β-alanine supplementation in adults with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled feasibility trial

Matthews, JJ, Creighton, JV ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5521-7392, Donaldson, J, Swinton, PA, Kyrou, I, Bellary, S, Idris, I, Santos, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1915-6780, Turner, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7175-1053, Doig, CL ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9694-4230, Elliott‐Sale, KJ and Sale, C, 2025. β-alanine supplementation in adults with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled feasibility trial. Obesity, 33 (2), pp. 278-288. ISSN 1930-7381

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Abstract

Objective
Overweight and obesity are characterized by excess adiposity and systemic, chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is associated with several metabolic disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and tolerability of β-alanine supplementation and to explore the effects on cardiometabolic health and cardiovascular, hepatic, and renal function in adults with overweight and obesity.

Methods
A total of 27 adults (44% female; mean [SD], age: 58 [10] years, BMI: 31.1 [2.9] kg/m2, hemoglobin A1c: 39.8 [4.3] mmol/mol) received β-alanine (4.8 g/day) or a matched placebo for 3 months. Feasibility and tolerability outcomes included adherence, side effects, recruitment, attrition, and blinding, and exploratory outcomes included biochemical markers, blood pressures, and transthoracic echocardiography parameters. Data were analyzed using a Bayesian approach presented with 95% credible intervals (CrI).

Results
β-alanine was well tolerated and adhered to (adherence: placebo, 0.91 [95% CrI: 0.84–0.95]; β-alanine, 0.92 [95% CrI: 0.85–0.95]), and side effects remained at or below baseline throughout. The probability that β-alanine supplementation affected cardiometabolic, cardiovascular, or clinical biochemical outcomes was low.

Conclusions
Sustained-release β-alanine supplementation is well tolerated and adhered to in adults with overweight and obesity. Future research should consider more advanced metabolic conditions, which may benefit from longer duration supplementation.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Obesity
Creators:	Matthews, J.J., Creighton, J.V., Donaldson, J., Swinton, P.A., Kyrou, I., Bellary, S., Idris, I., Santos, L., Turner, M.D., Doig, C.L., Elliott‐Sale, K.J. and Sale, C.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	February 2025
Volume:	33
Number:	2
ISSN:	1930-7381
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1002/oby.24204 DOI 2341423 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Obesity Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	14 Feb 2025 10:56
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2025 10:56
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53041

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