Theacrine, is one of the major purine alkaloids found in the leaves of a wild tea plant species Camellia kucha Hung T. Chang. With effects from its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties appears to affect adenosine signalling in a manner similar to caffeine particularly when it comes to athletic performance and cognition.
There are Many health benefits of Theacrine including –
- Antioxidant effect.
- Anti-inflammatory effect.
- Locomotor activation and reducing fatigue effects.
- Promoting positive mood elevation and mental clarity.
- Improving cognitive effect.
- Ameliorating lipid metabolism and enhancing sustained energy
- Providing stimulatory effects without adaptation or habituation.
So why has Theacrine recently been considered a potential caffeine alternative for enhanced ergogenic and cognitive performance in athletes?
Theacrine’s potential to increase physical and cognitive performance via adenosine receptor inhibition alongside its promotion of overall health and slight cognitive enhancement has given it the consideration of a Caffeine substitute for attenuating both physical and mental fatigue.
Although further studies are underway in this area, based on the research that has been done till date, it can be mentioned with clarity that there is evidence which supports the use of Theacrine as one of the best substitutes of Caffeine when it comes to maximizing the performance in Athletes.
Why is Theacrine a superior alternative to caffeine when it comes to sports performance, cognition, and other metabolic functions?
Antioxidant Effects
Theacrine upregulates the expression of SIRT3 and activates the SIRT3/FOXO3/SOD2 signalling pathway, resulting in antioxidant efficiency.
Anti-inflammatory Effects
Theacrine shows anti-inflammation effects by interfering with the actions of inflammatory mediators such as histamine, serotonin, and bradykinin. The inflammatory mediator histamine, serotonin, and bradykinin induce edema by promoting vasodilatation and increasing vascular permeability.
Theacrine upregulates the expression of RNA and protein of SMAD3, p-ERK and p-p38 and downregulates the expression of NF-kB and IL-6, showing anti-inflammatory effects.
Locomotor Activation and Reducing Fatigue
Theacrine acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist to play a role in the locomotor activation and fatigue reduction.
Improving Cognitive Performance
Theacrine regulates brain glucose metabolism, inhibits phosphodiesterases and restores the levels of 5-HTP and dopamine to improve cognitive capacity.
Antidepressant Effects
Theacrine is shown to be stimulatory when used in higher doses, however, it can actually have a sedative effect when used in low doses. Theacrine mediates the adenosine system to augment pentobarbital-induced sleep.
Ameliorating Lipid Metabolism
Theacrine ameliorates lipid metabolism by activating SIRT3/AMPK/ACC pathway and downregulating the mRNA and protein levels of fatty acid synthase, fatty acid translocase, steroylcoenzyme A desaturase-1, lipoprotein lipase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1.
Bioactivities of Theacrine
Develop Custom Theacrine based Personalized Supplements for your Patients.
As a Healthcare Practitioner, if you are looking to develop customized health supplements for your patients using Theacrine, let us know your specifications.
Schedule an Initial consultation session where we can discuss the specifics of how you can build some of the best Theacrine based supplements using best quality raw materials and our state-of-the-art online formulator.
Select the Raw materials, specify the dosages, and have a custom formulation in no time. To add Theacrine to any formula, we suggest 250mg as the standard dose based on the data.
