Ranked by evidence

Best supplements for endurance

For endurance, the biggest supplement effect by far is carbohydrate taken during long efforts, followed by caffeine. Everything below is ranked by how strong the evidence is for endurance performance specifically, not by how popular the product is. Items that only help in a particular kind of event or population are labelled that way.

Picks are ranked by the strength of published evidence for this goal in otherwise healthy adults. A persistent symptom needs a clinician's evaluation, and no supplement on this list replaces treatment.

Evidence last reviewed: September 2026

Top picks

Option	Evidence	Best for	The honest note
Energy Gels	Strong evidence	fuelling efforts over an hour	Carbohydrate during endurance exercise is one of the most consistently replicated findings in sports nutrition. The gel is just a convenient format: aim for 30–60 g per hour and take it with water.	View
Endurance Formulas	Moderate evidence	long training sessions and races	Carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks deliver the same well-supported carbohydrate effect. Glucose plus fructose blends help most at intakes above roughly 60 g per hour in events lasting several hours.	View
Caffeine	Strong evidence	almost any endurance event	An umbrella review of 21 meta-analyses confirms ergogenic effects on aerobic exercise. Studied doses are 3–6 mg/kg taken 30–60 minutes before exercise.	View

Solid options

Option	Evidence	Best for	The honest note
Beetroot (Dietary Nitrate)	Moderate evidence	recreationally trained endurance athletes	Dietary nitrate gives a small benefit, with time-to-exhaustion tests responding more than time trials. If you are already highly trained, expect little or nothing.	View
Taurine	Moderate evidence	a small extra edge	A meta-analysis found a small but significant improvement of roughly 1–2% in endurance performance. A single 1–3 g dose taken 1–3 hours before exercise worked best.	View

Situational

Option	Evidence	Best for	The honest note
Electrolyte Powder	Moderate evidence	long, hot or very sweaty sessions	Sodium-containing drinks are retained better than plain water, which matters for rehydration after heavy sweat losses in exercise over an hour. They do not reliably prevent hyponatremia or cramps.	View
Sodium Bicarbonate	Strong evidence	hard efforts lasting 1–10 minutes	Strong evidence in efforts lasting 1–10 minutes where acidosis limits performance, and moderate evidence for repeated sprints. Gastrointestinal distress can wipe out the benefit, so trial it in training.	View
Beta-Alanine	Moderate evidence	efforts lasting 1–4 minutes	Modest but consistent gains in 1–4 minute efforts such as rowing, swimming or HIIT intervals, with little to no effect on long endurance events. It works by accumulation, so it needs at least 4 weeks of daily dosing.	View
Urolithin A	Moderate evidence	middle-aged and older adults	Randomised trials in middle-aged and older adults found improved muscle endurance, though primary endpoints were not always met. In highly trained distance runners it did not meaningfully improve performance.	View

Popular for this goal — but the evidence says skip

Ketone Esters Limited evidence
Meta-analyses of acute ketone supplementation found no overall performance benefit, and one trial in trained cyclists found it impaired a 20-minute time trial.
Ketone Salts (BHB) Limited evidence
The performance literature is overwhelmingly null or negative, and a single serving can deliver over 1 g of sodium.
BCAA (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) Limited evidence
The central-fatigue idea is plausible, but human endurance trials are small, heterogeneous and mostly null for time-trial performance.
MCT Oil Moderate evidence
Trials before or during endurance exercise have mostly failed to improve performance, and the doses needed often cause GI distress that impairs it.
Cordyceps Limited evidence
The human evidence is a handful of small trials, one with 20 participants and another using a multi-mushroom blend, and product potency varies by an order of magnitude.
L-Arginine Moderate evidence
A meta-analysis found no significant overall effect on VO2max, and oral arginine is heavily degraded in the gut and liver before it reaches circulation.

Our verdict

Carbohydrate during sessions longer than about an hour, as gels or a drink mix, plus caffeine, covers most of what supplements can do for endurance. Skip ketone drinks, BCAAs, and MCT or mushroom products sold as endurance fuel.