TeaCrine: Benefits, Dose, And Side Effects

TeaCrine Summary

• TeaCrine is a patented ingredient made by Compound Solutions that is like caffeine but it is not a stimulant.
• It works by affecting the dopaminergic and adenosinergic pathways in the body.
• Benefits of supplementation include improved energy, endurance, motivation, mood, and focus.
• Several research studies have been done on TeaCrine demonstrating these positive benefits.
• TeaCrine should be dosed 125mg by itself or 125mg with 150mg of caffeine and taken 30 minutes before exercise.
• TeaCrine has rare side effects in a small percentage of people and no evidence suggests it has negative interactions with prescriptions drugs.
• TeaCrine can be found in BrickHouse Nutrition's Dawn To Dusk. 

 

Is it just me or does it seem athletes LOVE stimulants like caffeine and yohimbe? While I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a stimulant junkie sometimes you want the zip without the bang. This is especially true if you workout close to bedtime and you need a jolt of energy to get you through it.

Luckily, there are some ingredients like caffeine that will give you all the energy you need without causing you to toss and turn all night or feel freaked out of your mind.

One such ingredient is TeaCrine, which we will take an in-depth look at in this article.

What is TeaCrine?

TeaCrine is basically a patented form of the compound theacrine. It is an isolated purine alkaloid like caffeine and can provide many of the same benefits without the negative side effects some people may experience with stimulants.

What foods contain Theacrine?

Theacrine is found naturally in cupuacu fruit and the kucha tea leaf while the supplement TeaCrine is made synthetically in the lab.

What’s the difference between TeaCrine and TheaCrine?

The only real difference between TeaCrine and TheaCrine is the former is a patented ingredient. Whether TeaCrine works “better” than theacrine is up for debate.

However, TeaCrine does have the upper hand when it comes to studies in humans demonstrating positive benefits. My recommendation if you want to supplement with this compound is to use the patented TeaCrine.

Who makes TeaCrine?

TeaCrine (a patented for of TheaCrine) is made by the company Compound Solutions which is in California. It was originally created and researched in 2013 by Dr. Shawn Arent, Shawn Wells, Dr. Hector Lopez, and Dr. Tim Ziegenfuss.

In addition to TeaCrine, compound solutions makes other patented ingredients such as Dynamine, Peak O2, and Carb10.

How does TeaCrine Work?

TeaCrine works by affecting both the dopaminergic and adenosinergic pathways in the body. If that’s sounds thoroughly confusing all you really must know is TeaCrine interacts with certain neurotransmitters to product positive benefits.

For those of you who want to totally geek out about these two pathways read the next two sections. If your brain in spinning skip ahead to the TeaCrine benefits section.

How TeaCrine affects the dopaminergic pathway

As the name implies TeaCrine affects this system by increasing dopamine activity. More specifically, TeaCrine activates D1 and D2 dopamine receptors which increases dopaminergic signaling.

Other research has shown that TeaCrine affects this pathway by increasing activity in the nucleus accumbens region of the brain which is correlated to reward, motivation, and task completion.

How TeaCrine affects the adenosinergic pathway

TeaCrine affects this pathway by inhibiting adenosine. We’ve talked about adenosine in previous articles but all you have to know is adenosine can make you feel fatigued and relaxed. While these two things are not bad you definitely don’t want to go into a workout feeling tired.

TeaCrine inhibits adenosine by binding to A1 and A2a receptors, essentially blocking adenosine from binding to them which in turn can crush perceived feelings of fatigue.

TeaCrine benefits

Here are the clinically demonstrated benefits of TeaCrine. We will discuss each of these more in-depth in the research section.

• Increased energy
• Greater endurance
• No jitters, anxiety, or irritability
• Non-habit forming
• Enhanced motivation to achieve tasks
• Decreases feeling of fatigue
• Improved cognition, focus, mood, and “mental energy

Research on TeaCrine

Let’s take a brief looks at several of the studies done on TeaCrine.

TeaCrine Improves Endurance and Cognition

A 2019 study conducted by Bell et al. took 24 male and female soccer players and had them perform four 90-minute randomized simulated soccer matches on a treadmill (think slow running combined with several short, fast sprints).

The four randomized 90 simulations had the subjects take:

1. TeaCrine (275mg)
2. Caffeine (275mg)
3. TeaCrine and caffeine (125mg and 150mg)
4. Placebo (275mg of cellulose)

All supplements and placebo were taken 30 minutes before the treadmill soccer simulation.

During and after each session the following variables were tested:

• Simple reaction time
• Choice reaction time
• Time to exhaustion run at 85% VO2 Max following the 90-minute simulation
• Heart rate
• RPE (Rating of perceived exertion)

After the study was complete and the researchers crunched all the data they discovered:

• Time to exhaustion was improved by 27-38% when subjects took the TeaCrine and TeaCrine/Caffeine combo as compared to placebo.
• Choice reaction time was improved in the caffeine and TeaCrine/Caffeine group compared to placebo.
• There was no difference in simple reaction time between all groups.
• There was no significant effect on heart rate.
• There were no significant differences between groups as it relates to RPE

In conclusion the researchers state “These findings suggest TeaCrine® favorably impacts endurance and the combination with caffeine provides greater benefits on cognitive function than either supplement independently.”

The effects of TeaCrine on muscular strength, endurance, and power

This 2019 randomized, double blind, cross over study conducted by Cesareo et al. took twelve resistance trained men and had them perform”

1. A one repetition max bench press
2. A one repetition max squat
3. Bench press repetitions to failure at 70% one repetition max
4. Squat repetitions to failure at 70% one repetition max
5. 2 km rowing time trial.

90 minutes before each test the subjects took either:

• 300mg of caffeine
• 300mg of TeaCrine
• TeaCrine plus caffeine (150mg/150mg)
• Placebo

Upon completion of the testing and data collection the researchers discovered:

• No differences between groups on the 1 repetition max and repetitions to failure on both the bench press and squat.
• No significant differences between groups in the 2km row
• Only the caffeine group experienced increased perceived energy and motivation to exercise.

The results led the researchers to conclude that no supplementation protocol with TeaCrine, caffeine, TeaCrine/Caffeine, or placebo “improved muscular strength, power, or endurance performance in resistance-trained men. Only the 300mg of caffeine group improved measures of focus, energy, and motivation to exercise.

TeaCrine’s effect on mental energy and performance

A 2014 study conducted by Habowski et. al took 15 healthy subjects and had them take either 100-400mg of TeaCrine or placebo and tested:

1. Physical energy
2. Mental energy
3. Side effects
4. Hemodynamics
5. Biochemical markers of safety

Upon completion of the studies the data demonstrated that:

• The 200mg dose of TeaCrine caused significant improvements in energy and reduction in fatigue.
• Concentration was improved in the TeaCrine group.
• No changes in hemodynamics or side effects were observed.
• The TeaCrine group had a large effect size on anxiety, motivation to exercise, and libido.

The researchers concluded “These preliminary data support the benefits of acute TeaCrine supplementation on subjective “energy” levels and some indices of mental performance. Future studies are underway to confirm these neurotropic effects and explore potential benefits of TeaCrine on objective measures of cognitive and physical performance, inflammation, pain perception, and functional capacity.”

TeaCrine is safe and may also reduce LDL and total cholesterol

A 2016 study conducted by Taylor et al. took sixty healthy men and women and had them take one of the following daily for 8 weeks.

1. 200mg of TeaCrine
2. 300mg of TeaCrine
3. Placebo

The purpose of this study was to essentially test the safety of TeaCrine.

Upon completion of the study the researchers discovered TeaCrine had no negative effect on blood pressure, heart rate, lipid profiles, and biomarkers of liver, kidney, and immune function.

Interestingly they also discovered lower LDL and total cholesterol in the TeaCrine group.

This led researcher to conclude that “These findings support the clinical safety and non-habituating neuro-energetic effects of TeaCrine® supplementation over 8 weeks of daily use (up to 300 mg/day). Moreover, there was no evidence of a tachyphylactic response that is typical of neuroactive agents such as caffeine and other stimulants.”

TeaCrine dosage

TeaCrine can be dosed in 2 different ways. With or without caffeine.

TeaCrine with caffeine

If you are combining TeaCrine with caffeine anhydrous take 125mg of TeaCrine with 150mg of caffeine before exercise.

TeaCrine without caffeine

If you are taking TeaCrine as a stand-alone supplement dose at 125mg before training.

When to take TeaCrine

All research studies that have demonstrated positive results had subjects take TeaCrine 30 minutes prior to exercise. Additionally, TeaCrine seems to work better when taken daily.

How long does it take for TeaCrine to work?

TeaCrine starts to appear in the blood 15 minutes after ingestion and reaches peak concentrations after 90 minutes before tapering off around the 6-hour mark.

Half Life

Here is where things get interesting. TeaCrine’s half life is ~20 hours. This means half the amount you originally took is still in your blood long after your workout ends.

This can be extremely beneficial for individuals who do two a day workouts or those that have a mentally taxing job to do after exercise.

Do you need to cycle TeaCrine?

Currently there are no studies to suggest that you need to cycle off TeaCrine.

However, more long-term studies are needed to determine if TeaCrine provides the same benefits when taken over an extended period of time and if an individual can build a tolerance to it.      

TeaCrine Safety

A 2016 study conducted by Taylor et. al found subjects who took TeaCrine daily for 8 weeks did not experience any negative changes for heart rate, blood pressure, lipid profiles, or kidney/liver biomarkers.

Other studies have also confirmed these findings.

Additionally, TeaCrine is an FDA GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) compound. This means the FDA has approved it and is safe for normal human consumption when dosed below 180mg per day.

Women who are pregnant or breast feeding and individuals on medications should always check with their doctor before taking TeaCrine.

TeaCrine side effects

Very few negative side effects have been reported when supplementing with TeaCrine.

A few individuals have reported feeling to over stimulated or having a hard time falling asleep. However, this may be due to these people combining TeaCrine with caffeine.

To be safe, be sure to consume TeaCrine at least 8-10 hours before bedtime. Additionally, 200mg of theanine can be taken with TeaCrine to take “the edge” off if you feel like you have too much energy.

TeaCrine interactions with medications

There is currently no evidence to suggest that the patented compound TeaCrine or the generic version Theacrine have any negative interactions with prescriptions drugs. However, it is always best to check with your doctor before taking TeaCrine when on any medications.

Where to buy TeaCrine

TeaCrine can be found in BrickHouse Nutrition's Dawn To Dusk. 

Dawn to Dusk stimulates your brain, body, and cells with slow-release energy throughout the entire day.

Dawn to Dusk isn’t your average energy supplement. The physician-formulated blend of ingredients combines Infinergy and TeaCrine to create caffeine that’s delivered in capsule form. While other caffeine supplements make you crash, Dawn to Dusk uses TeaCrine powder to provide up to 10 hours of extended energy.

Discover what you can accomplish by adding Dawn to Dusk to your daily routine.

About The Author:

Matt Mosman (MS, CISSN, CSCS) is a research scientist, endurance athlete, and the founder and Chief Endurance Officer at EndurElite. Matt holds his B.S. in Exercise Science from Creighton University and his M.S. in Exercise Physiology from the University of California.  Matt and his family reside in Spearfish South Dakota, where they enjoy running, mountain biking, camping, and all the outdoor adventures Spearfish has to offer.

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