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Theacrine

Supplement purine alkaloid energyfitness
Aka: TeaCrine, 1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
Limited human evidence — alone it rarely beats placebo
When to take
Acute trials dosed it about 60 min before the test
Take with
Trials pair it with caffeine more often than alone
Pros & cons
Pros
  • With caffeine: SAMe vigilance gain at half the caffeine
  • 4 weeks of 25–50 mg with dynamine: no clinical changes
  • Soccer trial: 27–38% longer tte, but only a trend
Cons
  • Flag-football RCT: no gain in any physical test
  • 4 km cycling: no gain at 3 or 6 mg/kg
  • 6 mg/kg raised resting systolic and diastolic bp
Sources
  1. The effects of TeaCrine® and caffeine on endurance and cognitive performance during a simulated match in high-level soccer players (JISSN 2019) — background · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “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.”
  2. TeaCrine® and caffeine in high-level soccer players (JISSN 2019; n = 24, four randomised sessions) — time-to-exhaustion result · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “TTE trended towards significance in TeaCrine® and TeaCrine® + caffeine conditions compared to placebo … The 27-38% improvements in TTE reflect increased performance capacity”
  3. Effects of caffeine, methylliberine, and theacrine on vigilance, marksmanship, and hemodynamic responses in tactical personnel (JISSN 2022; n = 48) — treatments · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “the effects of placebo (PLA), 300 mg caffeine (CAF), and a combination of 150 mg caffeine, 100 mg methylliberine, and 50 mg theacrine (CMT)”
  4. Caffeine, methylliberine and theacrine in tactical personnel (JISSN 2022) — vigilance conclusion · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “These findings suggest similar benefits on RT during a vigilance task between CAF, containing 300 mg caffeine, and CMT above PLA, though CAF resulted in slightly less favorable hemodynamic changes.”
  5. Caffeine, methylliberine and theacrine in tactical personnel (JISSN 2022) — blood pressure result · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Group main effects for systolic (SBP; P = 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP; P = 0.028) indicated higher SBP in CAF … and CMT … compared to PLA but only higher DBP in CAF”
  6. Effects of Theacrine as a Pre-Workout Supplement (Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 22 amateur flag-football athletes, battery of physical tests) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “There was no difference between the groups in any of the tests. Therefore, the findings of this study do not support the use of theacrine to increase physical performance.”
  7. Different doses of theacrine do not improve 4 km cycling time trial performance (Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2025; 19 cyclists, 3 and 6 mg/kg) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “the intake of theacrine at the dose of 6 mg·kg-1 increased resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure … theacrine supplementation does not improve endurance performance and provokes side effects that might restrict its use”
  8. Assessing the impact of high theacrine doses on hemodynamic measures, cognitive performance, and physiological stress (Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2026; 19 adults, 3 / 6 / 9 mg/kg vs placebo) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The effect of greater theacrine doses on subjective feelings of energy is unclear, as energy only improved in the placebo treatment … greater theacrine doses increased salivary cortisol”
  9. Safety of Short-Term Supplementation with Methylliberine (Dynamine®) Alone and in Combination with TeaCrine® in Young Adults (Nutrients 2020; n = 125, 4 weeks, TCR 25–50 mg) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “This suggests that DYM alone or in combination with TCR consumed at the dosages used in this study does not appear to negatively affect markers of health over four weeks of continuous use.”
  10. HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev. No. 001 (Oct 2025) — Annex A (118 substances, prohibited/restricted) and Annex B (4 substances: caffeine, Camellia sinensis extract, Hypericum perforatum, L-tryptophan) both read in full: theacrine / 1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid is NOT LISTED in Annex A or Annex B · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.”
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Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.