Beta Alanine in MemoClear

What Beta Alanine is

Beta alanine is an amino acid, though not one used to build protein. Its job is narrower: joined to histidine it forms carnosine, which is stored mainly in skeletal muscle and, in smaller amounts, in the brain.

Carnosine acts as a buffer. During hard effort muscle becomes more acidic, and carnosine soaks up some of that acidity, which is why beta alanine is a fixture in sports supplements. It also behaves as an antioxidant and binds metals, which is the angle brain formulas tend to take.

The supply of beta alanine, not histidine, is what limits how much carnosine the body can build. That is the whole reason it is sold on its own.

What MemoClear declares

MemoClear declares beta alanine at 40 mg per capsule, no daily value established. It is the smallest of the seven entries.

At that amount there is none of the harmless pins-and-needles feeling that gram doses of beta alanine are known for, which is one reason it sits comfortably in a capsule taken every morning.

An ordinary meat-eating diet supplies beta alanine as part of carnosine and anserine in meat and fish. Vegetarians take in noticeably less, which is the group for whom a supplement is most often discussed.

Where it comes from in food

Beef, pork, poultry and fish. It reaches you mostly as part of carnosine and anserine in meat rather than as free beta alanine, and vegetarians take in noticeably less.