Acute Effects of Taurine Supplementation on Maximal Fat Oxidation and FATmax in Recreational Endurance Runners: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover, and Triple-Blinded Study

Taurine (TAU) has been shown to improve time to exhaustion (TTE) and fat oxidation during exercise; however, no studies have examined the effect of acute TAU supplementation on maximal fat oxidation (MFO) and related intensity to MFO (FATmax). Our study aimed to investigate the effect of acute TAU supplementation on MFO, FATmax, VO2peak, and TTE. Eleven recreationally trained male endurance runners performed three incremental running tests. The first visit included a familiarization to the test, followed by two subsequent visits in which exercise was performed 90 min after ingestion of either 6-g TAU or placebo (PLA) using a triple-blind randomized crossover design. There was no effect of TAU on MFO (p = .89, d = -0.07, TAU: 0.48 ± 0.22 g/min; PLA: 0.49 ± 0.15 g/min or FATmax (p = .26, d = -0.66; TAU: 49.17 ± 15.86 %V˙O2peak; PLA: 56.00 ± 13.27 %V˙O2peak). TTE was not significantly altered (TAU: 1,444.8 ± 88.6 s; PLA: 1,447.6 ± 87.34 s; p = .65, d = -0.04). TAU did not show any effect on V˙O2peak in comparison with PLA (TAU: 58.9 ± 8.4 ml·kg-1·min-1; PLA: 56.5 ± 5.7 ml·kg-1·min-1, p = .47, d = 0.48). However, V˙O2 was increased with TAU at most stages of exercise with large effect sizes. The acute ingestion of 6 g of TAU before exercise did not enhance MFO, FATmax, or TTE. However, it did increase the oxygen cost of running fixed intensities in recreationally trained endurance runners.