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HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate)
A compound your body makes from the amino acid leucine, and one of the ingredients we have the least on file for. EFSA looked at every claim put forward for it, on muscle, strength, endurance and recovery, and rejected all of them. It sits in one formula, at the minimum effective dose on file, and we do not attribute an effect to it.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
No authorised claim. EFSA said no to all of them.
There is no health claim for HMB on the EU register, so there is no wording for us to quote. EFSA assessed the claims put forward for it, covering tissue damage, lean body mass, strength, endurance, repair and recovery from fatigue, and rejected every one (EFSA Journal 2011;9(6):2227). None of them made it into Regulation 432/2012.There is no health claim for HMB on the EU register. EFSA assessed the ones put forward for it and rejected every one, so there is nothing for us to quote.
You will read that HMB builds muscle, protects it or speeds up recovery. Those are exactly the claims EFSA rejected. In Daily athletic it is served in the morning, before activity, but we do not tell you it will do anything for your muscles, and no claim on that formula comes from it.
WHY CALCIUM HMB
No claim to protect. Only the standard form.
No form of HMB carries an authorised claim, so the form is not a claim argument and we do not use it as one. Our preferred form is calcium HMB monohydrate, the calcium salt, because it is the standard commercial form and the one whose behaviour in liquid we have on file: it dissolves in water, stays stable in liquid and tastes neutral. The composition of Daily athletic does not pin the form down yet, so this is the form we prefer, not a fixed specification.
The calcium salt of HMB and the standard commercial form. Soluble in water at around 100 g per litre, stable in liquid and neutral in taste.
HMB is also sold as a free acid. Our notes record better absorption for it, but that figure is not traced to a checked source yet, and absorption is not a claim either way.
Your body makes HMB from the amino acid leucine, converting only about 5% of it. What it does after that is studied mainly in muscle, and none of it is an authorised claim.
Our own files do not agree on how much of the calcium salt you absorb: one says 70%, another 80%, and neither figure is traced to a checked source yet. So we quote no absorption figure as fact. The choice of form is about being the standard, water-soluble, liquid-stable option, nothing more.Our files give 70% in one place and 80% in another for how much you absorb, so we quote neither. The choice is about the standard, liquid-stable form, nothing more.
WHERE IT APPEARS
One of the twenty-nine carries HMB.
It appears only in Daily athletic, next to ashwagandha, hydrolysed collagen, vitamin D3, magnesium and vitamin B6. The 3 g it carries is the minimum effective dose on file, used over 4 to 8 weeks. The formula itself runs in cycles of 8 weeks on and 4 off, no more than three a year, set around the ashwagandha next to it. It also has exclusions of its own, most of them for the same reason. Daily athletic itself is not for you if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, have liver or heart disease, a thyroid disorder or hyperandrogenism, or take CNS sedatives or vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants.
THE CEILING
No official limit. And no cap of our own yet.
EFSA has not set an upper intake level for HMB, and there is no NRV. Our file says to stay with the standard dose from the clinical literature, without giving a figure. The minimum effective dose on file is 3 g a day, and that is what Daily athletic carries. It is the only formula with HMB, so 3 g is also your total from us. The engine has no rule written for HMB yet, and we would rather tell you that than imply a check that is not there.EFSA has not set an upper limit for HMB and there is no NRV. We stay at the minimum effective dose on file, 3 g a day, carried by one formula only.
3 g a day is the minimum effective dose on file, used over 4 to 8 weeks. Our notes mark the dose in Daily athletic as raised in line with the ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) position stand.
Our file on HMB is marked as minimal, with deeper research still pending. It records no side effects and no contraindication, which means unchecked, not proven absent. It is cleared through the kidneys.
On HMB itself there is not enough data in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and with kidney or liver failure you should ask a healthcare professional before you start. But Daily athletic, the only formula that carries it, is excluded outright if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have liver disease, so there it is not a question to ask. Do not go over the recommended daily dose, keep it out of reach of young children, and do not use it in place of a varied, balanced diet.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Documented pairs, not hunches. None in our table for HMB yet.
HMB is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. None of them is in our interaction table yet, out of the 443 pairs on file. That includes the five ingredients it shares Daily athletic with.
No pair with HMB is in our interaction table, so the engine has nothing to separate or halve for it. That is an empty row, not a clean result.
Ashwagandha, hydrolysed collagen, vitamin D3, magnesium and vitamin B6 are served with it in the same morning dose. None of those pairs has been checked yet either.
No drug interaction for HMB is in our drug table. Daily athletic, the only formula carrying it, is excluded if you take CNS sedatives or vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants. For any other medication, or kidney problems, ask a healthcare professional before starting.
None of HMB's pairs, with other ingredients or with medication, is in our tables yet. Across the library, 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.None of HMB's pairs is in our tables yet. Across the library, 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026
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What it is, what we are allowed to say about it, which formulas carry it, what it reacts with and where each of those statements comes from. No proprietary blends, no hidden amounts.