Theacrine
Summary
Theacrine is a caffeine-like compound from a Chinese tea plant, sold as TeaCrine for energy and focus. One small trial found a 200 mg dose raised self-rated energy (grade D), but exercise trials of theacrine alone showed no performance gain. Caffeine raises its blood levels. The maker funded much of the research.
Key facts
- A purine alkaloid (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid) from Camellia kucha tea, structurally similar to caffeine; TeaCrine is a synthetic, nature-identical version[4][5]
- Self-rated energy (D), exercise performance alone (no effect, D), cognition with caffeine (D)[8][4][10]
- Caffeine raises blood levels of theacrine[3]
- Compound Solutions, which sells TeaCrine, funded the 8-week safety, caffeine interaction, soccer and strength studies[2][3][5][4]
- 8 graded human outcomes on this page
- October 10, 2026
How it works
ProposedTheacrine is structurally similar to caffeine and is described as an adenosine receptor antagonist that also influences dopamine signaling. It is marketed as causing less tolerance than caffeine, a claim based on one company-funded 8-week study.[5][3][2]
What the human research says
Human trials only, one row per outcome. The form column shows what each trial actually tested. Grades follow our evidence-grading policy.
At a glance: strongest evidence per outcome
| Outcome | Grade | Effect | Strongest evidence | Rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety | Grade D | No effect | RCT · n = 60 · 2016 | 1 row |
| Exercise | Grade D | Mixed | Crossover RCT · n = 24 · 2019 | 4 rows |
| Cognition | Grade D | Improved | Crossover RCT · n = 20 · 2025 | 1 row |
| Energy | Grade D | No effect | Crossover RCT · n = 19 · 2026 | 2 rows |
Every graded row
| Outcome | Effect | Grade | Best evidence | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety markers and tolerance over 8 weeks | No effect | Grade D | RCT · n = 60 · 2016 Healthy young men and women Form: TeaCrine · Dose: 200 or 300 mg/day · Duration: 8 weeks Heart rate, blood pressure, lipids, blood counts and liver, kidney and immune markers stayed within normal limits with no group differences; pre-dose energy, focus, anxiety and mood ratings stayed stable, which the authors read as no habituation. | 26766930 (opens PubMed)Source [2] |
| Endurance and reaction time in a simulated soccer match | Mixed | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 24 · 2019 High-level male and female soccer players Form: TeaCrine, caffeine, or both · Dose: Not stated in the abstract · Duration: Four sessions, one per condition Time to exhaustion trended higher with TeaCrine and with TeaCrine plus caffeine (P<0.052, not significant); choice reaction time was faster with caffeine and with the combination, not with TeaCrine alone. | 30999897 (opens PubMed)Source [5] |
| Sprint, agility and running tests | No effect | Grade D | RCT · n = 22 · 2022 Amateur male flag-football athletes Form: Theacrine · Dose: Single pre-workout dose (amount not stated in the abstract) · Duration: Single dose 60 minutes before testing No difference from placebo on jump, agility, 30 m sprint, 40-second run or 12-minute run tests. | 36360914 (opens PubMed)Source [7] |
| Sprint kayak performance | No effect | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 20 · 2025 Highly trained male canoe sprint athletes Form: Theacrine, caffeine, or both · Dose: Not stated in the abstract · Duration: Single dose per condition Theacrine alone did not improve 500 m time or Wingate distance; caffeine did (500 m about 1.9 seconds faster), and the combination gave smaller significant gains. Heart rate and blood pressure did not differ. | 41320283 (opens PubMed)Source [6] |
| Cognitive performance under exercise fatigue (with caffeine) | Improved | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 20 · 2025 Tactically trained adults Form: Caffeine plus theacrine, compared with caffeine alone and placebo · Dose: 150 mg theacrine plus 150 mg caffeine (versus 300 mg caffeine) · Duration: Single dose per visit Both caffeine alone and the combination improved cognitive and physical measures versus placebo; the combination had higher Two-Back accuracy and fewer errors than placebo. | 40693646 (opens PubMed)Source [10] |
| Energy, cognition, heart rate and cortisol at high doses | No effect | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 19 · 2026 Healthy habitual caffeine users (14 women, 5 men) Form: Theacrine · Dose: 3, 6 or 9 mg per kg of body weight, single doses · Duration: One dose per visit, 7-day washout No effect on heart rate, blood pressure, self-rated energy, salivary alpha-amylase or cognitive performance; salivary cortisol was higher than with placebo at 120 and 180 minutes. | 41950524 (opens PubMed)Source [9] |
| Self-rated energy, fatigue and concentration | Improved | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 15 · 2017 Healthy adults Form: TeaCrine (synthetic theacrine) · Dose: 200 mg, single dose · Duration: Single dose; ratings over 3 hours Energy, fatigue and concentration ratings improved versus placebo; resting heart rate, blood pressure, gas exchange and side-effect reports did not change. | 27164220 (opens PubMed)Source [8] |
| Strength, power and rowing performance | No effect | Grade D | Crossover RCT · n = 12 · 2019 Resistance-trained men Form: TeaCrine, caffeine, or both · Dose: 300 mg TeaCrine, or 150 mg TeaCrine with 150 mg caffeine · Duration: Single dose 90 minutes before exercise No condition improved 1-rep max, reps to failure, power or 2 km rowing; only 300 mg caffeine raised energy, focus and motivation compared with TeaCrine. | 31660991 (opens PubMed)Source [4] |
Forms
| Form | Elemental % | Absorption (human data) | GI tolerance | Studied for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TeaCrine (synthetic, nature-identical theacrine) | Varies[2][3][4][5][8] | Caffeine co-ingestion raised theacrine peak levels and exposure without changing its half-life.[3] | No clinically significant changes in safety markers at 200–300 mg/day for 8 weeks.[2] | Energy, safety and exercise studies (25–300 mg) |
| Theacrine combined with caffeine and/or methylliberine (Dynamine) | Varies[3][10][11] | Theacrine did not change caffeine or paraxanthine levels.[3] | A 4-week methylliberine-theacrine trial found only small, not clinically significant, heart and blood marker changes.[11] | Cognition and safety studies |
Studied doses
Doses studied in human trials ranged from 25 mg single doses to 300 mg/day for 8 weeks; one study tested single doses of 3–9 mg per kg of body weight.[3][2][9]
Interactions
Published interactions only: each row cites a source. No row means none was found in our sources, not that a combination is safe.
Other supplements
- CaffeinePK studyCaffeine (150 mg) increased theacrine peak levels and overall exposure; theacrine did not change caffeine levels, and heart rate and blood pressure were unchanged in 8 adults.[3]
Who should be careful
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- The trials enrolled healthy adults only. FDA advises people who are pregnant or breastfeeding to ask a provider about limiting caffeine, and theacrine is a caffeine-like stimulant.[1][5]
- Caffeine sensitivity
- FDA notes too much caffeine can raise heart rate and blood pressure and cause anxiety and insomnia; theacrine acts on the same adenosine receptors and is often paired with caffeine in studies.[1][5][10]
- High doses
- At 3–9 mg/kg, theacrine raised salivary cortisol without improving energy or cognition.[9]
Talk to your pharmacist or clinician before starting a supplement, especially if you take prescription medicines.
Safety
Short studies found no clinically significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure or blood tests.
- 8-week study
- 200–300 mg/day kept heart rate, blood pressure and blood markers within normal limits in 60 adults.[2]
- With methylliberine
- Four weeks of methylliberine with theacrine produced only small, not clinically significant, heart and blood marker changes in 125 adults.[11]
- High doses
- Single doses of 3–9 mg/kg raised salivary cortisol.[9]
How to read the label
- Label dose vs clinical doseThe 8-week safety study used 200 or 300 mg/day; performance trials used 150–300 mg single doses.[2][4]
- Count the caffeineMany studies paired theacrine with caffeine, which raises theacrine levels; FDA cites 400 mg/day of caffeine as an amount not generally linked to negative effects in most adults.[3][1][10]
- Methylliberine blendsSome formulas pair theacrine with methylliberine (Dynamine); a 4-week trial of the mix found no clinically significant changes in heart or blood markers.[11]
Cost per studied dose, without the sales pitch
Compare any product you already have by the amount it delivers, not by capsule count or front-of-pack weight.
Cost per studied dose
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Frequently asked questions
Does theacrine give you energy?
In one small crossover trial, a 200 mg dose raised self-rated energy and concentration versus placebo, but a later study at 3–9 mg/kg found no energy effect.[8][9]
Is theacrine better than caffeine?
Not for performance: in strength and kayak trials caffeine helped and theacrine alone did not.[4][6]
Does theacrine improve workouts?
Trials of theacrine alone in strength, kayak and flag-football athletes found no performance gain.[4][6][7]
Can theacrine be combined with caffeine?
Studies often combine them. Caffeine raises theacrine blood levels, and a combination improved reaction-based cognition in tactical personnel.[3][10]
Is theacrine safe?
Up to 300 mg/day for 8 weeks left heart rate, blood pressure and blood tests normal in 60 adults, in a study funded by the maker.[2]
Does theacrine cause tolerance like caffeine?
One maker-funded 8-week study found stable energy and mood ratings, which it described as no habituation; this has not been independently tested.[2]
Sources
- [1]Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? (consumer update, current as of August 28, 2024). U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024. fact-sheet
- [2]Safety of TeaCrine®, a non-habituating, naturally-occurring purine alkaloid over eight weeks of continuous use.. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2016. RCT
- [3]Assessment of the Drug-Drug Interaction Potential Between Theacrine and Caffeine in Humans.. J Caffeine Res, 2017. PK-study
- [4]The effects of a caffeine-like supplement, TeaCrine®, on muscular strength, endurance and power performance in resistance-trained men.. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2019. crossover-RCT
- [5]The effects of TeaCrine® and caffeine on endurance and cognitive performance during a simulated match in high-level soccer players.. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2019. crossover-RCT
- [6]Theacrine as a novel ergogenic aid: impact on canoe sprint performance.. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2025. crossover-RCT
- [7]Effects of Theacrine as a Pre-Workout Supplement.. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022. RCT
- [8]A Two-Part Approach to Examine the Effects of Theacrine (TeaCrine®) Supplementation on Oxygen Consumption, Hemodynamic Responses, and Subjective Measures of Cognitive and Psychometric Parameters.. J Diet Suppl, 2017. crossover-RCT
- [9]Assessing the impact of high theacrine doses on hemodynamic measures, cognitive performance, and physiological stress.. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 2026. crossover-RCT
- [10]A caffeine and theacrine combination improves cognitive performance in tactical personnel under physically fatiguing conditions.. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2025. crossover-RCT
- [11]Safety of Short-Term Supplementation with Methylliberine (Dynamine(®)) Alone and in Combination with TeaCrine(®) in Young Adults.. Nutrients, 2020. RCT
What changed
- First draft. Every PMID checked against NCBI E-utilities esummary (title and year taken from the record) and abstracts read for the cited rows.
- Adversarial review pass: every evidence row re-read against its PubMed abstract. Official sources opened before citing: FDA consumer update on caffeine limits (current as of August 28, 2024). No NIH ODS or NCCIH fact sheet covers theacrine. Industry ties: Compound Solutions, Inc. (TeaCrine) funded the 2016 safety study (PMC4711067), the 2017 caffeine interaction study (PubMed COI), the 2019 soccer trial (PMC6472067) and the 2019 strength trial (PMC6816173) and gave a grant for the 2020 methylliberine study; the 2022, 2025 and 2026 trials declared no conflicts. Retraction, expression-of-concern, erratum and withdrawn checks on all 10 PMIDs: none flagged. Page set indexable. Independent browser review (4 parallel reviewers, every evidence row checked against its abstract and official sources on the Vercel preview) found: no issues.