Betaine Shows Muscle Health Benefits for Men

by | Dec 5, 2013 | 2013, Amino Acids, Men's Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Betaine increased muscle mass in weight lifters, decreased body fat by 18%, increased lean body mass by 2.6% and work volume (sum of the pounds lifted multiplied by the number of repetitions). 

Having proper muscle mass is crucial to maintaining health. In addition to serving as a reserve supply of amino acids for protein synthesis in vital tissues and organs, muscle maintains a healthy metabolism (burning calories) and “plays a key role in the genesis, and therefore the prevention, of many common pathologic conditions and chronic diseases” (1).

Now a new study (2) suggests that betaine may help increase muscle mass and be a significant contributor to maintaining overall health. In the study, 23 men with two years of weight training experience were given either 2,500 milligrams of betaine (12 subjects) or placebo (11 subjects) per day for 6 weeks. Before and after the study, researchers took skin fold and muscle cross-section measurements while having the subjects complete a strength testing protocol. They also provided urine samples before the study and every two weeks until the study ended.

The 2.5-gram dose of betaine, which is well below the upper safe limit of 12 grams per day (3), has been shown to significantly increase betaine levels in the blood (4) and positively affect strength performance (5). The normal supplemental dose is 648 mg (8).

After 6 weeks of supplementation, those in the betaine group experienced:

  • An 18.3% decrease in body fat percentage (17.5 to 14.3%, p = 0.01) compared to a 1.2% increase in the placebo group (16.4 to 16.6%)
  • A 2.6% increase in lean body mass (153 to 157 pounds, p = 0.01) compared to no change in the placebo group (163 to 164 pounds)
  • An 18.2% decrease in fat mass (33 to 27 pounds, p = 0.01) compared to a 1.5% increase in the placebo group (32.5 to 33 pounds)
  • A 9.2% increase in cross-sectional arm size (49.5 to 54.1 cm3, p = 0.01) compared to no change in the placebo group (53.4 to 53.5 cm3)

All of these increases were associated with a significant increase in power in the betaine group in the form of training volume, calculated as the sum of the pounds lifted multiplied by the number of repetitions performed during each week. Specifically, those in the betaine group had a 59% greater increase in work volume during week 6 (4523 to 5590 pounds = 1,067-pound increase from week 5, p = 0.01) than the placebo group (5170 to 5841 pounds = 671-pound increase). No gains in strength were seen in the betaine group compared to the placebo group.

Finally, those in the placebo group saw a 152% increase in a breakdown product of the inflammatory protein homocysteine called homocysteine thiolactone after 4 weeks (0.019 to 0.048 nanomoles/milliliter (ml), p = 0.01) compared to a 5.4% increase in the betaine group (.037 to .039 nmol/mL). The researchers credit the increased muscle mass in the betaine group to the increased homocysteine thiolactone excretion. Not only does betaine increase homocysteine thioloactone excretion (6) but homocysteine thiolactone hampers insulin’s ability to increase muscle mass (7). But the researchers admit these results need to be taken with caution as “subject diets were not analyzed for micronutrients and it is possible that dietary fluctuations in folate, betaine, or other B-vitamin consumption occurred and influenced urinary HCTL.”

For the researchers, “6 weeks of betaine supplementation improved body composition, muscle size, work capacity, attenuated a rise in homocystein thioloactone, tended to improve power, but not strength in resistance trained men.”

Source: Cholewa et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2013, 10:39 http://www.jissn.com/content/10/1/39

© 2013 Cholewa et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative

Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted December 5, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. Wolfe RR.  The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease.  Am J Clin Nutr September 2006 vol. 84 no. 3 475-482
  2. Cholewa JM.  Effects of betaine on body composition, performance, and homocysteine thiolactone. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2013 Aug 22;10(1):39. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-10-39.
  3. Lee EC, Maresh CM, Kraemer WJ, Yamamoto LM, Hatfield DL, Bailey BL, Armstrong LE, Volek JS, McDermott BP, Craig SA: Ergogenic effects of betaine supplementation on strength and power performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2010, 7:27.
  4. Schwab U, Törrönen A, Toppinen L, Alfthan G, Saarinen M, Aro A, Uusitupa M: Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 2002 76:961–967
  5. Trepanowski JF, Farney TM, McCarthy CG, Schilling BK, Craig SA, Bloomer RJ: The effects of chronic betaine supplementation on exercise performance, skeletal muscle oxygen saturation and associated biochemical parameters in resistance trained men. J Strength Cond Res 2011, 25:3461–3471.
  6. Garcia MM, Guéant-Rodriguez R-M, Pooya S, Brachet P, Alberto J-M, Jeannesson E, Maskali F, Gueguen N, Marie P-Y, Lacolley P, Herrmann M, Juillière Y, Malthiery Y, Guéant J-L: Methyl donor deficiency induces cardiomyopathy through altered methylation/acetylation of PGC-1α by PRMT1 and SIRT1. J Pathol 2011, 225:324–335.
  7. Li Y, Jiang C, Xu G, Wang N, Zhu Y, Tang C, Wang X: Homocysteine upregulates resistin production from adipocytes in vivo and in vitro. Diabetes 2008, 57:817–827
  8. Elwood Richard, BS.