Beta-alanine is like creatine. You must take it chronically to see the best performance gains. Therefore, having it a few times per week in your pre-workout isn't enough; instead, you should take it daily to see performance benefits.
So, I've curated the best beta-alanine supplements, from powder to pills and even pre-workout.
Header |  Best Pure Beta-Alanine |  Best Pre-Workout With Beta-Alanine |  Best Budget Beta-Alanine |
|---|---|---|---|
Product | |||
Size | 300 g | 636 g | 100 g - 5 kg |
Price |
Table of Contents
Best Pure Beta-Alanine
Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine
There’s a few features to look for when purchasing beta-alanine powder.
1. Transparent Certificate of Analysis (CoA) to show it’s free from heavy metals and contaminants,
2. The informed sport tick to show it’s free from banned substances,
3. A tub big enough to provide large serving sizes for at least a month.
Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine ticks these boxes. Here is their CoA for their beta-alanine powder.
It is tested for banned substances, so if you’re a first responder or competitive athlete subject to random drug tests, you’re safe from inadvertent contamination.
Lastly, the serving size is 3 g, with 100 servings lasting over 3 months at this serving size. However, if you want to accelerate the performance benefits, you can double this and take 6 g daily.
The goal is to accumulate 179 g, so taking 6 g daily gets you there within a month, and you still have leftovers to continue [1].
Beta-alanine dissolves much easier than creatine, so you can mix this with whatever fluid you fancy. We'll use the 3 g serving size to price per serving to keep the product comparisons consistent.
Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine is one of the cheapest at $9.99 for the tub, coming to $0.10 per serving. You can get it for $1 cheaper by subscribing, which includes free shipping.
Pros
Cons
Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine
Best Pre-Workout With Beta-Alanine
Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout
While some may opt for a pre-workout without beta-alanine to avoid itchy and tingling skin, most pre-workouts include beta-alanine because it’s an effective pre-workout ingredient improving short, high-intensity exercise.
Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout is the best of them, with a massive 21 g serving size, including 4 g of beta-alanine. Most pre-workouts have serving sizes half that.
The large serving size means there are efficacious doses of multiple ingredients to enhance your performance.
L-citrulline, beta-alanine, betaine anhydrous, taurine, caffeine, and L-theanine combine to improve strength, power, and endurance and help you perform more reps at a given load to maximize muscle hypertrophy.
The pre-workout is rounded out by more speculative that may enhance performance. But either way, that won’t cause you any harm.
The flavors taste great, it mixes well, and it's banned substance-tested, as are all Transparent Labs supplements, so drug-tested athletes and first responders can take it.
It's $49.99 for 30 servings, which comes to $1.67 per serving. It's an excellent price for 4 g of beta-alanine per serving combined with many other effective ingredients.
You can read our complete, in-depth guide in our Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout review.
Pros
Cons
Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout
Best Budget Beta-Alanine
Bulk Supplements Beta-Alanine
Bulk Supplements will always get you the best deal as long as you purchase in bulk. Their 1 kg bag of beta-alanine containing 333, 3 g servings is $20.96 and comes to $0.06 per serving.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a better deal than that. They provide a CoA on request and is manufactured under strict cGMP standards.
However, there are a few drawbacks compared to Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine. Firstly, there's no scoop, so you'll need to weigh your servings to consistently hit your 3-6 g dose.
Secondly, it's not informed sport tested, so while it's free from heavy metals and other contaminants, it's not tested for banned substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
If you're a first responder or drug-tested athlete, you'll want the Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine since it's banned substance tested.
Finally, the Bulk Supplements pouch breaks with use. The resealable bag tends to lose effectiveness, so you'll need to add it to an air-tight container instead.
Other than these, it’s the perfect beta-alanine powder on a budget.
Pros
Cons
Bulk Supplements Beta-Alanine
Best Beta-Alanine Capsules
Nutricost Beta-Alanine Capsules
Capsules can be easier to consume since you don't need to mix them in anything, making them great to keep in your gym bag or to travel with.
One downside to capsules is they typically have underdosed serving sizes, as it's difficult to fit enough powder in pill format with a small supply.
Nutricost has turned this on its head and provides adequate serving sizes with a 60-day supply in each tub.
4 capsules give 3.4 g of beta-alanine, making it 850 mg per capsule with 240 capsules per container. They are manufactured in a GMP-compliant, FDA-registered facility.
The upside of the capsule being 850 mg is the ease of breaking up your daily dose.
The tingling and itchy feeling you experience typically only occurs with doses greater than 800 mg, so you will experience much less of this sensation by taking one capsule 4 times daily [2].
The downside of these capsules is the additional ingredients, including maltodextrin, magnesium stearate (vegetable source), and pure olive oil.
It costs $18.95, making it $0.32 per serving.
Pros
Cons
Nutricost Beta-Alanine Capsules
Beta-Alanine Benefits
Improve High-Intensity Exercise
When accumulating 179 g of beta-alanine, you can expect to see a 2.85 % improvement in high-intensity endurance performance in the 1-4 minute range [1][3].
How does beta-alanine do this?
Beta-alanine raises carnosine levels, which operate as a buffer, removing hydrogen ions accumulated in the muscle as a result of high-intensity exercise.
These hydrogen ions are very acidic, lowering muscle pH. One is strongly acidic, seven is neutral, and fourteen is highly alkaline or basic. This pH drop impairs the muscles' ability to contract, resulting in fatigue.
By buffering these hydrogen ions, the muscle's pH remains neutral for longer, extending the time to exhaustion.
Feels Like It’s Working
This is a completely placebo effect, but many people equate the tingling sensation to their pre-workout or supplements “kicking in.”
If this is your training ritual, you may find the tingling feeling provides an uplift in energy on association.
How To Pick The Best Beta-Alanine Supplement
Dose
While beta-alanine can improve performance with acute doses, chronic intake delivers maximum performance-enhancing benefits.
The goal is to reach approximately 179 g in 3-10 weeks with daily doses between 2.4-6 g [1][3].
Your beta-alanine supplement should allow you to take doses in this range without finishing your container quickly.
Purity
Always go with well-known, trusted brands and request a Certificate of Analysis if it's not readily available.
It shows the beta-alanine has no contaminants or heavy metals and really is pure beta-alanine.
If you've decided on capsules, you won't find pure beta-alanine, as it's mixed with other ingredients to help with delivery.
Third-Party Testing
Certain populations are subject to drug tests for banned substances. First responders and competitive athletes are the most common in this category. If you are in this category, you must look for the informed sport tick.
All Transparent Labs supplements are banned substance tested, making them an easy choice for beta-alanine.
Beta-Alanine Side Effects
When pre-workout makes you itch and tingle, it’s the beta-alanine. It’s a well-documented side effect called paresthesia [4].
While it’s not a phenomenon you can build a tolerance to, it is harmless. However, some individuals don’t like this feeling and prefer to find pre-workouts without beta-alanine.
You can mitigate these side effects by taking up to 800 mg at a time, as doses over this amount tend to induce paresthesia [2].
Hence, having pure beta-alanine in powder or capsule form means you can control the dose.
Interestingly, there is an individual response to beta-alanine’s side effects. For example, Asian males may not feel a tingling sensation, whereas Asian females may have a stronger response [5].
How To Power Up Beta-Alanine
Co-supplementing with sodium bicarbonate (yes, the baking soda in your pantry) may potentially further enhance endurance performance [3]. However, it may also need to be taken chronically to see these benefits [6].
If you’re willing to try this, the dose used in this study was 500 mg of sodium bicarbonate per kg of body weight.
Frequently Asked Beta-Alanine Questions
What Is The Best Form Of Beta-Alanine?
Beta-alanine only comes in pure beta-alanine. However, you can get it in powder or pill form.
Powder is the purest form since it doesn’t have other fillers. Although you can’t get flavored beta-alanine.
Capsules allow you to easily separate your dose throughout the day without having to mix it.
Is Beta-Alanine Really Effective?
Beta-alanine is one of the few effective supplements. Most supplements are speculative at best regarding ergogenic benefits to exercise. Beta-alanine has been proven to enhance high-intensity exercise performance.
Is It Safe To Take Beta-Alanine Every Day?
It is safe to take beta-alanine every day, and you should to accumulate the dose needed to boost performance.
Summary
Choosing a beta-alanine supplement is relatively easy due to limited options and no variants. Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine is the best choice as it is third-party tested, informed sport tested for banned substances, and is just pure beta-alanine.
If you’re looking for a pre-workout with beta-alanine, Transparent Labs Bulk is the one.
Transparent Labs Beta-Alanine
References
- Hobson, R. M., Saunders, B., Ball, G., Harris, R. C., & Sale, C. (2012). Effects of β-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis. Amino acids, 43(1), 25-37.
- Trexler, E. T., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Stout, J. R., Hoffman, J. R., Wilborn, C. D., Sale, C., … & Antonio, J. (2015). International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12(1), 1-14.
- Saunders, B., Elliott-Sale, K., Artioli, G. G., Swinton, P. A., Dolan, E., Roschel, H., ... & Gualano, B. (2017). β-alanine supplementation to improve exercise capacity and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(8), 658-669.
- Huerta Ojeda, Á., Tapia Cerda, C., Poblete Salvatierra, M. F., Barahona-Fuentes, G., & Jorquera Aguilera, C. (2020). Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on physical performance in aerobic–anaerobic transition zones: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 12(9), 2490.
- MacPhee, S., Weaver, I. N., & Weaver, D. F. (2013). An evaluation of interindividual responses to the orally administered neurotransmitter β-alanine. Journal of amino acids, 2013.
- Tobias, G., Benatti, F. B., de Salles Painelli, V., Roschel, H., Gualano, B., Sale, C., ... & Artioli, G. G. (2013). Additive effects of beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate on upper-body intermittent performance. Amino acids, 45, 309-317.