Taurine for Endurance
Taurine appears to give a small lift to endurance performance, but the effect is modest, the evidence quality is low, and much of it comes from energy-drink trials where caffeine is hard to disentangle. Treat it as preliminary, not proven.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
Two meta-analyses point in a positive direction but with small effects. Waldron 2018 (PMID 29546641, 10 trials) found taurine improved endurance with Hedges' g = 0.40 (95% CI 0.12-0.67), and a 2025 acute-dose review (PMID 40852891, n=308) reported g = 0.25 (95% CI 0.10-0.39). Crucially, that 2025 analysis rated its own evidence GRADE low-to-very-low because of high heterogeneity (I-squared = 61%) and risk of bias, which is why this lands at B rather than A.
The supporting trials are fragile. A 2021 systematic review (PMID 34497536) found mixed, dose-dependent results, with 1 g lowering exercise lactate but no clear overall conclusion. A triple-blind RCT of fat oxidation (PMID 39419489, n=11) was outright null (MFO d = -0.07). A small open-label caffeine-taurine cycling trial (PMID 38406865, n=12) showed improved time-to-exhaustion, but adding taurine to caffeine gave no extra benefit, underscoring how often the caffeine in energy-drink mixes drives the apparent effect.
Regulators and clinics do not endorse it for performance. The US FDA only confirms safety as a food ingredient ('FDA has no questions'), and WHO/JECFA found 'no safety concern at current levels of intake when used as a flavouring agent' - neither speaks to efficacy. The EU's EFSA went further and rejected all taurine claims for delaying fatigue or enhancing performance, while Mayo Clinic and Harvard describe its cellular roles without backing an endurance benefit. Hence: published with a warning.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.613
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (2 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status