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Comment by AtlasBarfed | Hacker News Reader

WHy does it have Taurine? I honestly don't know why any of the non-caffiene non-b vitamin ingredients are in "energy drinks" like Taurine.

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According to GPT4 there's research indicating that taurine increases metabolism, improves athletic performance, helps regulate neurotransmitters (so could be construed to improve cognitive functioning), and improves cardiovascular health.

I'd wager you can't conclude from any of that research that putting a gram of it in a drink will help with anything at all, but from a marketing perspective it's a name that carries all the right connotations.

GPT4 is not a search engine. Please stop.

Cite sources or don't do this.

I did cite my source by saying it's GPT4, so you know exactly what quality to attribute to the information. I figured it was a good enough source given the context, because my point was that taurine is a good fit for marketing. For that purpose it doesn't really matter whether the information is true. What matters is public perception, and I trust that that's well represented by GPT4 in this case.

GPT4 isn't a source of information. It's a probabilistic string of text.

Cite actual sources, please.

according to gpt4 there's reasearch that indicates that spice melange assists in cognitive loads especially relating to navigation in fold space

Love it! Waiting eagerly for next installment of Dune.

I really wish they didn't have so much damn niacin(B3) in them. Niacin has side effects like sweating and flushing in doses not much higher than RDI, and yet one 500ml energy drink typically contains 250% RDI of niacin.

Like, why the fuck? At least cut it down to at most 100%.

No, there are different forms of vitamin B3. Niacinamide (aka nicotinamide) is the non-flushing form.

It is a reasonably well documented protectant of neurons and mitochondria.

Here is one great example publication related to a mouse model of glaucoma:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28209901/

I take 3 gm/ day and have for 6 years with what I think are notable improvements in cognitive function. Your mileage may vary.

Taurine is said to have an anti-anxiety effect. I have taken it for this reason and believe it is effective (or placebo ..).

My assumption was it helps ease the stimulant effects of all the other stuff in energy drinks.

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