The Many Benefits of Taurine: How to Reduce Inflammation & Protect Your Muscles
What is taurine? It is not quite an amino acid, but it is an amino sulfonic acid. It can be obtained naturally in the diet predominantly from meat, fish, and eggs. It can also be made in the body from other amino acids such as cysteine but not in large amounts. Taurine is found in many important areas of the body including the heart, brain, retina, and skeletal muscle. In some animals such as cats, taurine deficiency can lead to retinal degeneration and blindness as well as cardiomyopathy which is a type of heart failure. In Japan taurine is actually used as a treatment for congestive heart failure. Studies have shown that taurine supplementation can improve left ventricular ejection fraction and improve exercise tolerance in those with ejection fractions of less than 50%....
Taurine does not help to build muscle, but it appears to help protect muscles and nerve cells from inflammation and oxidative stress. Taurine has been shown to have both an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties! As an anti-inflammatory it protects muscle cells from excessive protein breakdown and as an anti-oxidant it protects mitochondria from damage. These protective effects can help to preserve muscle and fight muscle loss especially in older adults.
Taurine also has been shown to reduce inflammatory cytokines including TNF-alpha4. It is thought that TNF-alpha contributes to the inflammatory response in autoimmune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis.
Interesting the effects of taurine have also been shown to improve metabolic diseases including insulin resistant or type 2 diabetes. In diabetes, there is a high amount of inflammation and oxidative stress due to chronic elevated blood sugar. In one small study of 50 type 2 diabetic patients, the patients who took taurine vs placebo had statistically significant decreases in hs-crp (a cardiac inflammatory indicator) and in TNF-alpha5. Interestingly there was also a statistically significant increase in SOD or superoxide dismutase which is an anti-oxidant.
In most every chronic disease we see an increase of inflammation and oxidative stress. Taurine appears to assist in decreasing both. As a nutrient the body already makes in relatively small amounts, it have very little side effects or contraindications. But as with any use of nutrients at therapeutic doses, it is best to consult with your practitioner to verify proper dosing or any possible interactions.
References 1. Effects and Mechanisms of Taurine as a Therapeutic Agent
Stephen Schaffer and Ha Won Kim Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688, USA Department of Life Science, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Republic of Korea
2. Effect of taurine supplementation on exercise capacity of patients with heart failure Mohamad Reza Beyranvand (MD), Mahshid Kadkhodai Khalafi (MS), Valiollah Dabidi Roshan (PhD), Sirrus Choobineh (PhD),Saeid Alipour Parsa (MD, Mohammad Asadpour Piranfar (MD, PhD), Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Tehran, Iran b Mazandaran University, Mazandaran, Iran ehran University, Tehran, Iran Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Labafinejhad Hospital, Tehran, Iran Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran
3. The Beneficial Effect of Taurine to Counteract Sarcopenia Bianca Maria Scicchitano and Gigliola Sica Istituto di Istologia ed Embriologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo Francesco Vito 1-00168, Roma, Italy Taurine and inflammatory diseases Janusz Marcinkiewicz Ewa Kontny Received: 24 April 2012 / Accepted: 3 July 2012 / Published online: 19 July 2012 The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
5. The effects of taurine supplementation on oxidative stress indices and inflammation biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Vahid Maleki, Reza Mahdavi, Fatemeh Hajizadeh‐Sharafabad and Mo
