Moderate evidence. Direction: Benefit.
B Moderate
Rubric condition met: Meta-analyses with a significant pooled effect that is small overall and depends on the test (B); not A because the pooled effect on performance tests was not significant, EFSA found an effect in only 1 of 11 studies, and no supporting meta-analysis is confirmed independent
A 2017 meta-analysis of 40 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies (1,461 participants) found a small overall effect (0.18) that was larger for exercise-capacity tests lasting 0.5-10 minutes than for performance tests, where it was not significant. A 2024 meta-analysis in trained young men, a 2026 meta-analysis in women (very low certainty) and an individual-data analysis of cycling time to exhaustion point the same way. EFSA's 2014 review found an effect in only 1 of 11 studies, a 2020 meta-analysis found only small effects in aerobic-anaerobic transition zones, and funding of the two largest meta-analyses is not confirmed, so the proposal is B rather than A. The slug is the nearest canonical match for high-intensity exercise capacity.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobson 2012 | 2012 | meta-analysis | 360 | result not recorded |
| Saunders 2017 | 2017 | RCT | 25 | result not recorded |
| Saunders 2017 | 2017 | meta-analysis | 1461 | result not recorded |
| Huerta 2020 | 2020 | meta-analysis | not recorded | result not recorded |
| Esteves 2021 | 2021 | meta-analysis | not recorded | result not recorded |
| Georgiou 2024 | 2024 | meta-analysis | 331 | result not recorded |
| Gu 2026 | 2026 | meta-analysis | 312 | result not recorded |
Saunders B, DE Salles Painelli V, DE Oliveira LF. Twenty-four Weeks of β-Alanine Supplementation on Carnosine Content, Related Genes, and Exercise Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2017. PMID 28157726
Huerta Ojeda Á, Tapia Cerda C, Poblete Salvatierra MF. Effects of Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Physical Performance in Aerobic-Anaerobic Transition Zones: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Nutrients, 2020. PMID 32824885
Esteves GP, Swinton P, Sale C. Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis Provides No Evidence of Intervention Response Variation in Individuals Supplementing With Beta-Alanine Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2021. PMID 34098531
Gu J, Wei Y, Huang J. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on exercise performance and related physiological outcomes in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis Front Nutr, 2026. PMID 42370349
Georgiou GD, Antoniou K, Antoniou S. Effect of Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Maximal Intensity Exercise in Trained Young Male Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2024. PMID 39032921
Hobson RM, Saunders B, Ball G. Effects of β-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis Amino Acids, 2012. PMID 22270875
Saunders B, Elliott-Sale K, Artioli GG. β-alanine supplementation to improve exercise capacity and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis Br J Sports Med, 2017. PMID 27797728
Search (): (beta-alanine[ti] OR "beta alanine"[ti] OR β-alanine[ti]) AND (meta-analysis[pt] OR systematic review[pt])
