These patterns don’t mean you need to avoid energy drinks and taurine entirely. We don’t know much about the long-term effects of taurine consumption.įor that matter, few studies really look at energy drinks in the amounts we use them. We still don’t really know how caffeine, taurine, guarana, sugar, and the other ingredients all interact in our bodies – especially as the various energy drinks all differ in their formulas. We’ve talked about some studies, so there’s clearly information out there about taurine. However, it could make your energy drink a little less effective (which isn’t what you want at all!). This type of energy decreasing effect mightn’t be immediately noticeable underneath the caffeine and sugar in your energy drink. That’s concerning for an ingredient that’s meant to stimulate you. Some theories even suggest that taurine calms your central nervous system in a similar way to GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). This could be why taurine acts as a stimulant in some situations and not in others. One idea is that taurine stimulates the brain but has a depressant effect on the nervous system. Remember how we mentioned that taurine can actually promote sleep in some contexts? This could mean that sometimes the taurine in your energy drinks doesn’t actually help you to stay awake at all. Potential Problems With Taurine It Could Decrease Energy The simple answer is that while taurine may increase energy levels, more research is needed before we know whether it does so in our energy drinks. But, again, there are plenty of gaps in our knowledge. Some studies in humans do suggest that the taurine may improve athletic performance and perhaps even mental performance. Still, it’s not clear whether the taurine helps this effect or is working against it. What happens when you add sugar and guarana into the mix too? Does taurine still inhibit sleep or does it start promoting it again? Most of the time, energy drinks do seem to promote energy. It isn’t specific to energy drinks either, so it doesn’t consider the amounts we’re actually consuming – nor all the other ingredients. Simple enough, but that’s just one study and it focused on flies rather than humans. Energy drinks tend to have much more caffeine than taurine, which should mean they promote energy. If it stacked in favor of caffeine, sleep is inhibited. In particular, if the ratio is stacked in favor of taurine, sleep gets promoted. If taurine and caffeine are consumed at the same time, the effect is influenced by the ratio of the two. One interesting study tapped into this, showing that on its own, taurine actually increases sleep, while caffeine decreases sleep. We’re still learning exactly what’s going on with taurine, caffeine, and energy. The same chemical can have different effects depending on the situation and what else we’re ingesting at the same time. This is partly because our bodies are complicated.
#Does taurine give you energy plus#
If you search online, you’ll find plenty of people saying that taurine gives you an energy boost – plus some claiming the opposite. This approach has been so effective that consumers now associate taurine with energy – to the extent that we often assume that energy drinks with taurine are more effective than those without. This creates more variation between the drinks and hopefully gives you an energy kick at the same time. The trick is to turn to other ingredients, like guarana and taurine, ones that could have extra energy impacts. Most of us are already getting plenty of it from coffee and even in some of our foods. Simply increasing the caffeine content isn’t the answer, as the different companies would just end up in an arms race over caffeine.īesides, too much caffeine is dangerous. Why Is It In Energy Drinks? There’s A Marketing AngleĬompanies often try to make their energy drinks as powerful as possible. At the end of the day, the structure of taurine will be the same whether our bodies make it or whether it is synthetically produced. However, it’s not clear whether our bodies can tell the difference. This does raise a familiar debate though, are synthetic chemicals good for us? Many people feel that natural is always better. This makes the amino acid fine for vegetarians and vegans (in fact, there are many vegan energy drinks). Instead, energy drink companies synthesize the taurine found in their drinks. But, we don’t still get taurine that way. This is where the name taurine comes from. It’s true that taurine was initially isolated from ox bile. That’s enough to put you off your energy drink for life, right? Urban myths say that taurine comes from bull urine or semen. 16 Drinks For Weight Loss To Make Your Journey Much Easier Where Does It Come From?
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