Anserine

Also called beta-alanyl-3-methyl-L-histidine, imidazole dipeptide, chicken breast extract, anserine/carnosine.

Best grade C across 9 graded outcomes Amino acid Last checked Oct 21, 2026

The short answer

From 10 sources

Anserine is a carnosine-like dipeptide from meat and fish. Small Japanese trials from one research group, pooled in a 2026 meta-analysis, found better delayed recall in older adults at 1 g/day of an anserine/carnosine mix (grade C), but most other cognitive tests did not change. Exercise data are limited to small single-dose studies.

Every graded outcome on this page

9 rows · line = participants

Grade CWorking memory with daily chicken essenceMemoryn 794
Grade CDepression and quality-of-life scores with histidine dipeptidesMood and depressionn 776
Grade CDelayed verbal recall (Wechsler logical memory) in older adultsMemoryn 177
Grade DVerbal memory and frontal brain blood flow over 12 monthsMemoryn 68
Grade DCognition in mild cognitive impairmentMemoryn 54
Grade DDelayed verbal recall and brain blood flowMemoryn 39
Grade DMMSE score in mild cognitive impairmentMemoryn 30
Grade DRepeated sprint peak power and peak muscle torque after a single doseExercisen 11
Grade DOxidative stress and muscle-damage markers after exerciseExercisen 10
6 more graded outcomes, in the evidence chapter

Key facts

What it is: A methylated relative of carnosine (beta-alanyl-3-methyl-L-histidine) and the active ingredient of chicken essence^4,5
Memory: 1 g/day of a 3:1 anserine/carnosine mix preserved delayed recall over 3 months in 39 older adults¹
Mild cognitive impairment: 500 mg/day of anserine raised MMSE 1.9 points versus placebo in 30 people; a 54-person trial improved only one of four test scales^2,3
Absorption: Anserine resists breakdown in blood better than carnosine, and taking both together raised blood anserine further⁴

What it is

Anserine is a dipeptide related to carnosine, found in chicken, fish and other meats, sold alone or with carnosine.

How it works

Proposed

Anserine is broken down by the blood enzyme carnosinase more slowly than carnosine. Proposed effects include antioxidant activity and, in the memory studies, lower inflammatory chemokines and scavenging of hypochlorous acid made by immune cells. These mechanisms come from small human marker studies and are not established.^1,3,4

Forms, side by side

2 forms named in our sources. The rest show what our data holds, and say plainly where it holds nothing yet.

Anserine forms compared

2 forms

Anserine forms compared: 2 forms by 3 attributes. Empty cells are labelled No data yet, or Not graded in the evidence row.
2 forms	Anserine/carnosine blend (usually from chicken breast extract)	Alone
Absorption in people	Taking anserine with carnosine raised blood anserine about 2.5-fold more than anserine alone in 5 volunteers, because the two compete for the same breakdown enzyme.⁴	Broken down more slowly in human plasma than carnosine.⁴
GI tolerance	The abstracts of the 12-week memory trials do not report adverse effects.^1,2	Single doses of 30 mg/kg slightly raised two muscle-damage markers after exercise in 10 men.⁵
Studied for	Memory in older adults and mild cognitive impairment	Mild cognitive impairment; exercise oxidative stress

Anserine/carnosine blend (usually from chicken breast extract)
Absorption in people
Taking anserine with carnosine raised blood anserine about 2.5-fold more than anserine alone in 5 volunteers, because the two compete for the same breakdown enzyme.⁴
GI tolerance
The abstracts of the 12-week memory trials do not report adverse effects.^1,2
Studied for
Memory in older adults and mild cognitive impairment
Anserine alone
Absorption in people
Broken down more slowly in human plasma than carnosine.⁴
GI tolerance
Single doses of 30 mg/kg slightly raised two muscle-damage markers after exercise in 10 men.⁵
Studied for
Mild cognitive impairment; exercise oxidative stress

What the human research says

Human trials only, one row per outcome. The form line shows what each trial actually tested. Grades follow our evidence-grading policy.

Trial map

9 graded outcomes, largest study first

9 graded outcomes: 6 improved, 3 mixed. The largest, a 2021 meta-analysis of 794 people on working memory with daily chicken essence, found an improvement.

By sizeTable

1Working memory with daily chicken essence

Improved · Grade C · Meta-analysis, 794 people, 2021

Mostly healthy people in 8 randomized trials

Dose, result and source

Every graded outcome on this page, largest study first
Outcome	Found	People	Study	Who was studied
Working memory with daily chicken essence	Improved	794	Grade C · Meta-analysis, 2021	Mostly healthy people in 8 randomized trials
Depression and quality-of-life scores with histidine dipeptides	Mixed	776	Grade C · Meta-analysis, 2025	18 randomized trials of anserine/carnosine, L-carnosine or beta-alanine
Delayed verbal recall (Wechsler logical memory) in older adults	Improved	177	Grade C · Meta-analysis, 2026	Healthy older adults and people with mild neurocognitive disorder in three Japanese trials
Verbal memory and frontal brain blood flow over 12 months	Improved	68	Grade D · RCT, 2018	Adults aged 65 or older (Japan); sub-analysis by APOE e4 carrier status
Cognition in mild cognitive impairment	Mixed	54	Grade D · RCT, 2019	Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (Japan)
Delayed verbal recall and brain blood flow	Improved	39	Grade D · RCT, 2016	Healthy older adults aged 60 to 78 (Japan)
MMSE score in mild cognitive impairment	Improved	30	Grade D · RCT, 2021	Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (Japan)
Repeated sprint peak power and peak muscle torque after a single dose	Improved	11	Grade D · Crossover RCT, 2022	Men (Belgium); a second study tested 15 men
Oxidative stress and muscle-damage markers after exercise	Mixed	10	Grade D · Crossover RCT, 2020	Healthy men

Every graded row

9 rows

Form tested

Showing 9 of 9 outcomes. Human trials only.

Grade CWorking memory with daily chicken essenceMemoryImprovedMeta-analysis
n 794 · 2021

Improved Working memory improved vs control (SMD 0.31, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.46); other cognitive domains were less consistent.

Design: Meta-analysis, n = 794, 2021
Population: Mostly healthy people in 8 randomized trials
Form: Essence of chicken (a drink rich in anserine and carnosine)
Dose: Daily chicken essence; amounts not stated in the abstract
Duration: Not stated in the abstract
Source: Reference 10 · PubMed 31131735 (opens PubMed)

Grade CDepression and quality-of-life scores with histidine dipeptidesMood and depressionMixedMeta-analysis
n 776 · 2025

Mixed Pooled Beck Depression Inventory scores fell vs placebo (-0.79, 95% CI -1.24 to -0.35; moderate certainty) and SF-36 quality of life rose slightly (0.65, 95% CI 0.00 to 1.30; low certainty); other mental-health outcomes did not change.

Design: Meta-analysis, n = 776, 2025
Population: 18 randomized trials of anserine/carnosine, L-carnosine or beta-alanine
Form: Mixed histidine-containing dipeptides (anserine/carnosine was one of several)
Dose: Varied by trial
Duration: Varied by trial (mostly short)
Source: Reference 8 · PubMed 38545720 (opens PubMed)

Grade CDelayed verbal recall (Wechsler logical memory) in older adultsMemoryImprovedMeta-analysis
n 177 · 2026

Improved Pooled delayed recall improved vs placebo (net change 1.70, 95% CI 0.19 to 3.2) but immediate recall did not (0.76, 95% CI -0.18 to 1.71); the review rated the cognition evidence low strength.

Design: Meta-analysis, n = 177, 2026
Population: Healthy older adults and people with mild neurocognitive disorder in three Japanese trials
Form: Anserine/carnosine 3:1
Dose: 1 g/day (3:1 anserine to carnosine)
Duration: 12 weeks to 12 months
Source: Reference 6 · PubMed 42123986 (opens PubMed)

Grade DVerbal memory and frontal brain blood flow over 12 monthsMemoryImprovedRCT
n 68 · 2018

Improved The supplement preserved verbal memory (WMS-LM, p = 0.0445) and frontal blood flow vs placebo; blood flow and white-matter benefits were seen in APOE e4 carriers but not in non-carriers.

Design: RCT, n = 68, 2018
Population: Adults aged 65 or older (Japan); sub-analysis by APOE e4 carrier status
Form: Anserine/carnosine 3:1
Dose: 750 mg anserine plus 250 mg carnosine a day
Duration: 12 months
Source: Reference 7 · PubMed 29896423 (opens PubMed)

Grade DCognition in mild cognitive impairmentMemoryMixedRCT
n 54 · 2019

Mixed The global Clinical Dementia Rating improved more than placebo (p = 0.023), but MMSE, Wechsler Memory Scale and ADAS did not. In APOE4 carriers, MMSE also improved.

Design: RCT, n = 54, 2019
Population: Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (Japan)
Form: Anserine plus carnosine
Dose: 750 mg anserine plus 250 mg carnosine a day vs placebo
Duration: 12 weeks
Source: Reference 2 · PubMed 31319510 (opens PubMed)

Grade DDelayed verbal recall and brain blood flowMemoryImprovedRCT
n 39 · 2016

Improved Delayed verbal recall was better preserved than with placebo (p = 0.013), and an age-related fall in blood flow in one brain region was smaller. A second small trial in the same paper also found preserved delayed recall.

Design: RCT, n = 39, 2016
Population: Healthy older adults aged 60 to 78 (Japan)
Form: Anserine/carnosine 3:1 formula
Dose: 1.0 g/day (about 750 mg anserine plus 250 mg carnosine) vs placebo
Duration: 3 months
Source: Reference 1 · PubMed 26682691 (opens PubMed)

Grade DMMSE score in mild cognitive impairmentMemoryImprovedRCT
n 30 · 2021

Improved MMSE rose 1.9 points with anserine versus no change with placebo (p = 0.036).

Design: RCT, n = 30, 2021
Population: Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (Japan)
Form: Anserine alone
Dose: 500 mg/day vs placebo
Duration: 12 weeks
Source: Reference 3 · PubMed 33472172 (opens PubMed)

Grade DRepeated sprint peak power and peak muscle torque after a single doseExerciseImprovedCrossover RCT
n 11 · 2022

Improved 30 mg/kg of each, 60 minutes before exercise, raised sprint peak power 3% and peak torque 4.5% vs placebo; the 15-man follow-up study found no group-level improvement.

Design: Crossover RCT, n = 11, 2022
Population: Men (Belgium); a second study tested 15 men
Form: Carnosine plus anserine
Dose: 10, 20 or 30 mg/kg body weight of each, single dose
Duration: Single doses, tested 30 and 60 minutes after intake
Source: Reference 9 · PubMed 35599917 (opens PubMed)

Grade DOxidative stress and muscle-damage markers after exerciseExerciseMixedCrossover RCT
n 10 · 2020

Mixed Superoxide dismutase rose 50% and catalase was preserved, but oxidized glutathione rose and the GSH/GSSG ratio fell; two damage markers (GPT, CK-MB) rose slightly at the high dose.

Design: Crossover RCT, n = 10, 2020
Population: Healthy men
Form: Anserine
Dose: 15 or 30 mg/kg body weight, single dose vs placebo
Duration: Single doses on three occasions
Source: Reference 5 · PubMed 32325914 (opens PubMed)

What the numbers add up to

Each point is worked out from the data and the sources numbered on this page, with the arithmetic shown under it. It adds no new data and is not medical advice.

One research group

All four memory trials come from the same Japanese research team, and none analysed more than 68 people.^1,2,3,7

Mixed scorecards

In mild cognitive impairment, the anserine/carnosine mix improved one global rating but not the MMSE, Wechsler or ADAS scores.²

Studied doses

Doses used in research, shown against the official limits. They describe the studies, not a recommendation for you.

Studied doses in research, not advice. These are amounts used in research, not personal advice. Your clinician or pharmacist can say what fits you.

Doses studied in human trials

Doses studied in human trials ranged from 500 mg/day of anserine alone to 1,000 mg/day of a 3:1 anserine/carnosine mix (750 mg anserine) for 12 weeks to 12 months in memory trials. Exercise studies gave single doses of 10 to 30 mg/kg body weight of anserine, alone or with the same amount of carnosine.^1,2,3,5,7,9

When trials measured an effect

3 outcomes

How long trials ran before effects were measured
Outcome	Measured at	Basis
Delayed verbal recall in older adults	Month 3 (end of treatment)	One 39-person placebo-controlled trial; a 12-month trial also reported preserved memory^1,7
MMSE score in mild cognitive impairment	Week 12 (end of treatment)	One 30-person placebo-controlled trial³
Sprint peak power	60 minutes after a single dose	One 11-man crossover dose study⁹

Interactions and safety

Published interactions only: each row cites a source. No row means none was found in our sources, not that a combination is safe.

What Anserine meets

0 cited rows 2 tested together

Medicines 0

No medicine rows in our sources.

Anserine0 medicines · 1 supplement

Supplements and foods 1

Tested together in a graded trial

Also cited: 2 tested together

CarnosineCarnosine page
- Tested together
  Delayed verbal recall and brain blood flow. Graded on the Anserine page; tested together is not a claim that they work better together.
- Tested together
  Cognition in mild cognitive impairment. Graded on the Anserine page; tested together is not a claim that they work better together.

Interactions

0 agents

None found in our sources.

Check with what you take

Kept on this device only

Add what you take. We list every interaction our evidence profiles cite between Anserine and your picks, and between your picks.

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Most cited:

Add a supplement or medicine you take to check it against Anserine.

Starting from one medicine? The interaction checker rates how serious each pair is, on a curated list of 19 entries for 11 medicines. This cabinet has no severity rating: it lists every interaction row our supplement pages cite.

Who should be careful

1 group

Pregnancy, breastfeeding and children: The cited trials enrolled adults only and did not include pregnant or breastfeeding women.^1,2,3

Reading the label, and the cost per dose

Compare any product you already have by the amount it delivers, not by capsule count or front-of-pack weight.

How to read the label

1 checks

Anserine vs carnosine content

The memory trials used a 3:1 anserine to carnosine ratio at 1 g/day, or 500 mg of anserine alone. Labels that list only "chicken extract" without an anserine amount cannot be compared with those doses.^1,2,3

Have the bottle? Photograph its Supplement Facts panel and see each line, anserine included, beside the doses and forms the trials used in Label X-Ray.

Cost per studied dose, without the sales pitch

Your numbers, no product data

Price paid ($)Servings per containerAnserine per serving (mg)

Compare against

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Frequently asked questions

Short answers to common questions; the numbers link to the sources below.

Common questions

5 answers

Does anserine improve memory?

Small Japanese trials reported preserved delayed recall in healthy older adults and a 1.9-point MMSE gain in mild cognitive impairment, but other cognitive tests did not change.^1,2,3

Does anserine help exercise?

Evidence is limited to small single-dose studies. Anserine plus carnosine (20 mg/kg each) raised power in the first 5 seconds of a sprint test by about 6% versus placebo, while in 10 men anserine alone raised one antioxidant enzyme but also raised oxidized glutathione.^4,5

What are the side effects of anserine?

The memory trial abstracts do not report adverse effects, but the trials were small (30 to 68 people). Single 30 mg/kg doses slightly raised two muscle-damage markers after exercise in 10 men. Safety in pregnancy, breastfeeding and children has not been studied.^1,2,3,5,7

Is anserine safe to take long term?

The longest trial gave 1 g a day of a 3:1 anserine/carnosine mix (750 mg anserine) for 12 months to 68 older adults; its abstract does not report safety outcomes. There are no longer or larger safety studies, so long-term safety is not established.⁷

What is the difference between anserine and carnosine?

Anserine is a methylated form of carnosine that is broken down more slowly in the blood. Taking both together raised blood anserine more than anserine alone.⁴

Sources

10 sources: trial abstracts, NIH fact sheets and reference databases. Numbers in the text link here.

Sources cited on this page

10 sources

1Effect of Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation on Verbal Episodic Memory in Elderly People.RCT J Alzheimers Dis, 2016 · PMID 26682691
2Effects of Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation on Mild Cognitive Impairment with APOE4.RCT Nutrients, 2019 · PMID 31319510
3Anserine, HClO-scavenger, protected against cognitive decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.RCT Aging (Albany NY), 2021 · PMID 33472172
4Acute preexercise supplementation of combined carnosine and anserine enhances initial maximal power of Wingate tests in humans.Crossover RCT J Appl Physiol (1985), 2021 · PMID 33914660
5Anserine Reverses Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress and Preserves Cellular Homeostasis in Healthy Men.Crossover RCT Nutrients, 2020 · PMID 32325914
6The Effects of Carnosine on Cognitive Function and Mental Health-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Meta-analysis Nutrients, 2026 · PMID 42123986
7Anserine/Carnosine Supplementation Preserves Blood Flow in the Prefrontal Brain of Elderly People Carrying APOE e4.RCT Aging Dis, 2018 · PMID 29896423
8Carnosine/histidine-containing dipeptide supplementation improves depression and quality of life: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Meta-analysis Nutr Rev, 2025 · PMID 38545720
9The ergogenic effect of acute carnosine and anserine supplementation: dosing, timing, and underlying mechanism.Crossover RCT J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2022 · PMID 35599917
10Daily consumption of essence of chicken improves cognitive function: a systematically searched meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Meta-analysis Nutr Neurosci, 2021 · PMID 31131735

What changed

Every dated change to this page: what changed, who made it and why.

Change log

4 entries

Dated changes to this page
Date	Change	Who and why
Oct 21, 2026evidence; studied doses; time to effect; FAQ; questions; related	Added the 2026 meta-analysis pooling the three anserine/carnosine memory trials (delayed recall +1.70; low strength), the 12-month memory trial (68 older adults), a 2021 chicken-essence meta-analysis on working memory and a 2025 histidine-dipeptide meta-analysis on depression scores (both marked not anserine-specific), and a 2022 single-dose sprint study. Extended studied doses to 12 months, added time-to-effect rows, replaced the dose FAQ (now covered by the studied-doses chapter) with side-effect and long-term safety answers, added questions this page answers and goal hub links. Interactions re-checked: no LiverTox or LactMed entry for anserine (offline NCBI archive searched) and no NCCIH or MedlinePlus page, so the list stays empty and the pregnancy note stays 'not studied'. Left out: a tuna-extract uric acid trial (PMID 27446553; abstract does not state the anserine dose) and a 17-man iron study (PMID 37583074; randomisation not stated, null result).	Writer: Kymata Health EditorialTrigger: A–Z audit against docs/supplements/AUDIT-STANDARD.md
Oct 17, 2026all	Independent review: summary and exercise FAQ now report the Wingate sprint-power result from source 4; removed an unverified country from the 2020 exercise row; reworded the definition key fact to match its sources.	Writer: Kymata Health EditorialTrigger: review
Oct 17, 2026all	First draft. Every PMID checked against NCBI E-utilities esummary (title and year taken from the record) and abstracts read for every cited row.	Writer: Kymata Health EditorialTrigger: new page
Oct 17, 2026all	Adversarial review pass: every evidence row's numbers machine-checked against its PubMed abstract, retraction and erratum flags checked for all PMIDs, unverified country and affiliation details removed, and claims not supported by the cited abstracts reworded or dropped.	Writer: Kymata Health EditorialTrigger: review

Supplement & Nutrient Encyclopedia. Educational information only; it is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician. Dietary supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Statements about supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

Anserine

Medicines 0

Supplements and foods 1

CarnosineCarnosine page