Here...if you want, I can get you a citation too...
In the last few years the market for energy drinks containing taurine seems to have exploded into a thousand colors: drinks with exotic flavorings, drinks with botanical extracts and drinks with antioxidants. With so many to choose from, here's the lowdown on the most competitive products to help you pick one that's right for you. We've included hot new research on both the nutrition and the science behind taurine's potential uses in sports, including its effects on muscular force, heart output and water balance.
Taurine & Athletes
Most people call taurine an amino acid, although it isn't a building block for proteins like other aminos. Usually, the body can make taurine from other amino acids in large enough quantities for it to be considered nonessential. Nonetheless, high-intensity athletes appear to have a special need for taurine. That's because taurine is ejected from muscle into the blood during high-intensity exercise, at which point it's lost in the sweat and urine.
Slow-twitch muscle fibers lose taurine slowly, even though they have more to begin with than fast-twitch fibers. That's why muscle taurine reserves are depleted fastest during intense exercise. As a result, soccer players, bodybuilders and other high-intensity athletes are likely to benefit from taurine supplementation.
Heart Function & Endurance
In rodents, taurine improves the heart's ability to pump blood and helps it beat on rhythm. It may have similar benefits in humans. For example, by improving heart function during exercise, the supplement may have performanceenhancing effects even in young athletes. Researchers tested a taurine-containing drink called Red Bull on 13 athletes doing exhaustive bouts of endurance exercise.
Red Bull, which contains about 1 gram or 1,000 mg of taurine, boosted the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat (called the stroke volume) by 21%. Such improvement in the circulation of blood, oxygen and nutrients to muscles throughout your body may lead to greater endurance, because these are the factors that most limit an athlete's ability to win an aerobic event. In this study, researchers compared Red Bull against a control solution with the same amount of caffeine, so the beneficial effect had to have been one of Red Bull's other ingredients. Taurine supplementation improved running performance in a study of rats, so this ingredient is the most likely source of Red Bull's cardiovascular benefit.
Performance in the Heat
Taurine may be useful for endurance athletes who want to improve their performance in hot conditions by maintaining better hydration (a key factor). For example, triathletes and marathoners competing on a very hot day could theoretically benefit from loading with taurine in the days leading up to the event. The idea was inspired by taurine's known ability to help cells resist shrinking during dehydration. For example, cells kept in a salty solution - similar to the blood of a dehydrated person - can stay full and well-- hydrated if enough taurine is present. So far, no research has confirmed this type of benefit for athletes, but that may soon change due to taurine's inclusion in some of the newer sports drinks.
Although taurine's role in water regulation makes it promising where high-temperature sports are concerned, we recommend taking conventional precautions against heat exhaustion during the event itself. Limit your exposure to the sun when training intensely, wear cool clothing and drink fluids regularly Where hydration is concerned, conventional taurine drinks are too concentrated for race conditions, so dilute them with one or two parts water before use. Regular intake of water, Gatorade or commercially diluted taurine-containing drinks (such as Hansen's Energade) would also serve.
Effects on Muscular Force
Taurine also seems to have an effect on muscular performance. In muscle fibers, the presence of taurine results in a more forceful contraction in response to electrical stimulation. That may mean a more forceful contraction of your biceps when you're doing curls. At least for isolated muscle fibers, scientists have discovered muscular force-generating properties of taurine that occur with doses easily obtained from taurine-containing drinks or supplements. Stay tuned for further updates.
Energizing or Calming?
One study found that Red Bull improved the ability of a group of graduate students to sustain concentration and mood into the night. The effect, however, was likely due to Red Bull's caffeine content, as one can has about the same amount as a cup of coffee. Another study found that Red Bull improved driving performance in test subjects who hadn't had enough sleep. Specifically, the subjects drifted into the other lanes less often after drinking the taurineladen beverage. Again, caffeine's vigilance-enhancing effect may be the best explanation.
Mental alertness is more uncertain where other ingredients in Red Bull and other energy elixirs are concerned. For example, taurine itself has a calming effect, which is why scientists have considered its use in epilepsy, insomnia and anxiety; consult a physician before consuming any taurine-- containing products if you have any of these conditions. Taurine also lowers levels of a natural stimulant called norepinephrine, so by itself this ingredient is probably more useful to athletes than to all-night studiers.
Muscle Protector
Taurine supplementation may protect muscle cells from the effects of a damaging workout. Depletion of taurine by an experimental drug can have the same benefit, so the relationship between muscle damage and taurine levels is complicated. Still, supplemental doses reduced free radical damage better than more moderate amounts of taurine, so it may indeed provide antioxidant protection for muscles.
Taurine's relationship to the anabolic hormone insulin, on the other hand, isn't well defined. Although included in some creative supplements, taurine's usefulness in enhancing creative uptake is mostly theoretical.
Taurine supplementation does reduce urinary protein loss in mice prone to developing high blood pressure and stroke, but this effect was most likely due to taurine's blood pressure-- lowering effect, which protects kidneys and other organs from damage. As a result, taurine's most likely benefits are improved cardiovascular performance, health and nutritional status, but not necessarily building muscle directly.
Side Effects & Suggested Use
Unlike with true energizing supplements, side effects with taurine aren't expected. Human trials have tested taurine in doses of up to 6 grams per day and found no health concerns or side effects. Of course, excessive amounts of any ingredient can cause stomach upset, diarrhea or vomiting, but the 6-- grams-of-taurine-per-day limit shouldn't produce any problems. In most studies, the therapeutic dose of taurine was 1,500-6,000 mg (1.5-6 grams); vegans taking it for purely nutritional reasons could comfortably go as low as 250-500 mg per day.
Taurine is available in drinks like Red Bull (see 'Taurine-Containing Drinks'), energy bars and 500-mg capsules. Although not much has been published on when to take taurine or how often, its rapid absorption and rate of excretion in the urine and sweat make it advisable to use two or three divided doses (for example, morning, afternoon and evening). Usually, a day's supply of taurine costs $0.2541.25, which is about average for an amino acid; the drinks usually cost about $1.75 per container, each of which has about 1 gram of taurine
and as for the vodka + red bull combination...never had problems with it, no shocks either. At any rate, I have not had any alcohol in more than 2 years now, and I feel pretty good (it's not like I had alcohol problems, I just decided that I do not need alcohol to party...so i don't drink)
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EUROPE KICKS ASS
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Useless Fact of the Moment:
'The starfish is one of the only animals who can turn it's stomach inside-out. '
^hahaha ONE of the ONLY ahahaha lmao
