Taurine

Low Cost Longevity

In the world of Anti-Aging Medicine we have a lot of wonder substances that have been shown to enhance lifespan and health span. Unfortunately most of them have very hefty price tags and often dubious research to back up their claims.

Assuming you aren’t filthy rich, it makes sense to look at the low cost things you can do to extend your health span and lifespan. One of the more obvious is to not be a couch potato, stay physically active. This can be done at no cost (no fitness center membership required).

Before I move on, let me point out again that it’s strength training and high intensity training, not cardio that delivers the real health benefits.

Before you shell out big money for Ubiquinol, Resveratrol, NAD+, TA-65, etc, you might want to take a look at the amino acid taurine. These other substances are amazing, I’m not saying you shouldn’t take them, but if you are on a budget (as almost all of us are), taurine certainly should not be overlooked.

Although taurine is an amino acid, it is not used to build proteins.

Recent research published this summer has shown some amazing longevity benefits (greater than 10% longer life in mice) from high dosage taurine supplementation. This builds on a wealth of other research, in other animals and humans, showing the benefits of taurine supplementation.

Taurine impacts an amazing number of factors involved in health and life span:

• Cellular Senescence

• Intercellular Communication

• Telemere Length

• Nutrient Sensing

• Epigenetic Changes

• Genomic Stability

• Stem Cells

• Mitochondrial Function

Taurine supplementation improves muscle strength, bone strength, gut function, brain function, immune function, and energy. And at the same time decreases fat!

So how much should you take? The experimented on mice were given 500 mg or 1000 mg per kilogram of body weight. For the average male human that would be 35 to 70 grams per day! A staggering amount! It’s tricky to try and translate animal dosages to human dosages so don’t try to directly convert a dosage used for research with mice to decide how much you should take.

Luckily other research has used dosages of two grams to twenty grams per day in humans. My analysis suggests that we may want to consider two to four grams per day. What would this cost? At a cost of about eleven cents per gram from a quality supplier, this would be 22 to 44 cents per day. Compare that to something like $5 per day for ubiquinol, $5 a day for resveratrol or $13 per day for TA-65 and it looks like a downright bargain.

Even in individuals eating a high meat diet taurine consumption is estimated at less than 200 mg per day. Non-vegetarians eat about 43 to 76 mg per day. If you are a vegetarian you’d better supplement!

Generally for people looking to boost their protein (amino acids) intake, I recommend whey protein (not the stuff you can buy at your local stores) as one of the most cost efficient methods. However whey protein does not contain taurine!

The average human body contains about 70 grams of taurine (primarily in muscle and in the brain). Seafood is one of the best natural sources of taurine.

Caution: taurine should not be taken with aspirin.

What are some of the major roles of taurine in the body?

In the brain, taurine is highly concentrated in the olfactory bulb (sense of smell), the hippocampus (memory), and the pineal gland (response to light). Taurine protects and stabilizes neuron membranes and acts as a neurotransmitter. It is inhibitory, which is why it can calm down anxiety. Want a better memory? Make sure you have plenty of taurine.

Taurine has a big role in calcium metabolism and thus is critical in the heart.

Taurine has a significant role in gallbladder function and may be valuable to treat “gallbladder disease”.

Taurine prevents and treats liver disease (and has a valuable role in detoxification).

Another role of taurine is lowering blood pressure.

Taurine supplementation can cure tinnitus. As you may have heard from how vital it is for cats and dogs to avoid blindness, it has a big role in vision.

I’d be writing a book if I listed all the roles and benefits of taurine! Hopefully this brief summary will help you understand how vital and valuable taurine is.

High stress will greatly increase your need / usage of taurine, just like stress does for many other nutrients.

Oddly males produce more taurine in their body (perhaps because evolution pressures required men to be stronger). Because of this women may benefit from more taurine supplementation than males. There are a number of health issues that women suffer from more than men which reinforces this concept. Taurine is especially crucial for babies, infants and young children (and of course breast feeding mothers).

As you may hear me repeat, I don’t believe in single “super substances”, nutrients work together. For good taurine metabolism it is also important to have plenty of P5P (the best form of Vitamin B6). Zinc and manganese are also essential in taurine metabolism. MSG (monosodium glutamate) reduces taurine levels.

Will taurine make you immortal? Of course not, but perhaps it will help you to live to be 130 rather than 120 in good health.