lickety jackblog

On Drinking Cat Bile

Due to the prevalence of TAURINE use among Jackblog contributers (including, among others, the Cold Cowboy, Tron, Duncan, Dan and myself), I decided to conduct a miniature research experiment. Here are my findings:

The word taurine comes from the latin, meaning bull, as it was first isolated from ox bile (where it is found in high concentration) in 1827. Taurine has been shown to be essential in certain aspects of mammalian development. Mostly, it is important for the conjugation of bile, which, in turn, has a significant effect on the solubility of cholesterol (clinical tests show that regular taurine intake significantly decreases cholesterol in the 18 to 29 year-old demographic).

Taurine is the second most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue.

In clinical tests, when taurine was administered to persons undergoing alcohol withdrawal, said persons experienced significantly fewer psychotic episodes (though what was not reported is that said DudeShauns were also potentially undergoing vodka/Redbull withdrawal).

One time the Cold Cowboy told me that plums (one of the most delicious fruits available on earth) tasted like bile. The Cold Cowboy drinks bile daily, and enjoys it.

Taurine is an essential dietary nutrient for cats because the rate of synthesis under most conditions is less than the rate of loss from the body. Cats which are fed a taurine deficient diet may become blind.

Some foods with very high taurine content include (in descending order): Conch (strombus gigas), inkfish, blood clam, crucial carp, hairtail fish and cat (felis silvestris catus).

Taurine concentration in milk of different species (in descending order): Gerbil, cat, dog, rhesus monkey, human, chimpanzee, rat, sheep, rabbit, cow, horse, guinea pig.

Taurine has been used as a mild sedative in treating epileptic patients.

Although Red Bull claimed (in 2004, when it was successfully banned in France and Denmark) that taurine "kick-starts the body's metabolism," I personally could find nothing to suggest that taurine has any stimulant properties. The nearest equivalent suggested only that it may help your body to "process" caffeine more quickly. Indeed, it appears that very little research has been done on the mental effects of taurine. Likely, energy drink companies are merely using their (synthetic) taurine, which certainly doesn't appear to be harmful, as a marketing tool. In summary, it seems apparent that Red Bull successfully co-opted ox bile in order to one-up caffeine with the introduction of a "new" supposed stimulant (indeed, went so far as to name its product thus so, complete with bull reference) so they could sell more soft drinks.

It appears that at least Erowid agrees with me.

posted by Little Gordie @ 10:31 PM