = {{Magellan Longevity}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d27797728.html}},
note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 27797728; DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096396; Br J Sports Med 2016. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO},
urldate = {2026-08-11}
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