Athletic Performance: Betaine
Athletic Performance: Betaine
Many of the ingredients discussed have proven benefits to cardiovascular and cognitive health in addition to providing endurance and muscle performance benefits. Betaine is one example of this. Betaine is an ingredient commonly found in pre-workout and energy boosting powders and supplements. Although companies promote it for its muscle building benefits, its benefits extend beyond this.
Betaine, or trimethylglycine, gets its name from “beets”; the first food that it was isolated from. Betaine is also found in high amounts in wheats, grains, and spinach. In addition, the body creates betaine (and other compounds) when it breaks down and uses choline. As previously discussed, choline increases cognitive function, healthy brain development for infants and children, and supports other cellular functions. It can be found throughout the diet and was recently granted the status of being an essential nutrient. In fact, many of the benefits of choline are due to its metabolized products.
Betaine is used for a variety of different cellular functions, but its biggest role is maintaining proper hydration balance in cells and throughout the body. It also might contribute to the synthesis of creatine (the mechanism is not fully understood, however). As previously discussed, creatine increases energy in the brain and muscles. Through the (possible) creation of creatine, some studies have shown that betaine improves the number of reps performed, muscle endurance, and power output. However, these studies are mixed; with other studies showing no improvement. Studies have also shown that betaine reduces body fat. For athletes, studies have shown an improvement in body composition (lower fat, higher muscle mass). For others, studies have shown that while body mass did not change, body fat did significantly decrease. (The lack of changes might be due to betaine’s ability to hold on to water.) Preliminary research has also suggested that betaine is effective in preventing and improving symptoms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and detoxifying the liver, improving cardiovascular health, reducing inflammation in the body, and improving skin hydration and health.
There are two different types of betaine—betaine anhydrous and betaine HCl. Betaine anhydrous is seen in pre-workouts and other beverages and is the most studied. Betaine HCl is seen in tablets and capsules and has the added benefit of providing digestive support that betaine anhydrous cannot do. The studies that show positive results in increasing muscle strength, power, and overall performance show that 2.5 grams taken before a workout is most effective. For these benefits, it is recommended to “load” betaine for 14 days in order to see the best results. For betaine’s other benefits, studies have shown that 1.5-3 grams (average of 2.5 grams) is most effective.
Many pre-workouts (like this one) contain betaine in the clinically studied dosage. If a pre-workout is not desired, betaine also can be found as a powder or as a tablet or capsule. The powder has the obvious benefit of being able to regulate the serving size but might have a slight fishy taste/smell. The tablet/capsule has a smaller serving size, and multiple pills would need to be consumed in order to get an efficacious dosage.
Have you heard of betaine before? If so, do you think it works?