I recently was privy to a slew of articles that were bad-mouthing an additive that has been seen getting put into a lot of things including energy drinks which are things I tend to avoid because of their high sugar content. I do enjoy the "pick me up" aspect of energy drinks though, particularly if I am tired but am expected to go out drinking (it's called "Normie Fitness" for a reason.)
So what is taurine and is it really dangerous?
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It was as if it was in the cards for me because I was just looking at some health-related articles when I decided to go to the store to get some eggs and this was oddly located directly next to the eggs. I picked it up because I had heard of Monster Energy drinks but actually never tried one. As you would expect it tastes exactly the same as Red Bull, which is a beverage I refuse to drink because of the owner's family and how they literally got away scot-free after killing someone.
Taurine is an amino acid that occurs naturally in your body and occurs in certain foods, most of which, as you would expect, are meat. It has been shown to be effective as a supplement and there is even some evidence that if taken regularly can help with overall cardiovascular health. Lately it seems to be trendy to add it to energy drinks, in particular sugar-free ones such as Monster.
Almost immediately, health gurus in the interwebs went on the offensive to claim that Taurine is dangerous, which is true in high quantities, just like anything in high quantities is dangerous. You can actually kill yourself by drinking too much water but no one is going to tell you to stop drinking that now are they?
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I think the reason why the fitness world is going after taurine is because once something is discovered to have SOME LEVEL of benefit for certain people, the supplement world almost immediately jumps on the bandwagon, mass produces it, and then makes ambiguous and sometimes ludicrous claims about how these benefits are much better than they actually are and also will apply to literally everyone!
Which of course, just like most supplement claims, is completely false.
That it CAN do, but wont necessarily do is the following
- It can regulate hydration and electrolyte balance on a cellular level
- provides benefits for your nervous system and strangely, help maintain cells in your eyes
- regulating mineral content in your body, particularly calcium
Now I don't know why they know this to be true and I am not going to read the scholarly journals that indicate that this is the case. I do, however, know that this information doesn't come from the laboratories at GNC or Allmax, but rather, from peer-reviewed studies at the National Institute of Health.
It has also been shown, but not fully studied to be helpful in preventing or slowing down the effects of diabetes and it is worth noting that almost all people who suffer from diabetes have low levels of taurine that is produced naturally inside their bodies.
So I think it is safe to say that we once again have the supplement industry to blame for the demonization of this product that is helpful at best, and at worst, totally harmless.
Also there are people out there that use the "energy boost" side of this supplement to a "too high degree" and will take far more of the stuff than your body can use kind of like the muscle-head that I know that mixes a near-amphetamine type supplement that contains Guarana root and then mixes it with Red Bull for an extra kick at the gym. The dude is a beast but seriously man, you should be looking out for your heart a little bit.
The "safe" dosage that has been determined by various research groups to be 2,000 mg per day as an additive and most energy drinks contain a mere 600mg per can / bottle. Of course this doesn't mean that you should pound 5 Monster drinks before hitting the weights because they are loaded with caffeine as well which is probably more dangerous than the taurine could possibly be anyway.
The next time you see taurine on a can of sports drink you can know that this is a real substance and that if used properly it has the potential to actually do good things for you. It has been used in medical applications and like most things, unless you go crazy with it, it stands almost zero chance of causing you any harm and I can't find any real evidence that it can hurt you if used in reasonable quantities. So go ahead and have a Monster energy drink with taurine. I know i'm gonna, but mostly because i like the taste.
i love a good energy drink every now and then and have noticed this written on some of the cans here. I do tend to avoid them because of the excess sugar though.
I had one of these the other day... I was feeling a bit too jacked afterwards to be honest, but i did have the sugar free one. Maybe next time i will use that energy to go run or something rather than just looking at monitors with my heart pounding.