HMB

Last Updated: November 2 2022

HMB is a metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine that plays an anticatabolic role in muscle tissue. In addition to preventing muscle protein breakdown, HMB may help improve strength and muscle mass in older adults, but evidence of a benefit for athletes is lacking.

HMB is most often used for

What is HMB?

HMB is short for hydroxymethylbutyrate or ꞵ-hydroxy ꞵ-methylbutyrate. It is an active metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine. All of the HMB present in the human body is derived from dietary sources of leucine, with about 5% of all dietary leucine being converted to HMB.[1] HMB is thought to help reduce muscle protein breakdown and may mediate some of the effects of leucine on muscle protein synthesis.

What are HMB’s main benefits?

HMB plays an anticatabolic role in muscle tissue. In other words, HMB prevents muscle protein breakdown and reduces the loss of fat-free mass. These effects seem to be most pronounced during catabolic states, including cancer cachexia,[2] acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS),[3] and aging.[4][5] HMB seems to be particularly effective for preventing the age-related loss of muscle mass and for preserving strength and body composition in bedridden or sedentary older adults.[4][5]

HMB stimulates muscle protein synthesis, but supplementation fails to increase fat-free mass, improve body composition, or increase measures of strength performance in athletes and trained individuals, and its use in these populations cannot be recommended.[6][7][8] HMB may be effective for reducing exercise-associated muscle damage after high-intensity exercise.[9]

What are HMB’s main drawbacks?

Supplementing with HMB at a dose of 3 grams per day appears to be well tolerated and is not associated with any adverse side effects.[10] This is the dose commonly used in research studies. Higher doses may be equally safe, but very few studies have investigated doses of HMB above 3 grams per day. One study found that 6 grams of HMB per day didn’t cause any concerning changes to cholesterol, blood glucose, red or white blood cells, and liver or kidney function.[11] HMB also appears to be safe when taken with other amino acids (i.e., arginine, lysine, and glutamine) or supplemented alongside creatine.[12][10][9]

How does HMB work?

HMB’s effects on skeletal muscle appear to be due to its actions on both muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown. HMB promotes muscle protein synthesis by stimulating mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which regulates cell growth and differentiation.[13] HMB may also increase the activity of the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH/IGF-1) axis.[14]

HMB reduces protein degradation (protein breakdown) by inhibiting the activity of the body’s ubiquitin-proteasome system and caspases. These two pathways are responsible for breaking down proteins (proteolysis) under catabolic states such as fasting, immobilization, disuse, aging, and disease.[15][16][17] Inhibiting protein breakdown explains why HMB can minimize the loss of lean body mass in certain conditions.

What else is HMB known as?
Note that HMB is also known as:
  • Hydroxy-MethylButyrate
  • beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate
HMB should not be confused with:
Dosage information

Supplementation of HMB tends to be in the dosage range of 1-3g daily for the purpose of reducing muscle mass losses over time (anti-catabolic). As HMB is said to be 20-fold more potent than leucine for this purpose, it is seen as equivalent to 20-60g of leucine supplementation.

For the purpose of muscle protein synthesis, HMB and leucine are fairly equivalent if not the latter (leucine) being more potent on a gram basis. HMB is not advised for inducing muscle protein synthesis since leucine is likely more effective as well as cheaper.

Supplementation of HMB prior to an exercise session would require the usage of an HMB free acid rather than a calcium salt, and the above dosage range still holds. For this specific purpose, HMB is to be taken 30-45 minutes before a workout.

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References
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