Taurine?

Re: Taurine?

• hriesen4

  July 2009

  not sure...I wouldn't guzzle them down.  I'm sure 1 or 2 won't hurt.

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• anhella

  July 2009

  really? the first link I got when I goggled Taurine and Pregnancy was this:

  https://congestive-heart-failure.emedtv.com/taurine/taurine-and-pregnancy.html

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• oregontechmom member

  July 2009

  TAURINE

  Levels in "energy" drinks and other foods and estimated intakes

  Taurine occurs naturally in food, especially in seafood and meat. The mean daily intake from omnivore diets was determined to be around 58 mg (range from 9 to 372 mg) and to be low or negligible from a strict vegan diet. ⁴³ In another study taurine intake was estimated to be generally less than 200 mg/day, even in individuals eating a high meat diet. ⁴⁴ According to another study, taurine consumption was estimated to vary between 40 to 400 mg/day. ⁴⁵

  A submission from the Austrian National Food Authority ¹ included a list of the contents of 32 "energy" drinks taken from a published review of drinks on the Austrian market in 1996. Some "energy" drinks did not contain any taurine. In those drinks in which taurine was present and its concentration declared, one contained 300 mg/l, one 2000 mg/l, and 11 contained 4000 mg/l. From the per capita intake of "energy" drinks averaged over a year for regular consumers in Austria (see earlier), ² intakes of taurine can be estimated to average 200 mg/day from "energy" drinks containing 4000 mg/l. Using the Committee?s estimate of regular consumption of 0.5 l/day of "energy" drinks containing the highest level of taurine, daily intake of taurine would be 2000 mg/day. This is 5 times greater than the highest estimated intake of 400 mg/day from naturally occurring taurine in omnivore diets and at least an order of magnitude above average dietary intakes.

  Biological and toxicological information

  Taurine is present in the diet and is a normal metabolite in humans. It is a metabolic product of sulphur amino acids, mainly biosynthesised from cysteine in the liver. It participates in the formation of bile salts and the detoxification of certain xenobiotics. It is involved in a number of crucial physiological processes including modulation of calcium flux and neuronal excitability, osmoregulation, and membrane stabilisation. ^46,47 However, the role of taurine in these processes is not clearly understood and the influence of high taurine doses on these processes is uncertain.

  Human clinical studies show that the oral intake of taurine can influence physiological functions. For example, taurine (3 or 6 g/day) decreased blood pressure in hypertension patients. ^47,48 A similar effect was seen in animal models of hypertension but the mechanism of action is unknown. A substantial increase in the plasma concentration of growth hormone was reported in some epileptic patients during taurine tolerance testing (oral dose of 50 mg/kg bw/day), suggesting a potential to stimulate the hypothalamus and to modify neuroendocrine function, similar to that seen with certain other amino acids, such as arginine and histidine. ⁴⁹ The effect on growth hormone is probably attributable to its known hypoglycaemic action. There is an indication that taurine (2 g/day) has some function in the maintenance and possibly in the induction of the psoriatic state. ⁵⁰

  The effects of an "energy" drink on heart rate, plasma catecholamines, endurance time and other parameters were investigated in male, exercising endurance-athletes. ⁵¹ The subjects consumed an original "energy" drink containing taurine, glucuronolactone and caffeine and, at different times, control drinks, one without taurine and glucuronolactone and one without all three ingredients. The authors concluded that the study showed a positive effect of taurine-containing drinks on hormonal responses which led to a higher performance. However, the design of the study does not allow a distinction to be made between effects caused by taurine, or by glucuronolactone, or by both substances.

  Toxicological studies did not reveal any indication for a genotoxic, carcinogenic or teratogenic potential of taurine. ^52-64 However, there is no adequate study on chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity. Investigation of subacute/subchronic toxicity has also been fragmentary. ^65-71 Overall, the available data are insufficient to establish an upper safe level for daily intake of taurine.

  In a 6-week preliminary study in rats, a decrease in body weight was observed at 2000 ppm taurine in the diet. From this experiment, the dose causing a 10% reduction in body weight was estimated to be 1500 ppm, corresponding to 120 mg/kg bw/day. ⁵⁴ The margin between this effect level and possible daily intakes in regular adult consumers of "energy" drinks (around 30 mg/kg b.w.) is small. Rats given taurine intravenously for 13 weeks showed an increase in water consumption at 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw/day and haemosiderin deposition in the lungs at 2000 mg/kg bw/day. ⁶⁹ The authors conclude, that the maximum no-effect dose was 500 mg/kg bw/day, while a group of reviewers has argued that 1000 mg/kg bw/day, is the more appropriate no-observed-adverse-effect level, because the minor nature of the effect and the likely relation to the osmotic activity of the test substance. ² Administration of 0.4% taurine in drinking water to guinea pigs for 2 weeks, corresponding to 462 mg/kg bw/day, led to fatty infiltration of the liver. ⁶⁴ In a 2-week study with rats receiving 1% taurine in drinking water (about 2.6 g/kg bw/day) changes in neutral lipids, phospholipids and enzyme activities related to lipid metabolism in liver microsomal membranes were observed. ⁶⁶ In neither study was a no-effect level established. In other studies of longer duration, parameters corresponding to those described above were not examined.

  Numerous publications describe special effects of taurine in different animal models, e.g. on behavior, blood pressure, serum glucose and serum cholesterol. Taurine was mostly applied in doses of 1000 mg/kg bw/day and above to induce these effects, using the oral route of administration. Intraperitoneal injection of taurine, however, seems to influence behavioral parameters at much lower doses. In one study, even a dose of 1.5 mg/kg bw was reported to decrease psychomotor activity. ⁷²

  Animal experiments show that taurine protects against many adverse effects induced by xenobiotics. On the other hand, taurine also has the capacity to enhance chemically induced toxicity, e.g. taurine not only suppresses but also enhances lipid peroxide formation in the liver induced by carbon tetrachloride depending on the experimental conditions. ^73,74 It should be noted that the combination of taurine with caffeine has not been studied with respect to any interactions.

  Conclusions

  The intake of taurine from regular consumption of some taurine-containing "energy" drinks is several times higher than that from the rest of the diet. There is only limited information available either from human or conventional animal studies for risk assessment of taurine. There is a lack of scientific evidence to support the safety of taurine present in beverages at concentrations that may result in intakes several-fold higher than that usually obtained from the rest of the diet. Given the available information on involvement of taurine in a number of key physiological processes, together with the very limited data on possible adverse effects of taurine in humans and laboratory animals and the doses at which such effects were reported, the Committee considers it likely that the margin between normal daily intake of taurine from the diet (excluding consumption of "energy" drinks) and an adverse effect level in humans may be relatively small. At present, there is insufficient information on which to set an upper safe level for daily intake of taurine.

  It may also be necessary to take into consideration, that absorption of taurine from beverages may be more rapid than from a food matrix. As, mentioned earlier, potential interactions between taurine and caffeine, both of which are present in several "energy" drinks, have not been sufficiently investigated.

  Against this background, the Committee is unable to conclude that the safety-in-use of taurine in the concentration range reported for taurine in "energy" drinks has been adequately established. Further studies would be required to establish an upper safe level for daily intake of taurine.

   

  https://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scf/out22_en.html

   

  https://content.nhiondemand.com/PSV/monoAll-style.asp?objID=100034&ctype=ds&mtyp=4

   

  Usually you can get information by searching "_________________ safe while pregnant."
  

   

   

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• Randa&Jerm member

  July 2009

  Well of course I didnt want to read the article with the link about congestive heart failure! lol! 

   

  Thanks! 
  

  
  
  'Til He returns, or calls me home,
  Here in the power of Christ I stand.

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