Can a Common Energy Drink Ingredient Really Raise Your Risk of Blood Cancer?

Energy drinks are hugely popular, but you may have seen some alarming headlines in recent days about how they might be harming your health. “Study: Common energy drink ingredient linked to increased cancer risk,” one reads. Another claims: “Urgent warning issued about cancer-causing energy drinks.”

The headlines trace back to a study recently published in Nature, which examined a connection between leukemia, a type of blood cancer, and taurine, a naturally occurring amino acid that’s added to Red Bull, Monster Energy, and a slew of other energy drinks. But study author Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Genetics at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, said that despite some of the resulting news coverage, the research didn’t suggest that consuming taurine increases a person’s risk of developing leukemia.

Here’s what the study did find.

While headlines give the impression that the study found taurine increases cancer risk in people, the research didn’t actually include any humans. In reality, Bajaj told Health, she and her colleagues conducted a series of experiments on mice. Through that process, they found that—at least in those mouse models—leukemia cells can use taurine to fuel their growth, making a “very aggressive cancer slightly more aggressive,” Bajaj explained. 

But that’s quite different from finding that taurine causes cancer. At no point did the researchers give healthy mice—or healthy people—taurine to see whether they developed leukemia. “We have no evidence for that,” Bajaj said. 

If anything, the research holds some promising takeaways for people. Although more research is required to prove it, the study suggests that blocking cancer cells from using taurine for growth could be one way to treat leukemia, Bajaj explained.

The new study was “very well conducted” and offers important insight into the biology of leukemia, said Thomas George, MD, a medical oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Florida who was not involved with the new research. But the average person probably doesn’t need to switch up their diet based on its findings. 

First, it’s important to note that taurine is not exclusively found in energy drinks. In fact, the human body produces taurine itself. The amino acid plays a role in many bodily processes, from supporting the nervous and immune systems to regulating cellular function. 

Taurine is also naturally found in meat, seafood, and dairy products. It is added to many energy drinks, as well as some protein powders and nutritional supplements—perhaps because some research suggests it’s beneficial for athletic performance, in addition to its other functions within the body. The taurine concentrations in energy drinks can be 100- to 1,000-fold higher than in foods that naturally contain it, George said.

Still, “there’s no suggestion [in the new Nature study] that energy drinks, or high amounts of taurine exposure, leads to leukemia,” George said. “This does not appear to be something that jumpstarts the process.” 

It’s important to remember that the research was conducted in mice, added Vijay Yadav, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine at Rutgers University in New Jersey. (Yadav was not involved in the new study but has previously studied taurine.)

“We need to wait until we have data in humans” to draw firm conclusions about what, if anything, the results mean for the general public, he said.

George agreed. At this point, the only people who may want to avoid taurine-containing energy drinks based on these findings are those who currently have, or are in remission from, leukemia—and that’s out of an abundance of caution. “It’s just prudent to not take any chances,” he said.

The research on taurine is complicated. Its impact seemingly “changes depending on the context,” Yadav said.

Some research finds that taurine consumption offers health benefits, such as improving cardiovascular health. Yadav’s research also suggests that—at least in animal models—taurine supplementation may extend lifespan and healthspan. He is currently studying the amino acid’s effects on humans, but those results have not yet been published.

On the other hand, cancer is a concern, even beyond the new findings on leukemia. George and his colleagues are currently studying whether consuming energy drinks that contain taurine triggers changes in gut bacteria that may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. They hope to have results by the end of 2025. 

Even related to cancer, though, the data on taurine aren’t all bad. Research published in 2024 concluded that taurine supplementation could make some cancer therapies more effective.

“It is confusing,” George said. “We do seem to have different opinions and different sets of data.”

More research is needed to understand exactly how taurine affects health. But there are other reasons to exercise caution when guzzling energy drinks.

These beverages tend to be high in sugar, and excess sugar intake is a well-established risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. Energy drinks’ high caffeine levels can also make it hard to sleep, cause anxiety and jitters, and, in rare cases, even lead to serious or fatal cardiovascular issues.

“The old adage of ‘Everything in moderation’ holds really true for general health and energy drink use as well,” George said.