Biotest Beta 7 (180 Tablets)

We've heard it before: this supplement or that supplement stands to be the next creatine. Only it never does pan out to be the next creatine. Worse, whatever it was that initially prompted such lofty comparisons usually gets dumped to the back of history's medicine cabinet, forgotten and eventually discarded. But this time, this time, I think we've got it.

In many ways, Biotest's BETA-7 is reminiscent of creatine in that it allows you to do more work, and all things being equal, more work means more muscle. Like creatine, it works for just about everybody, and there's usually no guesswork involved: you know it's working; the results are concrete. What's more, BETA-7 also works for endurance athletes. Soon, no one, professional or amateur, strength athlete or endurance athlete, will dream of training or competing without it. Like creatine, it's found naturally in the body, and by giving the body more of this substance, it allows the body to do more work.

The active ingredient in BETA-7 is called beta-alanine. The trouble is, up until now, there's been a fly in the ointment concerning the proposed use of conventional beta-alanine: If you take it once a day, it's not very effective. If you take it twice a day, it's not very effective. If you take it three times a day... you guessed it, it's not very effective.

In fact, ordinary, run of the mill beta-alanine must be taken 4 to 8 times a day for it to work effectively, but Biotest bludgeoned that problem to smithereens with a cool drug-delivery technique, making BETA-7 a time released beta-alanine. Beta-alanine already has a list of research studies behind it that might soon match that of creatine's in length and scope, but in order to help you understand this exciting new supplement better, we've interviewed Dr. Jeff Stout, one of the world's foremost experts on beta-alanine. Prepare to learn and prepare to be blown away.

What is BETA-7 and what does it do

JS: Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid found naturally in both the body and in foods such as chicken or whale meat... not that many of us eat whale, of course. When beta-alanine is ingested, it enters the blood stream and is taken up by muscle cells. It then becomes what I call the "rate limiting substrate" to carnosine synthesis. Now, carnosine is a dipeptide found primarily in fast-twitch muscle whose primary function, as far as you and I are concerned, is bufferinghydrogen ions (H+). So without beta-alanine, carnosine doesn't get produced, and you don't have the buffering of hydrogen ions.

Why is buffering so important

JS: Well, we need carnosine to buffer H+. If we buffer H+, the pH levels in our muscles don't drop so low that our muscles start burning and force us to quit. If we don't buffer, the acid levels in the muscle get very, very, high, and we have to cut our sets off prematurely. And, if you're cutting your sets prematurely, you're not growing. Increasing muscle carnosine levels allows you to do more reps and more sets in a given workout.

It means more sets at a higher intensity with less fatigue. That, my friend, means more growth and more strength. There's a theory, of course, that we're limited not only by genetics, but also how hard we can train to get huge. If fact, one of the many actions of anabolic steroids is the ability to train harder which results in much greater muscle and strength gains. It's also interesting that steroids can significantly increase the muscle's ability to delay fatigue by increasing creatine and CARNOSINE synthesis! So, delaying fatigue, and thus increasing training volume and intensity is extremely important to growth.

Okay, so why can't a person just take a lot of carnosine

JS: Good question! First of all, carnosine is not absorbed effectively in humans. Only a small amount remains intact, but it's that nominal quantity where you encounter the real problems. The intact carnosine is hydrolyzed into histidine and beta-alanine, which is then taken up by skeletal muscle and synthesized back into carnosine. Because of the initial hydrolysis, the ingested carnosine can't be taken up into muscle intact.

As such, the only value you gain by ingesting expensive carnosine is the beta-alanine that's formed, since it's the beta-alanine that can "remake" carnosine in muscle. So it's much more logical and much more efficient and much less expensive to take beta-alanine directly.

Are there any negative side effects

JS: There's one, at least in conventional beta-alanine supplements. Users sometimes experience a slight flushing/tingling effect with high doses (at or greater than 1.6 grams) called paraesthesia. This is resolved by taking 4 to 8 smaller doses several times a day. Traditionally, you take six grams daily, in the aforementioned 4 to 8 doses, for at least two weeks to see its first effect. The reason for taking multiple doses is to ensure a constant presence of beta-alanine, which helps drive beta-alanine into the muscle cell, where it's synthesized into carnosine.

HOWEVER, Biotest's BETA-7 uses the very latest in time-release technology which will allow for a 24-hour presence of beta-alanine in the blood from only 3 doses a day. This will solve the problem of having to take 4 to 8 doses per days to get the same effect and that annoying paraesthesia!! Nice!

So you do need to "load" it, like creatine

JS: Well, research so far suggest that maximal increases in carnosine happen within 4 weeks with about 6 g per day, or 40 to 60 mg per kg of body weight. After that, I think you could cut the dose in half to maintain your elevated carnosine levels.

Does it have this buffering effect on just slow-twitch fibers, or fast-twitch fibers, too

JS: Dr. Harris ? the man involved in many of the early creatine studies ? recently demonstrated that after 4 weeks of beta-alanine supplementation (6.4 g per day), subjects experienced a significant increase (60%) in muscle carnosine levels. The percentage increase was similar in fast and slow-twitch muscle, suggesting the increasing carnosine in slow twitch muscle will also benefit the endurance athlete by enhancing the H+ buffering capacity.

So strength athletes and endurance athletes could benefit equally

JS: Yes, finally a supplement that can enhance performance in ALL athletes! Can you think of a single sport that doesn't try to deal with delaying fatigue during training or competition I can't.

Do the effects diminish over time Does it have to be cycled

JS: While the research isn't there yet, it appears anecdotally, that if you stop supplementing, your carnosine levels will return to baseline in about 6 weeks. I would suggest taking a maintenance dose (2 to 3 g per day) to keep carnosine levels up. I see no need to cycle.

Biotest's BETA-7 is available right now. To add it to your supplement arsenal and become a physical juggernaut.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 2 Tablets Servings Per Container: 90

Amount Per Serving

Time-Release Beta-Alanine: 2000mg

Other Ingredients

Dicalcium phosphate, sorbitol, xanthan gum, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, inulin, gamma cyclodextrin, caphalins (phosphatidylethanolamines and serine).