Questions people ask

Each answer points to the evidence. None of them is advice.

Is carnosine the same as carnitine?

No. They are different molecules discovered by the same chemist from meat extract, five years apart. See Names and spellings.

Why do athletes take beta-alanine instead of carnosine?

Carnosine swallowed by a person is broken down in the blood within minutes. Beta-alanine is the limiting ingredient muscle needs to make its own carnosine, and taking it raises muscle carnosine over several weeks. See Beta-alanine, the precursor and Carnosinase and absorption.

Does beta-alanine improve performance?

A 2017 meta-analysis of 40 studies found a small effect for efforts lasting 30 seconds to 10 minutes and none outside that range (Saunders 2017).

What is zinc carnosine?

A zinc complex of carnosine, approved as a stomach ulcer medicine in Japan in 1994 and sold as a supplement elsewhere. See Zinc-L-carnosine.

Do carnosine eye drops work for cataract?

The 2017 Cochrane review found no convincing evidence that N-acetylcarnosine drops reverse or slow cataract (Dubois 2017). See N-acetylcarnosine.

Has carnosine been tested in autism?

Yes, in two small randomised trials with different results (Chez 2002; Hajizadeh-Zaker 2018). See Mood and brain.

Has carnosine been tested in diabetes?

Yes, in several small trials in prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and in two meta-analyses (Matthews 2021; Menon 2020). See Metabolic health.

Is there research in dogs, cats or horses?

Horses have the most, on muscle carnosine and beta-alanine. Dogs and cats have very little. See Animals.

Which foods contain carnosine?

Meat and fish. Beef and pork hold mostly carnosine; chicken, turkey and tuna hold mostly anserine. Plants have none. See In food and the body.

Is carnosine allowed in Australian supplements?

In listed medicines, carnosine is permitted only as an excipient in topical skin products at 0.2 per cent or less. Polaprezinc is a permitted oral active. See Status in Australia.