TeaCrine plus caffeine may help maintain energy & offer cognitive benefits: Soccer study

While theacrine supplements alone (TeaCrine, Compound Solutions) was associated with increases in 'time to exhaustion', combining it with caffeine “may have been even more impactful”​, wrote the research team, led by Shawn Arent, PhD, Director of the IFNH Center for Health and Human Performance and Director of the Graduate Program in Kinesiology & Applied Physiology at Rutgers University.

The data, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition​​, also indicated that concentration and reaction times were greater at the end of a simulated soccer match for the theacrine plus caffeine group.

Compound Solutions’ TeaCrine ingredient is a branded, nature-identical compound of theacrine (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric-acid).

“The 27–38% improvements in TTE [time-to-exhaustion] reflect increased performance capacity that may have important implications for overtime scenarios,”​ wrote the researchers. “These findings suggest TeaCrine favorably impacts endurance and the combination with caffeine provides greater benefits on cognitive function than either supplement independently.”​

Synergy ​

Commenting on the study’s findings, Dr Arent told NutraIngredients-USA: “Even given the notable cognitive and physical endurance benefits we see with caffeine, it appears that Teacrine and caffeine in combination may produce an even greater effect. ​

“It could be that the two are working synergistically and that the different times to peak action provide a more sustained effect. But there is also evidence that the Teacrine may enhance the bioavailability of the caffeine, which would make sense given the doses used in this study.”​

Matt Titlow, CEO of Compound Solutions, added that the new results strengthens TeaCrine’s position as a key ingredient in innovative nootropic, energy and focus-enhancing products.

“While TeaCrine has been a mainstay in sports nutrition supplements for a while, this new study proves the positive synergistic effects of TeaCrine + Caffeine on men and women,” ​Titlow told us. “This research will surely make the TeaCrine-Caffeine combination foundational for markets like gaming in eSports, biohacking, and those in need of hyper-focused skills to perform at the top of their game, and in particular during prolonged, mentally fatiguing tasks.”​

Study details​

Dr Arent and his co-workers recruited 24 high-level male and female soccer players to participate in their crossover study. The soccer players were assigned to one of four single-dose groups: placebo, caffeine only (275 mg), TeaCrine only (275 mg), or Teacrine (125 mg) plus caffeine (150 mg) prior to a 90-minute simulated treadmill soccer match. Experimental sessions were separated by at least two days.

The results showed that the time to exhaustion (TTE) was increased in the TeaCrine (27% increase), caffeine (32% increase) and TeaCrine plus caffeine (38% increase) groups, and these increases almost reached statistical significance.

“The increases in TTE across all conditions compared to [placebo] suggests that players can maintain a higher level of performance at later stages in a match with consumption of [caffeine] and [TeaCrine],” ​wrote the researchers. “These results trended towards statistical significance (P < 0.052), but given the magnitude of differences, the clinical significance may be reflected in implications for late game or overtime scenarios in matches.”​

In addition, the TeaCrine plus caffeine and caffeine-only groups displayed significant improvements in types of reaction times.

“When taking the overall cognition and endurance effects into account, it appears that the combination of [TeaCrine plus caffeine] was the most beneficial in terms of increasing and maintaining energy, concentration, and level of performance,” ​added the researchers.

“These results would also suggest the benefits of the combined [TeaCrine plus caffeine] supplementation may due to the differences in timing of peak concentration, possibly due to an overlap in the concentration curves of the supplements as shown in previous research.”​

Source: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition​​
2019, 16​:20, doi: 10.1186/s12970-019-0287-6​
“The effects of TeaCrine and caffeine on endurance and cognitive performance during a simulated match in high-level soccer players”​
Authors: M.L. Bello, et al.