Talk:Taurine

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Article Grading: The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit · refresh) The reason one contact lens solution company put taurine in their Multi-Purpose Solution was because of the benefits to the eye's. It helps reduce osmotic stress on the eye when inserting the contact lens into the eye for the first time, makes it a lot more comfortable. Also taurine may modulate the release of histamine, and help with ocular allergies. They did tests with the solution, same solution, but one with taurine and one without. The one with the taurine had less itching, redness and watery eye's. If it helps cats eye's, why wouldn't it help humans eye's?69.215.104.4 21:54, 6 April 2007 (UTC)69.215.104.4 20:23, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

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Article Grading: The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit · history · refresh · how to use this template) The reason one contact lens solution company put taurine in their Multi-Purpose Solution was because of the benefits to the eye's. It helps reduce osmotic stress on the eye when inserting the contact lens into the eye for the first time, makes it a lot more comfortable. Also taurine may modulate the release of histamine, and help with ocular allergies. They did tests with the solution, same solution, but one with taurine and one without. The one with the taurine had less itching, redness and watery eye's. If it helps cats eye's, why wouldn't it help humans eye's?69.215.104.4 21:54, 6 April 2007 (UTC)69.215.104.4 20:23, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Contents 1 Old comments 2 Great Article! 3 Possible side-effects 4 My personal use 5 Bull Semen 6 Typo 7 Neuronal 8 Brown hair 9 Taurine and caffeine 10 Taurine revisions 11 Not an amino acid 12 Is taurine a stimulant? 13 Cats Requirements 14 Amino acid contradiction 15 Sources 16 GA review 17 half-complete sentence 18 Early sentence: "Although it is often called an amino acid, ...." 19 SAFE LIMITS OF TAURINE??? 20 Taurine Source 21 What does it do, though? 22 MegaVita 1666 23 Safety Data 24 Red Bull *isn't* named after Taurine 25 is it energy-giving? 26 Abbreviation 27 Taurine and cats: also ferrets? 28 "the only naturally occurring sulfonic acid 29 Worldwide view

[edit] Old comments

Is it an inhibitory neurotransmitter or a neuroinhibitotorial neurotransmatatatorial transmitter, as stated?

I've never heard of a neuroinhibitory transmitter.

What are the major industrial sources for the production of taurine? (animal / synthesized?) -perhaps algae?

8 Feb 2005: This article is similar to the top part of this web page: http://www.serve.com/BatonRouge/taurine_chmr.htm

You should have listed it at WP:CP. I'm copyediting it now. JFW | T@lk 23:18, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Great Article!

What a fabulous article! Surely it's on it's way to being featured! Take good care of this one, I want to see it on the main page some day. Fascinating! Black Lab (talk) 05:54, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Possible side-effects

There should be an article about possible side effects of excess taurine intake on the main page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Defaultaccount (talk • contribs) 06:29, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] My personal use

I take taurine regularly when I run. My routine is very regular, and I am very attuned to my body. When running I noticed a significant increase in energy. When I was not running, it also made me feel good mentally. I use it regularly, and believe it is not a stimulant. Why and how could your body make a stimulant? I believe it is in energy drinks because it has some role in metabolization. I read that it is much more effective when used with a stimulant, and glucose - but I cannot verify that myself. It is defintely not from bull semen or bull urin, as bull semen would be more expensive than $20 for 1 kilo, and it would not be excreted in urin. For one thing, you would have to pay the farmer a lot to milk bull penis's all day. Shudder. [1] That article has more of the information I was looking for.

[edit] Bull Semen

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to…) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. JFW | T@lk 23:29, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Dude does anyone know if taurine in energy drinks is from animal origin or is synthesized?

I just wanted to know if this "taurine" has anything to do with bull sperm? if u have any answers, just post them on this page... The company says it's not from animal origin.

The article both says it's so called because of this, then says that this is an urban legend. Which is it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 205.242.218.72 (talk) 16:44, 5 April 2007 (UTC).

Just to correct anyone reading this, animal extracted Taurine is rare if not unheard of in energy drinks and such because it would be costly to procure, and it would offend animal friendly people. It's name comes from being found in bull Bile, as the article states. Bobbias 21:48, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

"Taurine is a type of amino acid that gets its name from the Latin term Taurus which means Bull because it was first located in and extracted from the bile of bulls. It is also found in the human body.

The taurine found in energy drinks is not however a byproduct of bull's testicles, it is a synthetically made substance that is considered to be vegetarian friendly." taken from: www. associatedcontent. com/ article/235157/energy_drinks_made_from_bull_testicles.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.150.80.93 (talk) 22:46, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

I really don't know how this rumor started. One of my close friends works for Monster, and I have asked him, on multiple occasions, whether taurine is bull sperm. He always laughs and says "Of course not! That would be disgusting. We'd also have PETA and other groups on our asses nonstop if it was!" Many of you will say that he says this because it would be dumb to tell a customer that it's bull sperm and that he should not be trusted. But get it straight- I have never, and most likely will never drink energy drinks. My friend knows this. Look in the article- it is bile, not sperm. Last time I checked, they're not the same thing. And, even if it was, it wouldn't be that gross because our bodies naturally make it. That also refutes the idea of it being bull sperm. I highly doubt that humans naturally produce bull sperm. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Waynebrettsky (talk • contribs) 23:16, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Typo

Isn't there a typo in this line?

Taurine is not one of the 20 amino acids that the body uses to produce polypetides / proteins.

Shouldn't that be "polypeptide" (with three "p"s)?

[edit] Neuronal

Taurine is actually an inhibitory neuromodulator. It is not synthesized or released in the same sense as classical neurotransmitters, though it does have, at high concentrations, an acute inhibitory effect on neurotransmission.

[edit] Brown hair

I just reverted an edit which added the following sentence to the article

Taurine also has been proven to help you live longer if you have brown hair.

I was unable to locate anything to back this up, searching briefly on google and on pubmed. Anyone have a source? --Hansnesse 23:52, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Most of the clinical claims on this entry cannot be substantiated by peer-reviewed research. I am in the process of rewriting it--starting with the biosynthetic pathway, which is actually the cysteine sulfinic acid pathway, not cysteic acid.

[edit] Taurine and caffeine

Is it really true that with all of the recent popularity of energy drinks, nobody has ever performed a study attempting to prove Taurine enhances or supplements the effects of caffeine? I would understand if no studies ever produced evidence of it, but no studies ever being done is hard for me to believe. -VJ 19:44, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Here's [2] one I found. Chacho 16:17, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Taurine revisions

Most of the assertions made by this website about the biosynthesis, physiological roles, and pharmacological uses of taurine were erroneous. Substantial revisions are in process. John Dominy

The article states that taurine is the only sulfonic acid in biology. This is not correct as there is also coenzyme M used by methanogens (see Wiki article on Coenzyme M) J. Seravalli —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.93.247.82 (talk) 16:14, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not an amino acid

I specified more clearly that taurine should not be called an amino acid. The term "amino acid" has come to refer quite specifically to the twenty compounds that are encoded by the genetic code to form proteins. Not all compounds that have both an amine and an acid functional group are to be called amino acids (otherwise a substantial percentage of all biological molecules should be called amino acids!); and conversely not all of the twenty amino acids are amines (the exception being proline).

Proline does have an amino functionality. Just because it is a secondary amine which in addition is cyclic does not make it less of an amine...--Xenofonos 21:16, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

It's a bit like carbohydrates, which don't refer to just any substance that is Cn(H20)m.

The idea that taurine is an amino acid is misleading in the sense that it "confirms" the misconception that there are amino acids lacking in plant food.

David Olivier

[edit] Is taurine a stimulant?

Currently the article doesn't say anything about whether taurine is a stimulant. Most people (including me) assume that it is, but after a few minutes of research I can't find a clearly reliable source stating so. Anyone want to address this? dbtfz^talk 04:09, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

I suspect that the stimulant properties of taurine are entirely due to the fact that its presence in a soft drink enables the word "taurine" to be on the label; which in turn evokes images of bulls and virility and energy.David Olivier 11:24, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

well but on the other hand it is sayed to cause hypotension, indicating that it is a stimulant taghawi-nejad

I have neural damage and I find that the drink and the natural supplement (in moderation and never both at once) help quite nicely with body posture and communication skills, both spoken and not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.55.13.194 (talk) 06:42, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cats Requirements

Am I correct in thinking that domestic (and other?) cats need Taurine in their diet; something to do with their eyesight?81.138.89.121 10:46, 2 May 2006 (UTC)Tony Royston, UK.81.138.89.121 10:46, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you are correct. See the article on cats and what it says about the need to supplement vegetarian diets for cats with taurine. A severe taurine deficiency in cats produces blindness. A moderate deficiency produces heart problems. I take it taurine is also added to commercial non-vegetarian catfood, presumably to compensate the fact that they have a high plant content, and perhaps also that taurine is destroyed by heat (confirmation needed). David Olivier 11:19, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

and don't forget that taurine is present in significant quantities in baby formula. Infants are not able to synthesize taurine so it has to come from nutritional sources like breast milk et al. I will add a paragraph as soon as I have more time.--Xenofonos 20:53, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Amino acid contradiction

Taurine is not an amino acid as correctly stated in the first part of the article. In the section on cat food it says that it is an amino acid added to feed. This should be removed. The source it cites (IAMS) is wrong in calling it an amino acid.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Ryanhupka (talk • contribs)

Well, strictly spoken, this is an amino acid, and that is also what is said in the intro .. it is not an amino acid in the classical sense, but a) it is an amine, and b) it is an acid. The term aminoacid has been coined for the 20 aminoacids that are used in the human body, but from an organic chemistry point of view, there are uncountable amino acids. But you are off course free to rephrase. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 23:13, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

The issue is not just that it isn't one of the "standard" 20. It doesn't have a carboxyl group. I you're going to call this an amino acid, you'll have to call ATP an amino acid too (it has an amino group, and it has phosphates, which are acids). 72.75.103.211 02:24, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

One of the troubles with trivial naming, indeed. But I was 'speaking strictly', the word amino acid does not specify which group is the acid, and the systematic name for taurine is '2-aminoethanesulfonic acid'. But I can warrant a rephrase, I'll have a look at it later. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 07:47, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Neither the word "amino" nor the word "acid" implies a carboxyl group, but "amino acid" nonetheless implies a carboxylic acid. This is the definition given, correctly, but the Wikipedia article on amino acid. You seem to agree that ATP would be an amino acid by the looser meaning that you are suggesting. I hope you agree that talk of not-yet-discovered tRNAs "charged" with ATP would be silly. Similar discussion about taurine is silly too. 72.75.103.211 02:51, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

We are speaking pure semantics here. But I'll rephrase it then. Cheers anyway. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 07:51, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't want to get into a semantic argument, but there is a question of what the article should say. Your reversion/rewrite makes it sound as though taurine really is an amino acid, and as though its not being one of the 20 standard ones is an important part of what disqualifies it. The statement that but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine is silly. Like most compounds, taurine could conceivably be attached to the 2' or 3' hydroxyl at the end of a tRNA, but it would look little like a charged tRNA (and presumably the ribosome would be inactive toward it). Again, I ask you to substitute "ATP" for "taurine" in that introduction and ask whether it belongs in an encyclopedia. Amino acid says In chemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that contains both amine and carboxylic acid functional groups. Do we want to seem to contradict that here? 72.75.103.211 17:17, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't want to spend the rest of my life discussing whether we should refer to β-amino sulfonates as amino acids. Really, I don't. But in the interest of fighting ignorance and all, I have to object to even the latest version of the intro.

People do often refer to taurine as an amino acid, even genuine scientists. This may have less to do with the acidic sufonate group than with the fact that taurine is biochemically derived from an amino acid. For comparison, consider tyramine. A google search for +tyramine +"amino acid" will show you tons of pages that assert that tyramine is an amino acid, including pages from seemingly reliable sources, such as the Mayo Clinic. But we all agree that tyramine is not an amino acid, right? (Or will someone point at the sidechain hydroxyl group, with its pKa of ~10, and say that that's the acid?) To those who insist the taurine is an amino acid, despite my repeatedly pointing out all those amino phosphates that we would never call amino acids, I give up and fall back on this: amino acid clearly puts forth a definition of amino acid that does not include taurine, so for the purpose of editing Wikipedia articles taurine is not an amino acid.

The article currently says Although it has been called an amino acid in the literature,[1][2][3] it contains a sulfonic acid group in place of the carboxylic acid group found in most other naturally-ocurring amino acids, so for clarity it may be called a sulfonic amino acid. There are a couple of problems with this. The expression most other naturally-ocurring (sic) amino acids implies that taurine is an amino acid, which it isn't (see above; it is also probably incorrect on its own terms because the amino phosphates, which would have to be counted as amino acids under the broader definition, probably outnumber the genuine amino acids). Also, the sufonic acid group is no more "in place" of the carboxylic acid group of an amino acid than it is "in place" of the phosphate group of an amino phosphate.

I agree that the sulfonic acid moiety should not be considered to be "in the place" of the carboxylic acid group found in one of the canonical amino acids, but not for the reason stated. Taurine's sulfonate arises from the sequential oxidation of the sulfhydryl group of cysteine's side chain and thus was never part of an alpha carbon. The alpha carbon carboxylic acid group of cysteine is lost in the conversion of cysteine sulfinic acid to hypotaurine. -User:JDominy

So, I want to change this, but I wanted to discuss it first. 72.75.73.84 23:39, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I hope this version settles it once and for all. All the references just for this semantic quibble might be getting superfluous, but it's better to be safe than sorry: easier to remove a reference than to dig it up later. BTW, I've been looking for anything mentioning tauring-contaning peptides, but no luck so far. Some of the papers weren't available online though, so it looks like I'll have to physically go into the library. —Keenan Pepper 02:22, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Not really. Talk of "textbook amino acid" suggests that taurine really is an amino acid (just not a "textbook" one) and that it is mere pedantry to object to its being called one. Also, that version did nothing to address my point about the "in place of" language. I've made changes that address these issues while still acknowledging the widespread claim that it is an amino acid.

I'm curious about the peptide claim too. While just about anything could be attached to a peptide, is the claim that taurine's amino group is involved in an amide linkage to one amino acid and it is linked through a sulfonamide to another? 72.75.73.84 02:37, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

All of this talk about whether taurine is an amino acid, though admirable for its intellectual merits, is a little unneccessary. As a taurine researcher, I can assure you that everyone who works in the field calls this compound an amino acid (I've begun the introduction of many papers calling it as such) though it is tacitly acknowledged that taurine is not a canonical amino acid on account of it not having an identified codon and specific tRNA synthetase. Whether taurine gets incorporated into peptides, though is an interestinig subject in its own right. Peptide bond formation via the sulfonic acid moiety of taurine would be less conducive than the amide bonds formed through the carboxylic acid moieties of other amino acids--hence, peptide extension after the incorporation of taurine would be less favorable and act as a functional dead end for peptide synthesis. Nevertheless, I have included a reference from an older paper showing that there are indeed taurine dipeptides found in tissues. All of these, though, contain peptide linkages formed by the conjugation of taurine's amine group with the carboxylic acid group of another amino acid-some with the alpha carboxylic acid others with the side chain carboxylate. How these are synthesized, whether the synthesis is artifactual, and what biological function they could serve are all unanswered questions -User:JDominy

Cool, thanks for the reference! —Keenan Pepper 23:47, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

P.S. Wikipedia usernames are case-sensitive, so User:JDominy is not you. You're User:Jdominy. —Keenan Pepper 23:49, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

As I've pointed out repeatedly, it has nothing to do with whether it has a codon or tRNA synthetase. It has everything to do with chemical structure. Without a doubt, compounds such as ornithine, citrulline, and thyroxine are amino acids, despite not having codons or tRNA synthetases. They have the type of chemical structure implied by amino acid. Taurine does not. Talk of codons and synthetases for taurine is silly because of that chemical structure. That there occur amides of taurine with amino acids is beside the point. You call them dipeptides, but you shouldn't, and that forms part of a circular argument. Lots of things form amides with amino acids; that doesn't make them amino acids. 72.75.93.100 01:38, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

I'd be more comfortable with this discussion if it were based on specific sources rather than original-research arguments. Does the scientific literature define the word "amino acid" in a sense that includes taurine, or doesn't it? On balance of the evidence presented so far, I'd say the answer is "it depends": Some scientific literature explicitly calls taurine an amino acid, while other scientific literature defines amino acids in a way that excludes taurine. --Delirium 07:46, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

I am happy that the stuff about taurine not being an amino acid has remained. I understand that it may well appear to be "just a semantic quibble", but it is important because it is linked to emotionaly and ideologically charged issues around proteins. Many common people understand amino acids as what makes up proteins. Just like they understand carbohydrates as what gives us a certain kind of energy. It has little or nothing to do with being made of carbon + n times H20. In the same way, the term "amino acid" has little to do with being both an amine and an acid. If it did, almost all the biological molecules over a certain size would have to be called amino acids. In particular, all peptides would have to be called amino acids (they have a free amino functional group on one end, and a free carboxyl group on the other). Do you want to call all peptides amino acids, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid amino acids, and so on? And also, demote proline, since it doesn't have the standard amino group?

Etymology can carry some weight, but not more than that. A pair of glasses allows me to see far, but no one in their right mind would want to call them a "television set" (tele = far, vision = see) for that. The category "television" does not include pairs of glasses. The category "amino acid" does not include taurine.

Despite being found in animal flesh, and not in plants, taurine has very little to do with protein. I am no specialist, but I see that the specialists here have not even been able to find references to its being bound to proteins; not to speak of it being part of the amino acid chain itself. Calling it an amino acid is deeply misleading. Insofar as it is an essential nutrient for certain animals, it should just be called a vitamin.

David Olivier 20:38, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

Seeing as most people are saying that taurine does not come from animal souces, where does commmercial taurine come from?71.222.13.224 03:29, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Most certainly, synthesis. It is a small molecule, so I don't suppose there is any difficulty in synthesizing it. David Olivier 07:46, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Ok, "most certainly" and "I suppose" are not a real answer! I cannot find information on the actual source of synthetic Taurine anywhere. Any website wanting to sell it as a supplement or promoting the energy drinks skip around the answer. Almost obviously not wanting to devulge the truth. Any answers?

One synthesis approach is to react aziridine with sulfurous acid. This leads directly to taurine. I'll add that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xenofonos (talk • contribs) 16:44, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA review

A good article has the following attributes.

1. It is well written.

Clearly written.

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

Biosynthesis section has no references.

For the list of proposed functions, at least one ref would be good.

Ref 9 is unformatted.

In the animal health section (Pion et al 1988) is not given as a reference in the reference list.

3. It is broad in its coverage.

The recommended name for cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase is Sulfinoalanine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.29)

What is "nerve blood flow"?

Mentioning that taurine is 20-50% of the intracellular amino acid pool would help give significance. ( Nutr. 2006 Jun;136(6 Suppl):1636S-1640S. The sulfur-containing amino acids: an overview. Brosnan JT, Brosnan ME.)

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

I don't think it is biased in any way.

5. It is stable, i.e. it does not change significantly from day to day and is not the subject of ongoing edit wars.

It is stable.

6. It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.

Sufficient images.

Overall pretty good, if you can deal with the references and fix the points in section 3 then this would make this a comprehensive article. On hold. Please drop me a note on my talk page when you're done. TimVickers 19:44, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

While I cannot argue with the described system for rating the article, I can identify one particular problem that I personally have with it. The article quotes this:

Taurine has also been implicated in a wide array of other physiological phenomena including inhibitory neurotransmission, long-term potentiation in the striatum/hippocampus, membrane stabilization, feedback inhibition of neutrophil/macrophage respiratory bursts, adipose tissue regulation, and calcium homeostasis. The evidence for these claims, when compared against that reported for taurine's role in bile acid synthesis and osmoregulation, is relatively poor.

To which, I can not but respond, "Well. Great." Now, I did well in high school biology, but I have no clear concept of what all this means. Much of the article is like this. I don't propose that this sort of information be removed, as I'm certain that someone with adequate prerequisite knowledge can take this information and put it to some practical application, but it fails with great precision in the task of explaining to me just what the discernable (or at the very least, alleged) effect of the Taurine in my can of Rockstar is on my body.

Simply put, the information makes great reference, but it's way over the head of the probable majority of the energy drink-consuming audience that come here to find out what it's supposed to be doing to them. --VanGarrett 23:36, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

-- FWIW, I agree completely with the above comment. That paragraph would probably be right at home in a medical journal, but it has no place in an encyclopedia.

[edit] half-complete sentence

"Although it is often called an amino acid, even in scientific literature,"

This is even in the initial paragraph - an incomplete statement that stops abbruptly. Can someone deal with this?

[edit] Early sentence: "Although it is often called an amino acid, ...."

The sentence at the end of the intro para which starts "Although it is often called an amino acid, ..." doesn't make sense. Anyone know what it should be? --jazzle 12:39, 23 February 2007 (UTC) ___________________________________________________________________________________________

[edit] SAFE LIMITS OF TAURINE???

The article claims that above around 28 mgs. of taurine is non-GRAS, but that most energy drinks contain around 1 mg per serving. Lo-carb Monster has 1000 mg per 8 ounce serving. That would make one serving have around 35 times the level generally considered as safe of taurine. Bessieg 19:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)Bessieg

Wondering that here, as Red Bull contains 0.4% Taurine. Peterarmitage 09:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

If you read carefully, that value is in Parts Per Million, not mgs. That makes a LARGE difference. First, if over 28 mgs of taurine was non-GRAS, I'm pretty sure that these products would be VERY quickly removed. Not only that, but the difference between PPM and mgs is the fact that PPM refers to the concentration within iny givel volume, regardless of the actual volume, whereas mgs is a strictly static number, not scaling by volume, which means that your observation i fundamentally flawed. Bobbias 21:42, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

I have removed the "safety limit" paragraph because it was incorrect. 28mg of taurine are perfectly safe and just for future reference: 1mg/kg=1ppm; 1000mg/8oz: to simplify lets say that 8oz=236.6mL=236.6g. That would be more than 4200ppm of taurine. 0.4% (cited above as taurine content in red Bull) equals 4000ppm.--Xenofonos 22:30, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taurine Source

New Zealand Pharmaceuticals gets their Taurine from Ox Bile... I would assume this is a pretty standard/cheap source or else they would be using other methods.

http://www.nzp.co.nz/products.php?cid=3&pid=4

69.54.35.30 20:10, 13 March 2007 (UTC)Seth Stiebinger

The article says that it is so called because of its extraction from bulls. But then it goes on to say that this is an urban legend. Which is it? --205.242.218.72 16:42, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What does it do, though?

I've been wondering what exactly adding Taurine to your diet does to benefit you. I do drink a lot of energy drinks, so I thought I'd come see what Wikipedia had to say. The article is well written, but after reading it I still have no idea what it's good for except to help out cats' eyesight.

Is there an unsafe limit? What are the harmful side effects of having too much? Are there any? My NOS bottle says it contains 2750mg in each bottle (it's the big kind). So that line about "most energy drinks contain 1mg per serving" needs to go.

What does that first paragraph even mean?? This would look great if I were doing a paper, but it's not what I've come to expect from Wikipedia. Arinna 22:41, 30 March 2007 (UTC)Arinna

Taurine is NOT an upper or a stimulant. It has an inhibitory effect (=soothing) on neurotransmission and that should be mentioned in the article with correct references. As it is now many people believe that it is an upper due to its popularity in energy drinks. MaxPont 20:29, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] MegaVita 1666

Removed the following:

A Korean vitamin supplement drink called "MegaVita 1666" contains 2380mg of taurine in an 8.05 OZ.

Google searches for "MegaVita 1666" and "Korean vitamin supplement drink" only refer to the Wikipedia entry. Trolleytimes 04:46, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Safety Data

Usage above 28.57 PPM in non-alcoholic beverages is deemed non-GRAS ... A typical energy drink that contains 1000 mg of taurine corresponds to a concentration of about 4.083 ppm

An energy drink containing 1,000mg of Taurine in 250ml (a typical size) would contain 1/250 or 4,000 ppm of Taurine, not 4. Royhills 15:45, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Red Bull *isn't* named after Taurine

Red Bull is named after the original Red Bull product in Thailand, called "Kratingdaeng" in Thai which translate to "Red Bull." Kratingdaeng is so named not for it's ingredient taurine, but rather it is named according to tradition/popular Thai naming conventions. --AStanhope 19:05, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] is it energy-giving?

is taurine energy-giving? if so, how?--Sonjaaa 20:18, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

• Not definitively. At best, some studies have shown that taurine might help to reduce muscle fatigue, so you might argue that having your muscles feel less tired is similar to having more energy, but that's not quite the same thing. Arkyan • ^(talk) 21:57, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
• No. It's just another (pseudo-)amino-acid, is all. Almost all of the 'energy' you get from, say, Red Bull comes from the carbs. - Alison ☺ 05:38, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

• I don't think it's energy "giving", but rather...helps your burn energy, or increase metabolism. My school's cafeteria sells energy drink that contains Taurine. I eat the same amount of lunch everyday and usually won't be hungry again until 8pm at night. But if I drink some energy drink (taurine), I would become hungry 3 hours later. However, the energy drink also contains large dose of vitamin B6, which is also known to give the same function. Lightblade 19:30, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Abbreviation

I don't know what the abbreviation for Taurine is, but it's definitely not "butts"

[edit] Taurine and cats: also ferrets?

I've read somewhere that ferrets also need taurine... perhaps the taurine and cats section should be widened? --Starwed (talk) 22:30, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "the only naturally occurring sulfonic acid

The statement "Taurine is the only known naturally occurring sulfonic acid" is simply not true - methanesulfonic acid (MSA aka mesylate) occurs naturally in the evironment along with most alkanesulfonic acids up to C16 in length. Milady (talk) 16:30, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Worldwide view

To the user who continues to contend that because he cannot find steroids in his local GNC that they are not considered supplements, please note that the term "bodybuilding supplement" is not limited to what is legal over the counter in the United States. Anabolic steroids are readily available without a prescription in Mexico and Thailand. Because Wikipedia is viewed by a worldwide audience, I've changed the sentence to aviod any bias and cultural perspective gaps. --Quartet 17:26, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I see! No need to distort my statements, though. When I wrote that if steroids were mere supplements, they would be sold as such, and in the same stores as creatine, whey, or multi-vitamins, I was really being sarcastic! And I didn't know that they could be legally purchased in countries such as Mexico, or Thailand(especially since they are substances prohibited by FIFA, and the I.O.C.). I'll go make a final edit then, and if you think that it harms the article in anyway, do feel free to change it back. The change I propose to make, is the following: «(...) performance enhancing substances, such as creatine and anabolic steroids(...)». Note that the use of the term «performance enhancing substance», doesn't imply that a substance is illegal. After all, creatine itself is a performance enhancing drug/substance! --Werty26262626 (talk), Monday, 9 June 2008. —Preceding comment was added at 17:59, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Makes sense to me. Probably even better now that it's not just limited to the scope of bodybuilding. (also, since I'm here, being banned by a sporting organization does not make it illegal - see ephedrine.) --Quartet 18:05, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

You know, for a minute there, I thought you were being sarcastic! But then I guess it was ok for me, to go ahead and make that change! The problem I was having with the use of the term «sports supplement» to describe anabolic steroids, was that it somewhat implied that such substances, are relatively safe, when they're really not! I believe the term «performance enhancing substance» allows for a much better understanding of this reality, while at the same time, not making creatine look like some dangerous and «illegal»(it is in some countries) substance. Oh, and about my comment regarding the FIFA and I.O.C. bans: I just meant to say, that the fact that a country allows its average citizen to buy steroids, could possibly make the aforementioned organizations feel very wary about/of the athletes of such a nation, if you know what I mean... --Werty26262626 (talk), Monday, 9 June 2008. —Preceding comment was added at 18:48, 9 June 2008 (UTC)