If you are one of the many people who enjoy energy drinks to fuel your day, you may want to check the ingredient label. A common ingredient in energy drinks, taurine, has been potentially linked to increasing cancer growth.
Taurine is an amino acid found in animal-based foods such as meat, fish, and dairy. Some of the taurine used in energy drinks may be synthetic rather than animal-derived, depending on the brand bought. Your body is also able to produce taurine itself naturally, and uses it for energy, processing bile acid, and balancing fluids and minerals.
In May 2025, the University of Rochester Medical Center published the findings of their study in the journal Nature and identified taurine as a problematic amino acid for leukemia. Researchers discovered that leukemia cells would take taurine from bone marrow to increase the growth of malignancies. That has brought up the question of whether consuming extra taurine from energy drinks could then fuel leukemia. The study is inconclusive regarding that, but it has opened up a new avenue of research to be done, focused on taurine alone.
The link between taurine and cancer
Energy drinks are not typically known as the epitome of health due to their link to heart disease and diabetes. However, this research has brought up a new concern that consuming extra taurine through sources like energy drinks could provide cancer cells with more fuel.
The study was led by Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Genetics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. According to the university’s newsroom, she stated, “Our current data suggest that it would be helpful to develop stable and effective ways to block taurine from entering leukemia cells.”
Oncologist Jane L. Liesveld, MD, is a professor in the department of medicine for hematology/oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and also treats leukemia patients. She co-authored the research publication for this study for the Nature journal. Liesveld explained, “Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and we are at the very beginning of understanding metabolic effects on leukemia cells. 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.”
How to stay safe regarding taurine
Dietary changes can lessen your intake of taurine. Cutting back on energy drinks or using energy drinks without taurine will lessen the excess of it in your body. Since your body naturally produces taurine, there is an extremely low risk of any type of deficiency.
Those who eat plant-based diets, like vegans and vegetarians, automatically consume much less taurine since it is found in high quantities in animal-based products. This is not the only benefit of a plant-based diet in relation to avoiding cancer, since scientists have found a clear link between red meat and cancer, as well.
However, if a plant-based diet doesn’t appeal to you and you love your energy drink too much to quit, you may still be fine. Current research, as it stands, is inconclusive whether actually consuming extra taurine could speed up the growth of leukemia. This is just the first of likely many studies across many years on the relation between taurine and cancer.
