Document Type
Article
Abstract
Background: Theacrine (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric-acid) is a pure alkaloid with a similar structure to caffeine and acts comparably as an adenosine receptor antagonist. Early studies have shown non-habituating effects, including increases in energy and focus in response to Teacrine®, the compound containing pure theacrine. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the effects of Teacrine® and caffeine on cognitive performance and time-to-exhaustion during a simulated soccer game in high-level male and female athletes. Methods: Male and female soccer players (N = 24; M Age = 20.96 ± 2.05y, M MaleVO2max = 55.31 ± 3.39 mL/O 2 /kg, M FemaleVO2max = 50.97 ± 3.90 mL/O 2 /kg) completed a 90-min simulated treadmill soccer match over four randomized sessions (TeaCrine®, caffeine, TeaCrine® + caffeine, placebo). Cognitive testing at halftime and end-of-game including simple reaction time (SRT), choice RT (CRT), and cognitive-load RT with distraction questions (COGRT/COGRT Wrong ) was performed, with a run time-to-exhaustion (TTE) at 85% VO 2max following end-of-game cognitive testing. Session times and pre-exercise nutrition were controlled. RM-MANOVAs with univariate follow-ups were conducted and significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: TTE trended towards significance in TeaCrine® and TeaCrine® + caffeine conditions compared to placebo (P < 0.052). A condition main effect (P < 0.05) occurred with faster CRT in caffeine and TeaCrine® + caffeine compared to placebo. COGRT Wrong showed a significant time main effect, with better accuracy at end-of-game compared to halftime (P < 0.05). A time x condition interaction in SRT (P < 0.05) showed placebo improved from halftime to end-of-game. Conclusions: The 27-38% improvements in TTE reflect increased performance capacity that may have important implications for overtime scenarios. These findings suggest TeaCrine® favorably impacts endurance and the combination with caffeine provides greater benefits on cognitive function than either supplement independently.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Issue 1, 2019.
Rights
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
APA Citation
Bello, M. L., Walker, A. J., McFadden, B. A., Sanders, D. J., & Arent, S. M. (2019). The effects of TeaCrine® and caffeine on endurance and cognitive performance during a simulated match in high-level soccer players. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-019-0287-6