I also had a good experience with a higher dose of L-carnosine recently. 1500 mg taken in one day practically kicked out my ongoing DOMS episode and I could lift the dumbbells without any muscle pain/fatigue unlike I always do. I repeated the test on a separate day, but it did not turn out so well that time. Nevertheless at both times my other POIS symptoms were evidently reduced as well. I even felt a little anti-depressive effect around its peak time. Going forward I plan to go on a high L-carnosine regime soon. I can only hope that drug resistance won’t be a treatment killer this time.
Another POISer wrote earlier that at least 800 mg has to be taken as it inhibits the carnosinase enzyme that degrades it. I had been taking a lower dose of L-carnosine a few month before, but it did not change my symptoms that much, so this must be an important aspect.
Carnosine (anti-aging, very healthy), visibly improves speech, makes you social butterfly. This one is my total favorite, I take daily. You have to take at least 1000 mg, since there is an enzyme carnosinase in our bodies that destroys L-carnosine. The trick is to overwhelm action of carnosinase. Research indicates 800mg+ of carnosine is sufficient to overwhelm carnosinase.
L-carnosine is a muscle specific antioxidant and it must be the reason for my good experience. Carnosine scavenges and eliminates toxic aldehydes such as 4-HNE that are the most direct causative of POIS symptoms.
https://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=4492.0There are drugs in development such as Carnosinol that has a superior efficacy over carnosine and is also resistant to carnosinase. I guess it is something for the future generations to look out for.
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/94307Zinc-L-Carnosine appears to be more gut specific, but both POISers and CFS members found some relief with it, so clearly worth trying as well.
https://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=4645.msg50026#msg50026The carnivore diet is also popular among POISers and the most probable reason for the benefit is the meat specific antioxidants like taurine, creatine, carnosine, anserine and 4-hydroxyproline. Some other nutrient like vitamin B12 may also have some role.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7088015/Not all of these may be equally beneficial for all of us, but they could improve POIS even individually in several cases. Thus testing these separately or in a combination with a carnivore diet could be worthwhile. Actually beef contains the most amount of these, however long term red meat diet can be detrimental for health due to its high saturated fats content. Thus taking these meat specific antioxidants in supplement form as part of a “vegetarian” or Mediterranean diet could mitigate the risks of a carnivore diet, while retaining the ability to ameliorate POIS symptoms, hopefully.
