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Sports nutrition
Glycine is a non-essential amino acid, which, in terms of chemical structure, is the simplest of all 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins. Although the body can synthesize it itself, it plays several specific and indispensable roles in an athlete's body. However, is its supplementation significant for athletic performance?
Taurine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid and a derivative of the amino acid cysteine, which has become a very popular ingredient in many sports and energy drinks in recent decades. Although it is found in the human body in high concentrations in the brain, heart, and muscles, its exact role still remains partially a mystery to science.
L-citrulline is a non-essential (not necessary to be consumed in food) non-proteinogenic (not a building block for muscles) amino acid that occurs in human diet only in small quantities. Its main natural source is watermelon, but the body can also synthesize it itself. In the field of sports nutrition, citrulline has gained great popularity due to its ability to increase arginine levels in the body and support nitric oxide (NO) production.
D-Aspartic Acid (DAA), found in the body in the form of aspartate, is an amino acid that is often presented as a means to increase energy and delay fatigue. But what does modern sports science really say about it?
The sports nutrition market is saturated with products promising miraculous improvements in performance. Yet the specialist literature and scientific consensus statements place only a narrow group of substances among the genuinely functional, or ergogenic, food supplements. Alongside creatine, caffeine and nitrates, this elite company also includes beta-alanine, for which there is strong evidence of its ability to help delay muscle fatigue during intense exercise.
Nitrate supplementation has become one of the most researched topics in modern sports science. Whereas in the past nitrates were considered a mere by-product of metabolism, today we know that they play a key role in regulating blood flow, muscle contraction and cellular energetics. The main natural source of these substances in sports nutrition is beetroot juice. Let us take a detailed look at the specific scientific studies that have examined the effect of nitrates on the human body, and at the real results athletes have achieved.
Branched-chain amino acids, known by the abbreviation BCAA (Branched-Chain Amino Acids), are among the best-selling...
You will find beta-alanine in just about every commercial "pre-workout" (pre-training booster). Many athletes have taken a liking to it because of a specific sensation - shortly after drinking it they start to feel itching or tingling all over the body. They automatically associate this feeling with the supplement having started to work immediately, so that they are ready to deliver maximum performance. From the point of view of sports science and physiology, however, this is a mistake. So how should beta-alanine be used to get the most out of it?