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Carnosine

CarnosineAntioxidant

A tiny protein piece that acts as an antioxidant. In lab tests it also blocks sugar damage tied to aging; skin trials are few.

What it does

In lab tests it works as an antioxidant and blocks steps in glycation, where sugars bond to proteins and damage them, a process tied to skin aging. Independent tests on human skin are limited. It’s made of two amino acids and occurs naturally in muscle and brain.

The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a skin conditioner, its general term for an ingredient that keeps skin in good condition.European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗

The evidence, graded

emergingAiello et al. (2022, 2023), at the University of Milan with a contract lab, grew human skin fibroblasts as small 3D clumps. Carnosine in the culture turned on the cells' own antioxidant defenses after UVA light, and held back the stress-related changes that built up as the clumps aged in culture. The work had no outside funding. Neither study tested it on people.Aiello 2023 · Antioxidants ↗

Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.

Also known as

l-carnosine, beta-alanyl-l-histidine

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