Taurine and sport: performance, studied dose and limits

Taurine is a sulfur-containing compound naturally present in the body, particularly in muscles, the heart, and the brain. Diet provides it mainly through meat, fish, and seafood. It's involved in cellular water balance, calcium handling during muscle contraction, and protection against oxidative stress. These roles make an athletic effect plausible, without proving it.

A 2018 meta-analysis pooled 10 studies on taurine alone. Doses of 1 to 6 g per day, as a single dose or for up to two weeks, improved endurance performance with a small to moderate effect (g = 0.40). The result was similar in time-to-exhaustion tests. Neither the dose nor the duration of supplementation changed the effect.

A 2021 review covering 19 studies confirms variable results: some find a gain in oxygen uptake, time to exhaustion, or a 3-to-4 km time trial, others find no effect at all. Participants were mostly young men; data are lacking for women, teenagers, and elite athletes.

In a crossover trial with 30 elite male speed skaters, 6 g of taurine taken 60 minutes before a Wingate test increased peak power by about 13% and average power by about 4%, with lower perceived effort. Vertical jump was unchanged. This is an interesting result for this population and this test, but it hasn't been reproduced at scale.

On muscle soreness and recovery, a few studies find a decrease in muscle damage markers, without consistently demonstrated functional benefit.

Performance trials most often use 1 to 6 g, taken 10 minutes to 2 hours before exercise, and frequently about 1 hour before, or daily for 1 to 8 weeks. No clear dose-response relationship was found: 6 g doesn't work better than 1 or 3 g. These figures describe research protocols, not a recommended dose.

A 2025 network meta-analysis covering 12 studies compared caffeine, taurine, and their combination. The combination outperformed each ingredient alone for anaerobic capacity and reaction time. Caffeine alone reduced perceived effort the most. Effects on endurance varied by context.

In practice, the effect of an energy drink depends mainly on its caffeine content. EFSA considers that up to 400 mg of caffeine per day, and 200 mg in a single dose, pose no safety concern for healthy adults, and 200 mg per day during pregnancy. For caffeine doses and timing, see our article on caffeine and athletic performance.

At the amounts present in energy drinks, EFSA has not identified a risk linked to taurine. Long-term safety data for high-dose supplements, however, remain limited. The problems reported with energy drinks (palpitations, sleep disturbances, higher blood pressure) are mainly linked to caffeine and the amounts consumed.