Football-Specific Performance and Cognitive Fatigue Resistance Following Supplementation with Two Phosphatidylserine Doses Combined with Taurine and Caffeine in Professional Male Football Players: A Randomized, Triple-Masked, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
Mizera K, Mazurek D, Martínez-Rodríguez A, Kęska A • Nutrients • 2026
Multi-ingredient protocols containing taurine, caffeine, and phosphatidylserine were associated with more favorable selected cognitive and psychomotor outcomes, 30 m sprint performance, and baseline-adjusted GPS-derived locomotor outcomes than placebo in professional male football players over 14 days.
Key Findings
Results
Supplementation with taurine, caffeine, and phosphatidylserine (both doses) was associated with significantly better 30 m sprint performance compared to placebo after 14 days.
97 professional male football players were randomized into four parallel groups: PLA (n=24), TC (n=24), TCP-300 (n=24), and TCP-600 (n=25)
Taurine dose was 1500 mg·day-1, caffeine dose was 200 mg·day-1, and phosphatidylserine doses were 300 or 600 mg·day-1
Supplementation duration was 14 days
Baseline-adjusted ANCOVA demonstrated a significant treatment-group effect on post-intervention 30 m sprint time
The trial was randomized, triple-masked, and placebo-controlled with a parallel-group design
Results
Significant treatment-related effects on Stroop reaction time, visual reaction time, and perceived mental fatigue were observed after Holm-Bonferroni correction.
Outcomes were assessed after 14 days of supplementation using a standardized football-specific exercise protocol
Stroop-task performance, visual reaction time, and perceived mental fatigue all showed statistically significant group differences surviving Holm-Bonferroni correction
Auditory reaction time did not reach statistical significance after correction (unadjusted p = 0.074; Holm-adjusted p = 0.096)
Cognitive and psychomotor outcomes were among the primary measures assessed
Results
GPS-derived locomotor outcomes during the post-intervention standardized football-specific protocol differed significantly between treatment groups after baseline adjustment.
Locomotor variables were derived from GPS tracking during a standardized football-specific exercise protocol
Baseline-adjusted ANCOVA revealed significant between-group differences in GPS-derived locomotor outcomes
The multi-ingredient protocols containing phosphatidylserine were associated with more favorable locomotor outcomes than placebo
Results
First-to-second-half performance-loss indices differed between groups, with the smallest post-intervention losses generally observed in the TCP-600 group, but these findings do not represent intervention-related changes in fatigue resistance.
Performance-loss indices quantified the decline from the first to the second half of the standardized football-specific protocol
TCP-600 (600 mg·day-1 phosphatidylserine) showed numerically the smallest performance losses between halves
Because comparable decline indices were not assessed at baseline, the authors explicitly state 'these findings do not represent intervention-related changes in fatigue resistance'
The absence of baseline decline indices is a key methodological limitation acknowledged by the authors
Results
Differences between the TCP-300 and TCP-600 dose conditions were modest and not consistently statistically significant, and the study was not specifically powered to establish a dose-response relationship.
TCP-300 used 300 mg·day-1 of phosphatidylserine combined with 1500 mg·day-1 taurine and 200 mg·day-1 caffeine
TCP-600 used 600 mg·day-1 of phosphatidylserine with the same taurine and caffeine doses
Numerically more favorable values were observed for several outcomes in TCP-600
The authors state the study was 'not specifically powered to establish a dose-response relationship'
Sample sizes were n=24 and n=25 for TCP-300 and TCP-600 respectively
Discussion
Because phosphatidylserine was not tested as a standalone ingredient, all findings reflect responses to combined multi-ingredient supplementation protocols rather than effects of phosphatidylserine alone.
All active groups received both taurine (1500 mg·day-1) and caffeine (200 mg·day-1) as a base, with phosphatidylserine added in TCP-300 and TCP-600
No phosphatidylserine-only arm was included in the study design
The authors explicitly caution that 'findings should be interpreted as responses to the combined multi-ingredient supplementation protocols rather than as effects of phosphatidylserine alone'
The TC group (taurine plus caffeine without phosphatidylserine) served as a partial comparator to isolate phosphatidylserine contributions
What This Means
This research suggests that professional male football players who took a combination of taurine (1500 mg/day), caffeine (200 mg/day), and phosphatidylserine (either 300 or 600 mg/day) for 14 days showed better sprint times, faster visual reaction times, improved performance on a cognitive switching task (Stroop test), and lower perceived mental fatigue compared to players who took a placebo. The study also found differences in how players moved on the field during a standardized football exercise protocol, with the supplement groups showing more favorable GPS-measured locomotor outcomes. These are notable findings because cognitive sharpness and physical performance both tend to deteriorate as a match progresses.
However, the study has important limitations that affect how the results should be interpreted. Researchers were unable to measure how much performance declined from the first to second half of the exercise protocol at baseline (before supplementation began), meaning they cannot definitively conclude that the supplements improved fatigue resistance — only that the groups differed in post-intervention performance losses. Additionally, since phosphatidylserine was always given alongside taurine and caffeine, it is impossible to determine how much of the benefit, if any, came from phosphatidylserine specifically versus the other ingredients. The higher 600 mg phosphatidylserine dose appeared numerically better on several measures, but differences between the two doses were small and the study was not designed to formally test whether a higher dose is meaningfully better.
This research suggests that multi-ingredient supplements combining taurine, caffeine, and phosphatidylserine may support cognitive and physical performance in professional football players, but further studies isolating individual ingredients, including baseline fatigue assessments, and testing longer supplementation periods would be needed to draw firmer conclusions about which components are responsible for any benefits and whether the effects are truly protective against in-game fatigue.
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Mizera K, Mazurek D, Martínez-Rodríguez A, Kęska A. (2026). Football-Specific Performance and Cognitive Fatigue Resistance Following Supplementation with Two Phosphatidylserine Doses Combined with Taurine and Caffeine in Professional Male Football Players: A Randomized, Triple-Masked, Placebo-Controlled Trial.. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18162588