- Cardiac Health
- Brain Function
- Energy
- Memory
Taurine is a conditionally essential
amino acid that is the most
abundant free
amino acid in many tissues.
Taurine is different than
most other
amino acids because it is not incorporated into proteins,
but it does play many roles in the body, including bile acid
conjugation, detoxification, membrane stabilization, osmoregulation,
and modulation of excitatory neurotransmission and intracellular
calcium levels. The mean
taurine intake in humans is estimated to be
around 60 mg daily, but supplementation can far exceed this amount and
readily increases
taurine levels in many tissues. This article will
briefly cover some of the many possible utilities of
taurine
supplementation.
Exercise
Exercise causes a significant reduction of
taurine levels in skeletal
muscle, as does aging [1-3]. In these conditions, supplemental
taurine
improves exercise performance and electrical and contractile properties
of skeletal muscle in rodents, respectively [1, 3]. In healthy rats,
taurine increased running time to exhaustion from 73.8 minutes to 98.8
minutes. Additionally, the weights of the gastrocnemius and soleus
muscles were increased, but the difference was not statistically
significant [1]. A beverage containing
taurine, caffeine, and simple
carbs increases endurance performance in humans, and a significant
portion of these effects is due to the
taurine alone [1, 4]. However,
it has not been established if it was due to a synergistic
relationship, as
taurine-only studies have not yet been conducted in
humans.
Taurine also counteracts exercise-induced weakness in a mouse
model of dystrophy, and is superior to creatine in this regard [5], and
it protects muscle tissue from ischemia-reperfusion injury [6]. Among
the postulated mechanisms of action are membrane stabilization and
modulation of ion channels or calcium ion storage capacity [1, 3-4],
although there could be a wide variety of reasons for this effect (such
as osmoregulation).
Cardiac health
The concentrations of
taurine in the heart are very high, and it
constitutes over 50% of the total free
amino acid pool [7]. Among the
multiple roles it plays are protecting from excessive or inadequate
intracellular calcium, acting as a membrane stabilizer, and protecting
from injury and oxidative stress [7-8]. Although the
taurine content in
the heart is tightly regulated and not as subject to deprivation as
many other tissues, chronic
taurine depletion can result in severe
cardiomyopathy [8]. Certain conditions, such as congestive heart
failure, can cause a disruption of
taurine homeostasis. In a trial with
14 patients with congestive heart failure, 6 grams per day of
taurine
lowered the heart-failure score from 5.8 to 3.7 where no benefit was
seen in the placebo group, and in an animal model of congestive heart
failure, 100 mg/kg of
taurine reduced mortality from 52% to 11% [7].
Both in vivo and in vitro,
taurine protects the heart from ischemic
damage by acting as an antioxidant and membrane stabilizer [8, 9].
Taurine also reduces arrhythmias induced by chemicals or ischemia [7,
9]. Finally,
taurine administration improved heart function in rats
submitted to a high stress load (forced swimming) [10].
Hypertension
Commonly used animal models for hypertension include the spontaneously
hypertensive rat, the DOCA-salt rat, the salt sensitive Dahl-S rat, and
the renovascular hypertensive rat, and
taurine alleviates hypertension
in all of these models.
Taurine also prevents hypertension in rats fed
a high fructose diet and rats treated with alcohol. In humans with
hypertension, 6 grams of
taurine daily resulted in significant
reductions in blood pressure, and this was independently verified in
two other studies, one of them with only 3 g of
taurine.
Taurine does
not cause a reduction in blood pressure in normotensive humans,
indicating that the mechanism of action is specific to the pathology.
Both effects in the CNS and modulation of hormone levels are
involved [11].
Atherosclerosis
Taurine has a beneficial effect on a number of markers of
atherosclerosis, and reduces the development of atherosclerosis in
animals. Animal models in which
taurine has improved cholesterol levels
(by reducing LDL or total cholesterol or increasing HDL cholesterol)
include spontaneously hyperlipidaemic mice, rats and rabbits fed high
cholesterol diets, genetic type 2 diabetic GK rats, and normal rats
[12-15]. In a single-blind placebo-controlled study with healthy
individuals fed a diet designed to raise cholesterol levels, 6 g daily
of
taurine reduced total and LDL cholesterol levels [7]. The reduction
of cholesterol levels is due to increased bile acid conjugation and
antioxidant effects [7, 12-14]. Additionally,
taurine prevents stress
on the endoplasmic reticulum induced by homocysteine [16] and improves
endothelial function in young cigarette smokers, having a greater
effect than vitamin C [17-18].
Neuroprotection
The brain is another area where
taurine is particularly important.
Taurine plays an essential role in both brain development and
regeneration and promotes the survival and proliferation of neurons
[19]. Additionally, supplemental
taurine exerts a definite
pharmacological effect in the brain [20].
Taurine is a potent
neuroprotectant, protecting against glutamate excitotoxicity, cerebral
ischemia, oxidative stress, and the buildup of toxins (including carbon
tetrachloride and ammonia) [21-25]. Among other things, this
neuroprotection is due to regulation of calcium homeostasis and
apoptosis, direct scavenging of toxins, and a reduction of oxidative
stress [23-26].
Taurine also holds promise as an anticonvulsant and in
the prevention of epilepsy [7, 27-28].
Memory
Taurine plays an important role in long-term potentiation.
Taurine
improves memory in mice treated with a variety of amnestic agents, such
as pentobarbital, cycloheximide, sodium nitrite, and alcohol. However,
it does not improve memory in healthy, untreated mice [29].
Taurine
also imrpoves memory in rats exposed to ozone [30].
Taurine increases
brain levels of acetylcholine in animals, and decreased levels of
taurine have been found in Alzheimer's patients [7]. It is yet to be
seen whether
taurine improves memory in humans, but it is likely to
have an effect at least in individuals with impaired memory.
Diabetes &
insulin sensitivity
When administered to mice receiving a glucose infusion for six hours,
taurine inhibited the development of insulin resistance, which occured
primarily in skeletal muscle [31].
Taurine also inhibited hyperglycemia
and insulin resistance in fructose-fed rats [32]. For this and other
reasons,
taurine holds promise in the treatment of diabetes. In
diabetic subjects, the amount of arachidonic acid required to induce
platelet aggregation is lower, and
taurine reduces this effect [7].
Furthermore,
taurine improves kidney function in animal models of
diabetes [59-60]. In addition to antioxidant mechanisms,
taurine may
also exert these benefits by increasing the excretion of nitrite and
the formation of kinins [32].
Cystic fibrosis
Taurine can aid in the treatment of cystic fibrosis in two ways. The
first is by inhibiting nutrient malabsorption – a double-blind study
found that 30 mg/kg daily helped alleviate steatorrhea in children with
cystic fibrosis [7].
Taurine supplementation also helps maintain
taurine levels in the lung, and along with niacin
taurine reduced lung
injury and fibrosis in a mouse model [33].
Taurine also protects the
lungs from oxidative stress due to ozone exposure [34].
Eye health
The retina is another area where
taurine is found in particularly high
concentrations, although its role there is not well established. Visual
dysfunction in both humans and animals has been linked with
taurine
deficiency that can be reversed with supplementation [35]. Along with
diltiazem and vitamin E,
taurine helped reduce the progressive visual
field reduction caused by retinitis pigmentosa, but as monotherapy
results have not been clinically significant [7, 36].
Taurine also
inhibits oxidative stress in cataractous lenses [37] and protects from
retinal abnormalities due to diabetes in rat models, proving more
effective on various levels than vitamin E and selenium [38-39].
Heavy metals
& toxins
Taurine protects many of the body's organs against toxicity and
oxidative stress due to various substances.
Taurine neutralizes the
toxin hypochlorous acid, thus protecting from DNA damage [7]. In the
liver,
taurine inhibits the toxic effects of high fructose feeding,
alcohol, acetaminophen, and thioacetamide in rats;
taurine also
improves some markers in patients with hepatitis [7; 40-43]. In the
kidneys,
taurine protects against cisplatin toxicity and prevents renal
damage from salt feeding in salt-sensitive rats [44-45].
Taurine also
protects against ulcers caused by monochloramine, a toxin associated
with H. pylori infection [46]. Accumulation of heavy metals can have a
variety of toxic effects, and
taurine reduces the damage caused by
excess levels cadmium, copper, and lead in rats [47-49].
Taurine also
reduces the toxic effect of oxidized fish oil in rats [50].
Skin health
In vitro,
taurine improves recovery from burn injured skin, and a
topical
taurine gel accelerates wound healing in mice [51-52]. As an
osmolyte,
taurine helps maintain hydration in the epidermis when it is
exposed to a dry environment [53], but the effect of oral
taurine
supplementation on skin hydration and healing has not been determined.
General health
& life extension
Aging is associated with a decline in
taurine content in various
tissues, including liver, kidney, cerebellum, eye, spleen, blood, and
skeletal muscle, and dietary supplementation with
taurine can increase
the
taurine content to levels even above those of healthy adults [3,
54-55].
Taurine supplementation also reduces the elevated protein
carbonyl levels associated with aging, aids in the restoration of
protein and acid-soluble thiols in aged rats, blunts the age-related
decline of IGF-1, and aids in the retention of antioxidant nutrients
such as vitamin E and vitamin A [54-57].
Dosage &
toxicity
Toxicity is not a concern with
taurine, as no signs of toxicity have
been indicated in animal studies [58]. For general health and increased
exercise performance, 1-4 g daily is commonly used (with at least 1 g
prior to exercise), while most clinical trials for treatment of
conditions have utilized dosages in the range of 3-6 g daily.
Packing Information:
These powders are reduced down from kilo sizes. Each powder is put into a HDPE container, Heat Sealed, then labeled with dosing based off 1/4 tsp. Some items may be hygroscopic and may clump during shipment. This does not effect the efficacy of the product, but just the texture.
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