carnosine and beta-alanine

I've been taking Jarrow's L-Carnosine (for cataracts) now for a couple of months and have not noticed anything different in terms of hair, energy level, weight...or eyesight. The only reaction I had was that the first few days I took it, I had a slight stomach ache right afterward (Jarrow instructs you to take it on an empty stomach). I will probably drop this supplement when my bottle is out. If anyone has any good results with it or beta-alanine in the future, I will reconsider.

Ok, so day three of Beta-Al. I did get the tingle, maybe takes a few days to ramp up. Similar to a niacin flush, but nowhere near as bad.

What is this stuff doing again?

Noticed that I wake up in the middle of the night, don't need as much sleep and am not tired from this effect, which is really cool.

This and that crazy Aajonus Vonderplanitz rotten meat diet, and I'm on my way to becoming a vampire...

FWIW, since I've lowered the amount of supplements I take I can now tell a difference with beta alanine. I still have to check my carnosine supplements that I have on hand but I'm sure it's the same.

It appears my skin gets smoother while taking it. Since carnosine/beta alanine act as a heavy metal chelator, I'm guessing the reason for the smoother skin is it's helping with hyaluronic acid.

hope this helps

Life Sci. 2004 Jul 30;75(11):1379-89. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Anti-crosslinking properties of carnosine: significance of histidine.

Hobart LJ, Seibel I, Yeargans GS, Seidler NW.

Department of Biochemistry, University of Health Sciences, 1750
Independence Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64106-1453, USA.

Carnosine, a histidine-containing dipeptide, is a potential treatment
for Alzheimer's disease. There is evidence that carnosine prevents
oxidation and glycation, both of which contribute to the crosslinking of
proteins; and protein crosslinking promotes beta-amyloid plaque formation.
It was previously shown that carnosine has anti-crosslinking activity, but
it is not known which of the chemical constituents are responsible. We
tested the individual amino acids in carnosine (beta-alanine, histidine) as
well as modified forms of histidine (alpha-acetyl-histidine,
1-methyl-histidine) and methylated carnosine (anserine) using
glycation-induced crosslinking of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase as
our model. beta-Alanine showed anti-crosslinking activity but less than
that of carnosine, suggesting that the beta-amino group is required in
preventing protein crosslinking. Interestingly, histidine, which has both
alpha-amino and imidazolium groups, was more effective than carnosine.
Acetylation of histidine's alpha-amino group or methylation of its
imidazolium group abolished anti-crosslinking activity. Furthermore,
methylation of carnosine's imidazolium group decreased its
anti-crosslinking activity. The results suggest that histidine is the
representative structure for an anti-crosslinking agent, containing the
necessary functional groups for optimal protection against crosslinking
agents. We propose that the imidazolium group of histidine or carnosine may
stabilize adducts formed at the primary amino group.

Here's an interesting testimonial

"I take this [Histidine] and Glycine to stop hair loss and thicken my aging hair"

http://www.iherb.com/Twinlab-L-Histidine-500-mg-60-Tablets/2348?at=1