What is taurine
Taurine is an amino acid that contains in various tissues of the body and is present in large quantities in the brain, heart and skeletal muscles.
This substance enters the body with food of animal origin: meat, fish, poultry and dairy products. Even babies get it through food, as it is found in women’s breast milk and is added in baby dry formulas. In addition, it can be synthesized in the liver from other amino acids.
Taurine in the body performs several functions:
- Regulates cell volume and maintains their integrity.
- In the liver, it interacts with bile acids, forming bile salts, which are necessary for the digestion and absorption of fats.
- Participates in the transmission of signals between nerve cells, affects the excitability of the nervous system.
- Protects cells from oxidative stress by helping fight free radicals.
Many people probably first heard about taurine from an advertisement for energy drinks, where it is present along with caffeine. This amino acid is also added to pre-workout complexes and fat burners, and is also sold separately as a dietary supplement.
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What beneficial properties are attributed to taurine?
There are three areas of research related to taurine supplementation. We will analyze what is known at the moment.
1. Maintaining the cardiovascular system
Scientists suggest that taurine Maybe influence vascular tone and electrical activity of the heart, help the organ contract better and protect it from oxidative stress and inflammation.
In two small studies, 4–6 weeks of taurine supplementation in addition to usual treatment improved cardiac condition and function in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).
Three other scientific works showedthat in people with CHF, taking taurine can significantly improve exercise capacity.
The supplement may also affect blood pressure. Authors of one meta-analysis checked 12 studies found that taking 0.5-6 g of taurine per day for 15 to 60 days can lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels and the amount of triglycerides – fats that float in the blood and increase the risk of atherosclerosis.
But here it should be noted that most of the observations included in the meta-analysis were carried out with the participation of patients suffering from any diseases: diabetes, hepatitis, fatty liver disease, obesity, chronic alcoholism and heart problems.
Thus, taurine may be beneficial for people with heart disease, liver disease, and metabolic disorders, but its effectiveness has not yet been established. Therefore, the supplement is not included in official recommendations for maintaining heart health or treating any disease.
Whether it can serve as prevention is an open question and has not yet been studied.
2. Prevention of aging
With age, the amount of taurine in the body is decreasing. And since supplements with this amino acid can extend the life of worms, mice and monkeys, scientists hope that something similar can be done with people.
In one research women aged 55 to 70 years received a 1.5 g taurine supplement for 16 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the participants’ levels of taurine and superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that works as an antioxidant, increased. Scientists have concluded that taurine supplements help reduce oxidative stress that is inevitable during the aging process.
Unfortunately, this is where the evidence for the benefits of taurine in prolonging people’s youth ends. Perhaps in the future, scientists will conduct large-scale and long-term studies and prove that the supplement helps delay aging. But for now this is nothing more than a theory.
3. Improved athletic performance
Authors meta-analysis A 2018 study examined 10 studies and found that taurine may have an effect on fatigue. Taking 1-6 g of the supplement before running, swimming and other endurance activities helps delay the onset of fatigue.
For example, in one experiment, 1 g of amino acid 2 hours before a 3 km race improved runners’ time by 1.7%. IN friend The supplement helped cyclists increase their time to fatigue by 10%. And since the athletes performed the test in hot conditions, scientists hypothesized that taurine may affect thermoregulation.
But there is also other data. In one research Taking 6 g of taurine 120 minutes before a 400 m swim did not affect the time it took swimmers to complete the distance. The authors of the scientific research did not notice the effect either. work, in which participants took 6 grams of the amino acid 90 minutes before the test and ran on a treadmill at maximum intensity. After taking the supplement, runners felt just as tired as those who drank a placebo.
There is also some evidence that taurine Maybe speed up recovery after strength training. In two studies, young men who took amino acid supplements more quickly regained strength levels that had been reduced due to muscle fiber damage.
Thus, taking taurine before intense endurance exercise may increase time to fatigue and slightly improve performance. And also help to quickly restore strength after exhausting strength to muscle failure.
Can taurine supplements harm your health?
As a general rule, take 2–6 g of taurine per day does not cause side effects. But exceeding this dose Maybe lead to digestive upset and neurological symptoms such as dizziness, tremors and headache.
Despite the relative safety of taurine, not worth it use this supplement during pregnancy and breastfeeding, if you have bipolar disorder, epilepsy and kidney problems, or if you are taking medications for high blood pressure and medications that regulate the functioning of the heart and nervous system.
At least until you consult your doctor.
Should you take taurine supplements?
If a person eats a typical Western diet, about 40-400 mg of taurine enters the body every day through fish, meat and dairy products.
People who give up meat and milk get much less of this amino acid from food. However, the concentration of taurine in the blood plasma and breast milk of vegans is only slightly lessthan omnivores. And it is unknown whether this harms their body.
And since there is no good evidence for the health or athletic benefits of taurine, it makes no sense to buy supplements with this amino acid.
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