Lactic Acid

When exercising or during a race a runner’s heart rate often goes beyond threshold values and reaches what is called the anaerobic threshold by producing lactic acid.

This happens when transitioning from a heart rate connected to a normal intake of oxygen sufficient in carrying out our biological functions to a situation when oxygen levels are not enough.

When the body undergoes this situation, muscles produce an excess of lactic acid and the burn starts to be detected by the person.

The human body is equipped with defence systems which counteract lactic acid surplus; the liver for example transforms it back in to glucose, the heart instead is able to metabolize lactic acid and use it as an energy source.

During strenuous exercises a cyclist experiences a phenomenon called aerobic metabolism, his body is not able to provide enough energy and produces ATP, a process also called lactacid anaerobic mechanism.

This phenomenon provides for the lack of oxygen by increasing the amount of lactic acid which in turn exceeds the standard levels our organism is able to counteract.

What results from this process is a sudden buildup in the amounts of lactate within the blood corresponding more or less to the subject’s anaerobic threshold.

The glucose molecule is chemically split in two pyruvic acid molecules; this reaction produces energy stored within the 2 ATP molecules.

During aerobic conditions the molecules produced are completely devoid of carbon dioxide, during anaerobic conditions molecules of pyruvic acid are instead devoid of other organic compounds among which the dreaded lactic acid and hydrogen ions, the ones responsible for causing muscular pain.

When a muscle is under strain there is a high acid lactic production especially within the fast-twitch or white muscle fibers that have anaerobic glycolytic properties superior to the red slow muscle fibers.

Lactate is already produced during low intensity exercises; red blood cells, for example, continually produce it even when the body is completely at rest.

An active adult man usually produces 120 grams of lactic acid per day; 40 grams are produced by exclusively anaerobic fibers (retina and red blood cells) the remaining other fibers (especially muscular ones) produce it according to oxygen availability.

When the body is at rest the hematic concentration of lactate within the blood is usually 1-2 mmol/L. During intense physical effort it may reach or exceed 20 mmol/L.

The anaerobic threshold is measured by analyzing acid lactic hematic quantities and then comparing them to heart beat levels. That is why during an incremental exercise levels reach 4 mmol/L.

Beta-alanine’s synergic action contrasts the formation of lactic acid by using powerful antioxidants which facilitate the process. This is the best formulation available on the market.

Betalanina

Beta-alanine is a substance that forms carnosine dipeptide after bonding with the histidine amino acid. This union produces an effective delay in the production of hydrogen ions which cause muscular pain.

Green tea astaxanthin and catechin have very powerful antioxidant and detoxifying properties that help in neutralizing free radicals. According to recent studies astaxanthin antioxidant properties are considered up to 500 times more effective if compared to vitamin E.

If intense physical activity was performed it’s advisable to take up to one capsule per day before going to bed in order to prepare the muscles for the next day.