What is Taurine exactly, as found in cans of Red Bull and the like?!
What is Taurine exactly, as found in cans of Red Bull and the like?
Is it a genuine pharmeceutical or dietary product or just some kind of scam perpetrated by the manufacturers?
Answers:
Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an organic acid that is abundant in the tissues of many animals (metazoa).[1] Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but at lower levels. Taurine is a derivative of the sulphur-containing (sulfhydryl) amino acid, cysteine.
Taurine is named after the Latin taurus, which means bull, as it was first isolated from red bull (Bos taurus) bile as well as semen in 1827 by Austrian scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin. It is often called an amino acid, even in scientific literature,[2][3][4] but it lacks a carboxyl group and therefore does not qualify as an amino acid.[5] It does contain a sulfonate group and may be called an amino sulfonic acid. Small polypeptides have been identified which contain taurine but to date no aminoacyl tRNA synthetase has been identified as specifically recognizing taurine and capable of charging it onto a tRNA.[6]
The major pathway for mammalian taurine synthesis occurs in the liver via the cysteine sulfinic acid pathway. In this pathway, the sulfhydryl group of cysteine is first oxidized to cysteine sulfinic acid by the enzyme cysteine dioxygenase. Cysteine sulfinic acid, in turn, is decarboxylated by Sulfinoalanine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.27) to form hypotaurine. It is unclear whether hypotaurine is then spontaneously or enzymatically oxidized to yield taurine.
Taurine in the pharmaceutical and lab setting is synthesized through a combination of cysteine, methionine and vitamin E.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/taurine...
It is an enzyme made naturally in the body of a bull, and is found in bulls urine.
Don't sound nice at all; follow the link for all the details you need:
I don't know but it sounds like some foul chemical. Red Bull smells so deeply unpleasant that I can't face drinking the stuff.
Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an organic acid that is abundant in the tissues of many animals (metazoa).[1] Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but at lower levels. Taurine is a derivative of the sulphur-containing (sulfhydryl) amino acid, cysteine.
Taurine is named after the Latin taurus, which means bull, as it was first isolated from red bull (Bos taurus) bile as well as semen in 1827 by Austrian scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin. It is often called an amino acid, even in scientific literature,[2][3][4] but it lacks a carboxyl group and therefore does not qualify as an amino acid.[5] It does contain a sulfonate group and may be called an amino sulfonic acid. Small polypeptides have been identified which contain taurine but to date no aminoacyl tRNA synthetase has been identified as specifically recognizing taurine and capable of charging it onto a tRNA.[6]
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.
Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an organic acid that is abundant in the tissues of many animals (metazoa).[1] Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but at lower levels. Taurine is a derivative of the sulphur-containing (sulfhydryl) amino acid, cysteine.
Taurine is named after the Latin taurus, which means bull, as it was first isolated from red bull (Bos taurus) bile as well as semen in 1827 by Austrian scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin. It is often called an amino acid, even in scientific literature,[2][3][4] but it lacks a carboxyl group and therefore does not qualify as an amino acid.[5] It does contain a sulfonate group and may be called an amino sulfonic acid. Small polypeptides have been identified which contain taurine but to date no aminoacyl tRNA synthetase has been identified as specifically recognizing taurine and capable of charging it onto a tRNA.
Having never drunk 'red bull' or any other energy drink, while hanging around with several people who do...
I would have to say it is 100% unadulterated B.S.
its an amino acid derived from dead animals. It is called taurine after taurus, the bull. Nasty stuff! Yes, its genuine, but then again, so is cyanide-and I don't want it either!
Bull pee. lol . Just kidding. A guy asked if there was bull pee in Red Bull because of the word Taurine was on the can. Cause Taurus, Toro and so on are Latin variation of the word Bull.
It is an essential nutritional substance for cats which can help prevent blindness and certain types of heart disease.
"Strengthens the heart muscle, boosts vision, and helps prevent macular degeneration; is the key component of bile, which is needed for the digestion of fats; useful for people with atherosclerosis, edema, heart disorders, hypertension, or hypoglycemia; is vital for the proper utilization of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium; helps prevent the development of potentially dangerous cardiac arrhythmias; has been used to treat anxiety, epilepsy, hyperactivity, poor brain function, and seizures."