Note: I originally wrote this as an intro to a research proposal on taurine and glycine, as I discussed in my last post, but gave up on the research proposal.
I've bee using it for 2 years now, 80 mg/kg of body weight per day i.e. 2 tsp per day for my weight of 80 kg). I observed the darkening of my white hair, and my skin getting more elastic and less fragile, less prone to bleeding after a scratch. I interrupted twice of times for a couple of months, to see if the intervention would revert and restart the effects, and it did. So the effect seems caused by it and not random. True it could still be placebo effect, but I had no idea what the positives were going to be, if any, when I started.
My thoughts are that it's really not looking good for the taurine hypothesis. If this Science paper's facts are right, and taurine doesn't decline with age, then the declines of age are not the declines of taurine.
Vegans get essentially 0 exogenous taurine and seem to age better than meat eaters in general, excluding neurodegeneration. So research pointing to a clinical benefit from taurine supplementation should likely show an increased effect size in vegans. I hope that someone will do a study like this as a null result would significantly update me away from taurine hype. A positive result would be huge though given the already healthy nature of elderly vegans vs gen. pop.
They didn't put it in Red Bull because it is etymologically related to Taurus. Taurine is a mild extrasynaptic GABAa PAM and/or agonist; a small amount crosses the BBB via the taurine transporter (TAUT/SLC6A6) and will have a psychoactive effect, especially in the relative absence of other AAs in serum. It smoothes the stimulant effect of energy drinks, and this is why it is used, along w glycine, in other formulations.
That article says nothing about Red Bull --> "taurus is similar" --> let's add the etymologically related Taurine. If anything, the causation is reversed. Mateschitz found that Krating Daeng included taurine, so he included that ingredient in the western-adapted product w/ CO2 and then named the product after Taurine and/or after the animal in which taurine was first isolated, in the bile of Bos taurus:
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Red Bull initially included taurine in its formula because it was inspired by Krating Daeng, a Thai energy drink that contained taurine and was marketed as a hangover cure. Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz discovered Krating Daeng during a business trip to Thailand and found its effects remarkable, particularly for combating fatigue and jet lag. When he partnered with the creator of Krating Daeng to adapt the drink for Western markets, taurine remained a key ingredient due to its perceived functional benefits.
Taurine is an amino acid that plays various roles in the body, particularly in the brain, heart, and muscles. While the specific rationale for its inclusion in energy drinks like Red Bull was not fully clear at the time, research has suggested that taurine may contribute to improved aerobic and mental performance when combined with other ingredients like caffeine. Additionally, taurine's association with enhancing physical and mental functions made it appealing for use in energy drinks targeting workers and athletes.
Historically, taurine was first isolated from ox bile in the 1820s, which led to misconceptions about its sourcing from bull-related substances. However, modern taurine used in products like Red Bull is synthetically produced and not derived from animals
I've bee using it for 2 years now, 80 mg/kg of body weight per day i.e. 2 tsp per day for my weight of 80 kg). I observed the darkening of my white hair, and my skin getting more elastic and less fragile, less prone to bleeding after a scratch. I interrupted twice of times for a couple of months, to see if the intervention would revert and restart the effects, and it did. So the effect seems caused by it and not random. True it could still be placebo effect, but I had no idea what the positives were going to be, if any, when I started.
Do you have any thoughts about these recent results: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2116
My thoughts are that it's really not looking good for the taurine hypothesis. If this Science paper's facts are right, and taurine doesn't decline with age, then the declines of age are not the declines of taurine.
Vegans get essentially 0 exogenous taurine and seem to age better than meat eaters in general, excluding neurodegeneration. So research pointing to a clinical benefit from taurine supplementation should likely show an increased effect size in vegans. I hope that someone will do a study like this as a null result would significantly update me away from taurine hype. A positive result would be huge though given the already healthy nature of elderly vegans vs gen. pop.
They didn't put it in Red Bull because it is etymologically related to Taurus. Taurine is a mild extrasynaptic GABAa PAM and/or agonist; a small amount crosses the BBB via the taurine transporter (TAUT/SLC6A6) and will have a psychoactive effect, especially in the relative absence of other AAs in serum. It smoothes the stimulant effect of energy drinks, and this is why it is used, along w glycine, in other formulations.
I think you're correct pharmacologically, but historically, it's less clear: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230609-why-is-there-taurine-in-energy-drinks .
That article says nothing about Red Bull --> "taurus is similar" --> let's add the etymologically related Taurine. If anything, the causation is reversed. Mateschitz found that Krating Daeng included taurine, so he included that ingredient in the western-adapted product w/ CO2 and then named the product after Taurine and/or after the animal in which taurine was first isolated, in the bile of Bos taurus:
--
Red Bull initially included taurine in its formula because it was inspired by Krating Daeng, a Thai energy drink that contained taurine and was marketed as a hangover cure. Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz discovered Krating Daeng during a business trip to Thailand and found its effects remarkable, particularly for combating fatigue and jet lag. When he partnered with the creator of Krating Daeng to adapt the drink for Western markets, taurine remained a key ingredient due to its perceived functional benefits.
Taurine is an amino acid that plays various roles in the body, particularly in the brain, heart, and muscles. While the specific rationale for its inclusion in energy drinks like Red Bull was not fully clear at the time, research has suggested that taurine may contribute to improved aerobic and mental performance when combined with other ingredients like caffeine. Additionally, taurine's association with enhancing physical and mental functions made it appealing for use in energy drinks targeting workers and athletes.
Historically, taurine was first isolated from ox bile in the 1820s, which led to misconceptions about its sourcing from bull-related substances. However, modern taurine used in products like Red Bull is synthetically produced and not derived from animals