Evidence-based evaluation of potential benefits and safety of beta-alanine supplementation for military personnel.
This Department of Defense-sponsored evidence-based review evaluates the safety and putative outcomes of enhancement of athletic performance or improved recovery from exhaustion in studies involving beta-alanine alone or in combination with other ingredients. Beta-alanine intervention studies and review articles were collected from 13 databases, and safety information was collected from adverse event reporting portals. Due to the lack of systematic studies involving military populations, all the available literature was assessed with a subgroup analysis of studies on athletes to determine if beta-alanine would be suitable for the military. Available literature provided only limited evidence concerning the benefits of beta-alanine use, and a majority of the studies were not designed to address safety. Overall, the strength of evidence in terms of the potential for risk of bias in the quality of the available literature, consistency, directness, and precision did not support the use of beta-alanine by military personnel. The strength of evidence for a causal relation between beta-alanine and paresthesia was moderate.
Richard
R
Ko
Tieraona
T
Low Dog
Dennis K J
DK
Gorecki
Louis R
LR
Cantilena
Rebecca B
RB
Costello
William J
WJ
Evans
Mary L
ML
Hardy
Scott A
SA
Jordan
Ronald J
RJ
Maughan
Janet W
JW
Rankin
Abbie E
AE
Smith-Ryan
Luis G
LG
Valerio
Donnamaria
D
Jones
Patricia
P
Deuster
Gabriel I
GI
Giancaspro
Nandakumara D
ND
Sarma
D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D014481:United States; D015091:beta-Alanine / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D015091:beta-Alanine