The Health Benefits of Taurine
Taurine has promise for athletic performance, the prevention of cardiovascular disease, and possibly for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis. In this video, I review some of the evidence supporting these applications of taurine supplementation.
Taurine is found only in meat, with vegans and vegetarians having lower concentrations of taurine in their blood, urine, and breast milk [1-3].
Taurine was shown in a 2018 meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials to improve endurance exercise performance [4].
A 2020 meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials showed a reduction in blood pressure, blood triglycerides, and blood cholesterol [5].
Improvements in lipids have been shown in rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits. This is strong evidence (in my opinion, almost conclusive) that the improvements in lipids seen in meta-analyses are real [6].
Yet another meta-analysis including 188 subjects showed an improvement in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures after taurine supplementation compared to placebo [7].
And at least one randomized controlled trial showed clear evidence for improvement of vascular function [8].
Two small trials in humans suggest that the effect on the vasculature, including blood pressure, may be mediated by a reduction in circulating catecholamines ("stress" hormones) [6]. This is supported by animal studies that report very, very large reductions in circulating epinephrine and norepinephrine [6].
One study in rats, published in 2017, suggested an anti-anxiety or anti-depressive effect of taurine. Again, norepinephrine was reduced [9].
All of these findings suggest that, in addition to the anti-hypertensive effects, which might benefit cardiovascular disease, there might be some benefit of taurine supplementation for psychiatric disorders.
Indeed, a recent albeit small RCT in patients with first-episode psychosis showed a substantial improvement in taurine-treated patients [10].
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PMIDs
[1] 31197570
[2] 3354491
[3] 3676193
[4] 29546641
[5] 32871172
[6] 19592001
[7] 30006901
[8] 26781281
[9] 28694433
[10] 27835719
