PURE L-Carnosine Capsules

What is Carnosine?

Carnosine is a dipeptide, which is a substance that consists of two amino acids: Beta-Alanine and L-Histidine. Carnosine was discovered over 100 years ago in meat extract and is therefore nothing new.

Methyl groups can be attached to carnosine. These methylated carnosine forms are anserine and ophidine.

Carnosine and its methylated forms are found exclusively in meat – neither in plants nor in fungi has carnosine or derived substances been discovered. Particularly high amounts of carnosine are found in the muscle tissue of poultry, buffalo, horse, beef and pork.

In both animals and humans, carnitine is found almost exclusively in skeletal muscle (up to 99 % of the total occurrence in the organism).

In principle, the body can produce carnosine itself, namely from the precursors Beta-Alanine and Histidine, mediated by an enzyme called Carnosine Synthase (CS). However, it has been shown that the Beta-Alanine amounts produced this way are not sufficient to adequately support carnosine synthesis.

An exogenous supply of Beta-Alanine or preferably directly L-Carnosine is therefore necessary to increase the muscular carnosine stores.

What does Carnosine do?

Carnosine can generally act as an acid buffer in muscle and also possesses the ability to bind divalent metals such as copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel or cadmium. Furthermore, it is a powerful antioxidant, which is in no way inferior to vitamin E and vitamin C in neutralising superoxide anions.

Also very potent is the effect of carnosine against AGEs (advanced glycation end-products) and ALEs (advanced lipoxidation end-products). These substances form through the reaction of sugars and fats with proteins and play a role in ageing and in the development of many diseases.

Studies show a variety of positive effects of carnosine:

• Beta-Alanine, the precursor of carnosine, has long been known in the sports field. By increasing carnosine stores, acids that build up in the muscle during exertion can be better buffered. In a randomised, controlled human study, this acid-reducing effect of Beta-Alanine during high-intensity exercise could be confirmed. (1)

• In a gold-standard study on diabetics, administration of 1 g of carnosine per day within 12 weeks led to a significant decrease in fat mass as well as improvement in some diabetes-associated blood markers. (2)

• In 2024, this positive effect on blood sugar regulation could again be confirmed in a randomised clinical study, in which daily administration of carnosine could reduce blood sugar elevation within the scope of a glucose tolerance test. (3)

• In diabetic nephropathy, a kidney damage caused by persistently elevated blood sugar levels, carnosine in an RCT study (randomised clinical trial) could inhibit the formation of a growth factor that contributes to kidney damage and could thus exert a kidney-protective effect in diabetes. (4)

• The intake of carnosine also appears to have a positive effect on depression in clinical studies: subjects who took carnosine in addition to an antidepressant experienced a stronger antidepressive effect as well as a higher remission rate than the placebo group. (5)
• A mixture of carnosine and its derivative methylcarnosine (anserine) showed positive effects in a further clinical study in healthy elderly people who already showed mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia. The (methyl-)carnosine group achieved a better score in the Global Clinical Dementia Rating compared to placebo. The improvement was particularly pronounced in carriers of the "Alzheimer gene" ApoE4. (6)

L-Carnosine from the PURE range

In our product, we use pure L-Carnosine in an ideal dosage. As always with PURE products, no additional substances are included. Our L-Carnosine is ideally suited to replenish the body's stores and thus to enjoy the many benefits of carnosine.

Sources

1. Baguet, A., Koppo, K., Pottier, A. & Derave, W. Beta-Alanine supplementation reduces acidosis but not oxygen uptake response during high-intensity cycling exercise. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 108, 495–503 (2010).

2. Houjeghani, S., Kheirouri, S., Faraji, E. & Jafarabadi, M. A. l-Carnosine supplementation attenuated fasting glucose, triglycerides, advanced glycation end products, and tumour necrosis factor-α levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial. Nutr. Res. N. Y. N 49, 96–106 (2018).

3. Hariharan, R. et al. Carnosine supplementation improves glucose control in adults with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes: A randomised controlled trial. Nutr. Metab. Cardiovasc. Dis. 34, 485–496 (2024).

4. Siriwattanasit, N., Satirapoj, B. & Supasyndh, O. Effect of Oral carnosine supplementation on urinary TGF-β in diabetic nephropathy: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Nephrol. 22, 236 (2021).

5. Araminia, B. et al. L-Carnosine combination therapy for major depressive disorder: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J. Affect. Disord. 267, 131–136 (2020).

6. Masuoka, N. et al. Effects of Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation on Mild Cognitive Impairment with APOE4. Nutrients 11, 1626 (2019).