Energy drinks, taurine and cancer? About that research

Many things, when done in excess, can have a downside.

For example, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are full of nutrients and help protect against cancer and heart disease.

But if consumed in excess, they can limit the body’s ability to absorb iodine, which can lead to hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland).

On the other hand, sometimes a natural and healthy substance raises alarm bells within the scientific for reasons we don’t fully understand.

I’m here to help clarify one such alarm bell…

Unpacking the alarming headlines

Taurine is an amino acid found naturally in the bone marrow, brain, heart, and muscles. Foods such as meat, fish and eggs contain taurine.

So do energy drinks. Taurine is added to many energy drinks because it is known to support muscle function and endurance.

And this is where the alarm bells get tripped.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not encouraging you to start pounding down energy drinks. They’re far from the healthiest thing you could be drinking.

But you may have seen some alarming headlines recently, like “Common energy drink ingredient linked to increased cancer risk,” or even more alarmist, “Urgent warning issued about cancer-causing energy drinks.”

This is where it helps to be a discerning and careful reader…

Wilmot Cancer Institute investigators at the University of Rochester were researching new ways to target leukemia.

They found that taurine is produced by a subset of normal cells in the bone marrow microenvironment, the tissue inside bones where myeloid cancers begin and expand.

They also observed that since leukemia cells are unable to produce taurine themselves, they rely on a taurine transporter gene to grab taurine from the bone marrow and deliver it to the cancer cells.

As leukemia cells drink up taurine, it promotes glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose to produce energy) to feed cancer growth.

In their research, they were able to block the growth of leukemia in mouse models and in human leukemia cell samples by using genetic tools to prevent taurine from entering cancer cells.

The Wilmot researchers wrote in their paper, “Since taurine is a common ingredient in energy drinks and is often provided as a supplement to mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy, our work suggests that it may be of interest to carefully consider the benefits of supplemental taurine in leukemia patients.”

Beyond the headlines

Ultimately, the researchers hope the discovery will lead to new treatment strategies for leukemia and a better understanding of taurine within the leukemia environment.

“Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and we are at the very beginning of understanding metabolic effects on leukemia cells,” said Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, lead researcher.

“The prior focus has been on genetic changes, but the focus is expanding to understanding how leukemia cells are able to hijack various metabolic pathways for their own survival,” she adds.

But should you be concerned about taurine giving you cancer? Hopefully, the following will help you decide…

1. Understand the research. Dr. Bajaj states that her research was conducted on mice, not humans, and that — at least in mouse models — leukemia cells can use taurine to fuel their growth, making a “very aggressive cancer slightly more aggressive.”

2. Headlines can give a false impression. Many of the headlines on this research give the impression that the study found that taurine causes cancer. But the above statement is very different from saying that taurine causes cancer. “We have no evidence for that,” says Dr. Bajaj.

3. Use common sense. Taurine is found in healthy foods and is essential for regulating processes that decline with age, including the nervous and immune systems.

4. Should you avoid energy drinks? There are many reasons to avoid energy drinks.

And if you have been diagnosed with leukemia, or if leukemia runs in your family, you should use caution in taking taurine supplements and discuss that with your doctor. Eggs, dark meat poultry, shellfish, tuna and dairy products will provide what is necessary.

This research holds some promising takeaways.

Although more research is required, the study suggests that blocking cancer cells from using taurine for growth could be one way to treat leukemia, says Dr. Bajaj.

Sources:

A Downside of Taurine: It Drives Leukemia Growth — University of Rochester

Taurine from tumour niche drives glycolysis to promote leukaemogenesis — Nature

Can a Common Energy Drink Ingredient Really Raise Your Risk of Blood Cancer? — Nature