By Dr. David Kenny, D.O.
Nobody talks about betaine the way they talk about caffeine or beta-alanine. There is no flush. No tingle. No jolt of anything. You take it, you go train, and nothing obviously different happens in the first twenty minutes. So most people either do not notice it is in their formula, or they write it off as filler.
I almost did the same thing when I was building the Forca Method formula. Then I went back through the research, and I changed my mind.
Betaine anhydrous is one of the quieter ingredients in the pre-workout category. It does not sell products. It does not produce the kind of acute, obvious sensation that makes someone feel like a supplement is working. But the underlying physiology is legitimate, the dosing science is cleaner than most, and for the specific demands of Brazilian jiu jitsu — where training is hot, sweaty, prolonged, and asks a lot of your muscles across multiple rounds — it earns its place.
This is my attempt to explain why I put it in Forca Method, and why I think it belongs there.
What Betaine Anhydrous Actually Is
Betaine anhydrous — also called trimethylglycine, or TMG — is a naturally occurring compound derived from the amino acid glycine. It is found in relatively high concentrations in beets, spinach, quinoa, and wheat germ. "Anhydrous" just means the water has been removed, leaving a more concentrated powder form.
In the body, betaine plays two distinct physiological roles, and understanding both of them is important for evaluating whether it belongs in a performance context.
The first role is as an osmolyte. Osmolytes are compounds that help cells regulate their internal fluid balance. When a cell is under osmotic stress — for example, when you are dehydrated, when your extracellular environment becomes more concentrated from sweating, or when your muscle cells are working under sustained load — osmolytes accumulate inside the cell to draw water back in and maintain cell volume. Betaine is one of the body's natural osmolytes. When it is present in sufficient quantity, it helps muscle cells resist shrinkage and maintain the hydration they need to function properly.
The second role is as a methyl donor. This is more biochemically complex. Betaine donates methyl groups in a metabolic pathway that converts homocysteine to methionine. Homocysteine is a byproduct of normal protein metabolism, and high levels are associated with cardiovascular risk and impaired cellular function. Betaine supplementation supports this conversion, helping keep homocysteine levels in a healthier range. This is not why athletes take it, but it is a secondary benefit worth knowing about as a physician.
Why BJJ Creates the Right Problem for Betaine to Solve
When I think about why an ingredient belongs in a BJJ pre-workout specifically, I ask one question: does the demand of this sport create a problem that this ingredient is specifically positioned to address?
For betaine and BJJ, the answer is yes — for two reasons.
First: sweating. A hard BJJ session is not a mild aerobic workout. You are wearing a gi (or even no-gi rash guards), you are physically pressed against another person, the room is warm, and the effort is intense. You sweat a lot. Some athletes lose one to three liters of fluid in a hard training session. That fluid loss is not just water — it is electrolytes, and it changes the osmotic environment around your muscle cells. Betaine's role as an osmolyte becomes relevant here: supplementation can support the cell's ability to maintain volume and function under that kind of stress.
Second: the nature of repeated muscular effort. The research on betaine and performance is clearest in the context of muscular power output and endurance across repeated efforts. Not a single maximal sprint. Not one rep max. Multiple hard efforts with imperfect recovery between them. That is a description of a BJJ training session: repeated scrambles, grip fights, escapes, isometric holds, and explosive exchanges across rounds that do not give you full recovery. The studies on betaine that show meaningful performance effects are, almost uniformly, in that kind of repeated-effort protocol. That is the overlap I care about.
What the Research Actually Shows
I want to be direct here: betaine is not a headline supplement in the research literature. It does not have the volume of trials that caffeine has, or the mechanism clarity of beta-alanine. But what it does have is a coherent story and a growing body of evidence in the right direction.
The foundational work on betaine and exercise performance came from researchers at the University of Connecticut, where a series of trials showed that betaine supplementation (typically 2.5 grams per day for two weeks) improved power output, force production, and muscular endurance compared to placebo. The 2013 paper by Cholewa et al. in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found improvements in both bench press volume and squat performance. A follow-up study from the same group found improvements in sprint cycling performance and a reduction in perceived fatigue.
A 2014 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that athletes supplementing with betaine over six weeks saw improvements in body composition metrics alongside performance — specifically more favorable lean mass outcomes compared to placebo. The proposed mechanism was both the osmotic protection of muscle cells and the methyl donor function supporting protein synthesis pathways.
More relevant to combat sports: a 2018 study on wrestlers — the grappling sport with the closest physiological overlap to BJJ — found that betaine supplementation improved anaerobic performance outcomes and reduced markers of muscle damage after a simulated competition protocol.
Is this a mountain of evidence? No. Is it a coherent picture of an ingredient with a plausible mechanism that consistently shows up in the direction you would want? Yes. As a physician, that is the standard I apply. I do not need a hundred trials to be convinced an ingredient belongs in a formula. I need a biologically plausible mechanism and a consistent directional signal in the research. Betaine has both.
The Dosing Question
The research on betaine clusters around 2.5 grams per day as the most studied dose. Some trials use as low as 1.25 grams and still show effects; others go up to 5 grams without proportional additional benefit.
Forca Method contains 1.5 grams of betaine anhydrous per serving.
That is deliberately on the conservative end of the effective range, and I want to explain why rather than hide behind it.
First: betaine is typically more effective as a daily supplement than as an acute pre-workout dose. The osmolyte effect requires intracellular accumulation, not just a one-time hit. At 1.5 grams per training day — which for most serious BJJ athletes means four to six days per week — the total weekly intake approaches what the research uses. If you are training regularly and taking Forca Method consistently, the dose is appropriate for the use case.
Second: I made a deliberate formula decision to put more budget into the ingredients with the strongest acute effect profiles — L-Citrulline at 4 grams, Beta-Alanine at 3.2 grams, and the Caffeine/Theanine combination — and use betaine as a supporting ingredient at a dose that makes physiological sense without overcrowding the formula or inflating the cost. Every ingredient in a formula competes for space and cost. I chose the allocation I believed in.
If you wanted to augment betaine specifically, you could take an additional standalone betaine supplement on training days. The research supports up to 2.5 grams per day without issue.
What Betaine Will Not Do
I am skeptical of supplements that promise everything, so I want to be equally honest about what betaine does not do.
It will not replace hydration. If you are going into training dehydrated, the osmolyte effect of betaine does not compensate for actual fluid deficit. Drink water. The supplement supports cellular hydration at the margins; it does not create it from nothing.
It will not produce an acute performance kick you can feel. Unlike caffeine, which crosses the blood-brain barrier and produces noticeable changes in arousal and perception within thirty minutes, betaine works through cumulative cellular mechanisms. You will never feel betaine "hit." If you are evaluating a pre-workout by how buzzed you feel in the first twenty minutes, betaine is invisible.
It will not compensate for poor conditioning. No supplement does. Betaine gives trained athletes an edge at the margins of muscular endurance and cellular protection. It does not substitute for the aerobic base and mat time that actually determine your fitness.
How It Fits With the Other Ingredients in the Formula
One of the things I care about in formula design is whether the ingredients interact coherently rather than just being a list of things with individual research backing.
Betaine and L-Citrulline work through adjacent mechanisms. Citrulline improves blood flow and nutrient delivery to working muscle via nitric oxide production. Betaine supports the cellular environment inside the muscle cell. One is about getting resources to the cell; the other is about maintaining the cell's capacity to use them under stress. That combination makes sense to me as a physician in a way that a formula built around caffeine alone does not.
Betaine and Beta-Alanine are both cumulative ingredients — they build their effects over time with consistent use. Neither produces an acute performance hit. Both work through different but complementary mechanisms: beta-alanine raises carnosine for acid buffering, betaine supports osmotic protection and cellular integrity. Together they address two different reasons muscles stop performing under sustained load.
The caffeine and theanine combination addresses the acute central nervous system and cognitive side of performance. The citrulline, beta-alanine, and betaine address the peripheral muscular side. The L-Tyrosine supports the sustained dopaminergic focus that starts to fade when you are in round four and your body is sending your brain increasingly urgent messages to stop. The formula is designed as a system, not a highlight reel.
Related reading: Beta-Alanine for BJJ · L-Citrulline for Grapplers · Caffeine and Theanine for BJJ
A Few Things I Notice in Training
I want to be careful here because anecdote is not data, and I am a physician who holds that line seriously. But I also train BJJ regularly, and my personal experience is at least worth noting in context.
What I notice when I train consistently with the full Forca Method formula — including the betaine — versus periods where I have gone without: the difference is not in how I feel at the start of a session. It is in how I feel at the end of one. Round five or six, or a long drilling session after a full week of training, the margin between feeling functional and feeling like my legs and hands have stopped communicating with my brain seems slightly wider. Whether I can attribute that specifically to betaine versus the full formula, I genuinely cannot say. But that is the nature of a formula designed as a system.
What I can say is that I looked at betaine seriously as a physician before I put it in the formula, I found the mechanism credible, I found the research directionally consistent, and I decided it belonged. I did not put it in because it would help sell the product. I put it in because the argument made sense.
The Physician's Bottom Line
Betaine anhydrous is not glamorous. It will never be the reason someone buys a pre-workout. But when I evaluate an ingredient as a physician, I am not asking whether it is exciting. I am asking whether the mechanism is real, whether the research is consistent, and whether the specific demands of the sport create a meaningful use case.
For betaine and Brazilian jiu jitsu, the answers are yes, yes, and yes.
The osmolyte mechanism addresses the cellular dehydration stress that comes from prolonged sweating in a hot, physically intense sport. The performance research — particularly the studies on repeated muscular effort and wrestling-specific protocols — shows consistent directional benefit. The methyl donor function is a secondary health benefit worth having. And the dosing is well-characterized.
It is not the headline ingredient. It is the one that makes the whole thing work a little better over the course of a full training session. In BJJ, where the difference between finishing strong and falling apart in the fourth round is often made of small margins, that is worth something.
That is why it is in the formula. That is why I believe in it.
Read More
- Best Pre-Workout for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
- Beta-Alanine for BJJ: The Science Behind Delaying Fatigue
- L-Citrulline for Grapplers
- What to Take Before BJJ Training
- Why Generic Pre-Workout Is Wrong for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
FAQ: Betaine Anhydrous for BJJ
What is betaine anhydrous and why is it in a pre-workout?
Betaine anhydrous (trimethylglycine) is a naturally occurring compound derived from glycine, found in beets and spinach. In a pre-workout context it is included for its role as an osmolyte — helping muscle cells maintain hydration under stress — and its evidence in supporting muscular power output and endurance across repeated efforts. It does not produce an acute feeling but builds its effect with consistent use.
Will I feel betaine anhydrous working?
No. Unlike caffeine, betaine does not cross the blood-brain barrier and does not produce any noticeable acute sensation. It has no tingle, no flush, no energy kick. Its effects are cellular and cumulative. If you are evaluating a supplement by how it makes you feel in the first twenty minutes, betaine will be invisible — which is exactly why it is underappreciated despite having legitimate research behind it.
How much betaine anhydrous should I take for BJJ?
The most studied dose in the performance literature is 2.5 grams per day. Forca Method contains 1.5 grams per serving, which is appropriate for regular training use. If you want to supplement at the full research dose, adding a standalone betaine supplement to reach 2.5 grams daily is reasonable. There is no strong evidence that going above 2.5 grams provides proportionally more benefit.
Does betaine anhydrous help with hydration?
It supports cellular hydration through its osmolyte function — helping muscle cells resist fluid loss and maintain volume during high-sweat activity. This is not the same as replacing lost fluids. You still need to drink water. Betaine works at the cellular level to support the muscle's ability to function under osmotic stress, not to compensate for arriving at training already dehydrated.
Is betaine the same as beet root extract?
Related but not identical. Beets are a natural source of betaine, which is why beet root extract is sometimes marketed for performance. Betaine anhydrous is a more concentrated, isolated form that delivers a precise dose of trimethylglycine without the variability that comes with whole food extracts. For a performance formula, betaine anhydrous is the more reliable choice.
How long does betaine take to work?
Like beta-alanine, betaine is a cumulative ingredient. Some research shows effects within one to two weeks of consistent daily use; others run subjects for four to six weeks. Do not judge it from a single session. Use it consistently over several weeks of regular training and evaluate the difference in how you perform late in hard sessions, not whether you feel different in the first hour.
Is betaine anhydrous safe?
Yes, at recommended doses in healthy adults. The safety profile is well-established — it is a naturally occurring compound the body uses in normal metabolism. At doses up to 6 grams per day, no significant adverse effects have been reported in research populations. Some people report mild gastrointestinal discomfort at higher doses, which is why most formulas stay at or below 2.5 grams. The dose in Forca Method (1.5 grams) is conservative and well within established safe ranges.
Does betaine anhydrous help with grip endurance?
Indirectly, yes. Grip failure in BJJ is often a local muscular endurance problem — the forearms accumulate metabolic waste faster than they can clear it. Betaine's osmolyte function supports the cellular environment in working muscle, and its general performance effects in the research include muscular endurance under repeated effort. It is not a direct grip-specific supplement, but it supports the overall muscular environment that determines whether your hands keep working in round four.
Can I take betaine anhydrous every day?
Yes, and you probably should if you want the full effect. Betaine accumulates intracellularly over time. Taking it only on training days is fine, but the osmolyte loading effect is stronger with consistent daily use. Some researchers recommend taking it with food to reduce any potential gastrointestinal sensitivity.
Why don't more people talk about betaine?
Because it does not make you feel anything. The supplement industry is largely driven by acute sensory experiences — the caffeine hit, the beta-alanine tingle, the creatine pump. Betaine produces none of these. Its effects are cellular, cumulative, and visible only in performance outcomes over time. That makes it very hard to market to someone who wants to feel their supplement working in the first twenty minutes. It is a physician's ingredient — mechanistically sound, evidence-supported, and easy to overlook.
How does betaine compare to creatine for BJJ?
They work through different mechanisms and serve different purposes. Creatine primarily supports phosphocreatine regeneration for explosive short-duration power — it is best for very short maximal efforts (under ten seconds). Betaine supports cellular hydration and repeated muscular endurance across longer efforts. For BJJ, they are not directly competing — creatine is a daily loading supplement taken separately, betaine is appropriate as a pre-workout ingredient. Both have legitimate research; neither replaces the other.
Why is betaine in Forca Method instead of creatine?
Creatine requires daily loading to maintain elevated muscle creatine stores — it is a daily supplement, not a pre-workout ingredient. Forca Method is a pre-workout formula designed to be taken on training days, and putting creatine in it would provide meaningless dosing (you would need 3–5 grams daily regardless of whether you trained). Betaine, by contrast, has relevance in a pre-workout context because its osmolyte and performance effects are appropriate for the training environment even at a single-use dose.
Does betaine anhydrous interact with other supplements?
No concerning interactions are documented at performance doses. Betaine works through its own distinct metabolic pathways and is not known to interfere with caffeine, beta-alanine, citrulline, or any of the other common performance ingredients. The methyl donor pathway it supports (converting homocysteine to methionine) is separate from the mechanisms of other pre-workout ingredients.