Ingredient Watch: beta alanine ethyl ester HCl
Just so we’re clear: beta-alanine is a naturally occurring amino acid that the body uses to make carnosine. Muscle carnosine, in turn, buffers hydrogen ions produced during exercise. Since taking additional beta-alanine can boost muscle carnosine stores and improve performance/endurance, it’s become a pretty popular supplement ingredient. Beta alanine ethyl ester HCl (BAEE) is a chemically modified version that’s starting to show up in some supplements, such as VPX NO Shotgun and MuscleTech NaNO Vapor.
Ok, so what? Why should you care about BAEE?
Well, if you’re into bodybuilding, you may recall seeing something about it on some of the forums late last year. A statement from Dr. Roger Harris made the rounds, questioning its presence in certain bodybuilding supplements and raising questions about potential toxicity:
“We have seen a few alarming cases of beta alanine ethyl ester HCl advertised for sale on the internet…Without genuine clinical safety trials, which can take decades, to investigate safety for humans and possible long term side effects, it is not possible to say that this ethyl ester derivative is safe.”
Now, I have enormous respect for Dr. Harris, but I’m constrained to point out he’s not a disinterested 3rd party with respect to beta-alanine (He owns US Patent 6,680,294). This is reflected in his choice of words like “alarming.” As I posted on the BBR forum at the time, a lack of information is exactly that: it means “unknown” – not “unsafe.” So I felt (and still feel) that there was very little justification for the hysteria.
So why spill more words on the issue? Because – objective or not – Dr. Harris made a pretty valid point:
“The belief is that by altering the structure the chemical becomes more easily absorbed – however beta alanine (the real thing already is easily absorbed).”
This is quite true. As Paul’s discusses in his review of H+ Blocker, beta-alanine is quite effective as is. Why solve a problem that doesn’t exist?
In my view, it’s really about marketing. “Science” sells, and leading supplement companies compete with each other to appear innovative and cutting edge. The “ethyl ester” craze really got rolling after creatine ethyl ester (CEE) was introduced. Thanks to CEE’s success, we now have ingredients like leucine ethyl ester, taurine ethyl ester, norvaline ethyl ester, etc. as well. It was just a matter of time before a “beta alanine ethyl ester” hit the market.
So score one for Dr. Harris. Unfortunately, the questions he raised about BAEE pertain to a lot of bodybuilding supplement ingredients.
When I review supplements, I naturally focus on effectiveness, as most readers want to know if various products work as claimed. Safety generally isn’t covered, unless there’s some information that indicates it might be a problem. A lack of information, however, can’t be taken to mean something is perfectly safe. As the saying goes, absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.
Thus, while I’m not all that concerned about BAEE per se, I find the trend it represents somewhat worrisome. Adding chemically modified ingredients to supplement formulas for the hell of it increases the risk that – eventually – one or more will cause problems.
What all consumers should understand, is that under current US law, dietary supplements are not tightly regulated. As the FDA explains:
- FDA approval is not needed to sell dietary supplements. The FDA does not require proof of safety or effectiveness before a supplement can be marketed.
- Manufacturers and marketers do not need to forward any reports of injuries or illnesses they receive to the FDA.
- FDA must prove a compound is unsafe before they can regulate a product.
- Even the recent “Good Manufacturing Practices” rule covers only “identity, purity, strength, and composition” – not toxicity or long term safety.
Now, the lack of oversight isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the FDA would probably ban anything stronger than a Centrum if it could. Our freedom to choose from a wide variety of supplements means that we’re going to have to deal with uncertainty. But some manufacturers seem determined to push the limit.
Which leads us back to the beginning. BAEE has not been shown to be either effective…or safe, so caveat emptor. This is also true of a lot of compounds being added to supplements these days – which I’ll be covering in subsequent posts. In the meantime, I’ll offer a piece of advice: when you’re considering which supplements to take, don’t be blown away by the apparent “scientific” nature of the ingredients…in many cases, it just means you’re paying for the privilege of being a guinea pig. This is your choice, of course, but it’s one you should make with eyes wide open.
