Effect of Taurine Supplement on Aerobic and Anaerobic Outcomes: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Taurine is a well-known free amino acid that has gained prominence in recent years despite its little or no role in protein formation. Few studies on the ergogenic effect of taurine exist with inconsistent results. This study aimed to reach a consensus about whether taurine supplementation is effective on aerobic and anaerobic performance outputs. Google Scholar, Pubmed databases, clinical trial websites, and grey literature were reviewed until November 2021. Mean differences were pooled using random or fixed-effects models according to the heterogeneity degree of related outcomes. Although 17 studies were detected for the meta-analysis between 2001-2021, 15 studies were grouped.Only randomized controlled trials were considered. Taurine supplementation had a significant effect on vertical (MD 5 3.60; 95% CI [2.32 to 4.89], p , 0.00001) and countermovement (MD 5 8.50; 95% CI [4.78 to 12.22], p , 0.00001) jump performance when compared to a placebo group. Taurine supplementation had no significant effect on V Ȯ2 max level and rate of perceived exertion (respectively, MD 5 -0.54 mL/kg/min; 95% CI [-6.84 to 5.75], p 5 0.87; MD 5 -0.24; 95% CI [-0.74 to 0.27], p 5 0.35) when compared to a placebo group. Taurine improves potentially jumping performance and time to exhaustion.

Does Single or Combined Caffeine and Taurine Supplementation Improve Athletic and Cognitive Performance without Affecting Fatigue Level in Elite Boxers? A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

“…In this study, a single dose of TAU improved PP, AP, MP and T_PP values in Wingate performance compared to PLA. However, TAU was shown to have ergogenic effects in this study, and mixed and inconsistent results regarding the improvement of anaerobic exercise performance of TAU intake have been reported in the literature [ 48 , 49 ].…”