A recent study published in Nature has raised concerns about taurine, a widely used amino acid in energy drinks such as Red Bull and Celsius, indicating it may increase the risk of blood cancers.
Researchers at the University of Rochester’s Wilmot Cancer Institute discovered that leukemia cells absorb taurine, which develops in bone marrow, using it to fuel their growth through a process called glycolysis. This is the process where cells break down glucose to produce energy, which cancer cells use to grow.
