Founder
March 1st, 2005, 09:43 AM
Carnosine: A Brief Overview
by Joey Rodrigues CEO/President MAN Sports Products Inc.
Carnosine is a dipeptide comprised of the amino acids, Histidine and Beta-Alanine. Naturally occurring in brain, cardiac muscle, kidney, and stomach and in large amounts in skeletal muscles, the past 100 years or so Carnosine has been widely studied for its effects on improved wound healing, antioxidant activity and its anti-aging properties. One of the things that really stood out to me when studying Carnosine is the fact that it is found in high concentrations in skeletal muscles. Primarily the type IIx muscle fibres1. These are the "fast-twitch" muscle fibres used in explosive movements like weight training and sprinting. In fact it has also been concluded that Carnosine levels are found in higher concentrations in athletes whose performance demands serious anaerobic output.
Let me explain; a study examining intramuscular buffering capacity found that sprinters and rowers possessed larger Carnosine levels in their muscles than did marathoners whose Carnosine content were comparable to untrained subjects2. Obviously sprinters and rowers have to use explosive muscular force in order to perform their tasks. This study demonstrates the fact that athletes in anaerobic sports have a potentially greater demand for skeletal muscle Carnosine stores.
Many of you reading this article right now have felt that intense burning sensation that weight training produces. This is because the pH in your muscles and blood decrease, causing them to become too acidic, hence the intense burning sensation.
It is the Hydrogen ions (H+) that are produced with lactic acid accumulation as part of the process of energy release rather than the lactate that causes pH to decrease and not the lactic acid, which is mistaken by many as the guilty party. As the pH in the muscles decrease so does your performance. As a result lactate accumulation is associated with acidosis for several reasons, but it is important to recognize that it is unbuffered protons like H+ that pose complications for the athletes.
So exactly what role does Carnosine play in all of this? By means of preventing some enzymatic reactions that lead to this increased acidic environment, it appears Carnosine may well be the definitive H+ buffering agent. Carnosine helps to put out the burning fire in your muscles that is felt before reaching failure and as a result enhances muscular performance.
Here are some other things that athletes out there need to know about Carnosine. It appears that Carnosine helps activate the enzymes responsible for generating muscle contractions (myofibrillar-ATPase). By generating this enzyme it appears that Carnosine prevents fatigue through yet another mechanism. And here is something else that many of the supplement companies out there are completely unaware of.
Just about anyone reading this knows that Nitric Oxide boosting supplements are hot topic. We also know that many supplement companies out there are just jamming Arginine into a tablet and charging you a grip. What is not known is that Carnosine is a natural substrate for the production of Nitric Oxide4. In fact it is the true substrate for NOS (nitric oxide synthase) activity, which is the true enzyme that is responsible for generating Nitric Oxide. Are you starting to see what a versatile and truly remarkable compound Carnosine is?
By now you're screaming "Carnosine, Give It to Me!" Well hold your horses... There is good news! It appears that athletes may be able to increase Carnosine levels through high intensity training as an adaptive response to the stressors of high intensity training. We can also boost our Carnosine levels through supplementation. Now here is the bad news.
As of right now the cost of Carnosine is still quite cost prohibitive in dosages that athletes would like to take to realize the physiological effects. And in my ever so humble opinion, direct Carnosine supplementation is not the most efficient method at increasing Carnosine concentrations. There is a definitive increase in plasma Carnosine following ingestion of meats and associated products that contain Carnosine, but still at low concentrations.
This is probably due to the relatively high activity of the Carnosinase enzyme, which is the enzyme that breaks Carnosine down into Beta-Alanine and Histidine. Remember me mentioning Beta Alanine and Histidine? Beta-Alanine and Histidine are taken up into the muscle where they are resynthesized back into Carnosine by an enzyme called Carnosine synthetase. There is sufficient data to believe that supplementation with Carnosine's constituent amino acids Beta-Alanine and Histidine are effective in increasing muscle Carnosine concentrations.
If you are like me, you are now asking yourselves "how do I get my hands on these compounds?" Well, fortunately as I write this, now available are several products here that contain Carnosine, Beta-Alanine and L-Histidine. Just run a search for these compounds on the site and make sure you are taking at least 3 grams of Carnosine a day, or 3 grams a day of a combination of Beta-Alanine and L-Histidine.
Man Sports Products Body Octane:
http://www.discountanabolics.com/page/DA/PROD/MAN/MA01
by Joey Rodrigues CEO/President MAN Sports Products Inc.
Carnosine is a dipeptide comprised of the amino acids, Histidine and Beta-Alanine. Naturally occurring in brain, cardiac muscle, kidney, and stomach and in large amounts in skeletal muscles, the past 100 years or so Carnosine has been widely studied for its effects on improved wound healing, antioxidant activity and its anti-aging properties. One of the things that really stood out to me when studying Carnosine is the fact that it is found in high concentrations in skeletal muscles. Primarily the type IIx muscle fibres1. These are the "fast-twitch" muscle fibres used in explosive movements like weight training and sprinting. In fact it has also been concluded that Carnosine levels are found in higher concentrations in athletes whose performance demands serious anaerobic output.
Let me explain; a study examining intramuscular buffering capacity found that sprinters and rowers possessed larger Carnosine levels in their muscles than did marathoners whose Carnosine content were comparable to untrained subjects2. Obviously sprinters and rowers have to use explosive muscular force in order to perform their tasks. This study demonstrates the fact that athletes in anaerobic sports have a potentially greater demand for skeletal muscle Carnosine stores.
Many of you reading this article right now have felt that intense burning sensation that weight training produces. This is because the pH in your muscles and blood decrease, causing them to become too acidic, hence the intense burning sensation.
It is the Hydrogen ions (H+) that are produced with lactic acid accumulation as part of the process of energy release rather than the lactate that causes pH to decrease and not the lactic acid, which is mistaken by many as the guilty party. As the pH in the muscles decrease so does your performance. As a result lactate accumulation is associated with acidosis for several reasons, but it is important to recognize that it is unbuffered protons like H+ that pose complications for the athletes.
So exactly what role does Carnosine play in all of this? By means of preventing some enzymatic reactions that lead to this increased acidic environment, it appears Carnosine may well be the definitive H+ buffering agent. Carnosine helps to put out the burning fire in your muscles that is felt before reaching failure and as a result enhances muscular performance.
Here are some other things that athletes out there need to know about Carnosine. It appears that Carnosine helps activate the enzymes responsible for generating muscle contractions (myofibrillar-ATPase). By generating this enzyme it appears that Carnosine prevents fatigue through yet another mechanism. And here is something else that many of the supplement companies out there are completely unaware of.
Just about anyone reading this knows that Nitric Oxide boosting supplements are hot topic. We also know that many supplement companies out there are just jamming Arginine into a tablet and charging you a grip. What is not known is that Carnosine is a natural substrate for the production of Nitric Oxide4. In fact it is the true substrate for NOS (nitric oxide synthase) activity, which is the true enzyme that is responsible for generating Nitric Oxide. Are you starting to see what a versatile and truly remarkable compound Carnosine is?
By now you're screaming "Carnosine, Give It to Me!" Well hold your horses... There is good news! It appears that athletes may be able to increase Carnosine levels through high intensity training as an adaptive response to the stressors of high intensity training. We can also boost our Carnosine levels through supplementation. Now here is the bad news.
As of right now the cost of Carnosine is still quite cost prohibitive in dosages that athletes would like to take to realize the physiological effects. And in my ever so humble opinion, direct Carnosine supplementation is not the most efficient method at increasing Carnosine concentrations. There is a definitive increase in plasma Carnosine following ingestion of meats and associated products that contain Carnosine, but still at low concentrations.
This is probably due to the relatively high activity of the Carnosinase enzyme, which is the enzyme that breaks Carnosine down into Beta-Alanine and Histidine. Remember me mentioning Beta Alanine and Histidine? Beta-Alanine and Histidine are taken up into the muscle where they are resynthesized back into Carnosine by an enzyme called Carnosine synthetase. There is sufficient data to believe that supplementation with Carnosine's constituent amino acids Beta-Alanine and Histidine are effective in increasing muscle Carnosine concentrations.
If you are like me, you are now asking yourselves "how do I get my hands on these compounds?" Well, fortunately as I write this, now available are several products here that contain Carnosine, Beta-Alanine and L-Histidine. Just run a search for these compounds on the site and make sure you are taking at least 3 grams of Carnosine a day, or 3 grams a day of a combination of Beta-Alanine and L-Histidine.
Man Sports Products Body Octane:
http://www.discountanabolics.com/page/DA/PROD/MAN/MA01