Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on exercise performance and related physiological outcomes in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Beta-alanine is widely used as an ergogenic aid in sports nutrition, yet most evidence comes from male or mixed-sex samples. Its effects in women therefore remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of beta-alanine supplementation on exercise performance and related outcomes in women. Methods This review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420261362733). PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched from inception to April 30, 2026. Randomized controlled studies in women comparing beta-alanine with placebo or control were included. Outcomes included time to exhaustion (TTE), maximal or peak oxygen uptake, peak power, anaerobic performance, and body fat percentage. RoB 2 and GRADE were used to assess risk of bias and certainty of evidence, respectively. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted using standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals. Results Twelve reports from 11 independent randomized controlled trials involving 312 women were included. Beta-alanine supplementation showed a pooled effect in favor of TTE (8 studies, N = 187; SMD = 0.49, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.79; p = 0.001; I 2 = 0%). For the remaining outcomes, pooled estimates were imprecise, with 95% confidence intervals including trivial and, where applicable, potentially meaningful effects. Moreover, certainty of evidence was very low for all outcomes after downgrading for risk of bias, imprecision, and publication bias; peak power and anaerobic performance were additionally downgraded for indirectness. Conclusion Beta-alanine supplementation may improve TTE in trials conducted in women, but current evidence does not support clear pooled effects on peak power, anaerobic performance, VO₂max and VO₂peak, or body fat percentage. Overall, these findings suggest an outcome-specific response pattern, although confidence in the evidence remains limited because of the small evidence base and very low certainty across outcomes. Systematic review registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261362733 , identifier PROSPERO (CRD420261362733).