Energy Drinks Promise Edge, but Experts Say Proof Is Scant

The New York Times:

Energy drinks are the fastest-growing part of the beverage industry, with sales in the United States reaching more than $10 billion in 2012 — more than Americans spent on iced tea or sports beverages like Gatorade.

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Last August, Scottish researchers reported that 1,000 milligrams of taurine taken as a supplement appeared to improve the performance of middle-distance runners. But other taurine studies have been negative or inconclusive. “We found it difficult to make any conclusions about what taurine was doing,” said a graduate researcher at Tufts University, Grace Giles, who headed a study that ran participants through a battery of mental reaction and memory tests.

Dr. Goodman, the University of Wisconsin researcher, said he believed there was a reason for such equivocal results. The scientist, who works at the school’s college of veterinary medicine, said that laboratory animals, like mice or rats, must be given huge dosages of taurine to see an effect.

Read the whole story: The New York Times