What are the negative effects of taurine?
According to the best available evidence, taurine has no negative side effects when supplemented appropriately ( 17 ). One 2019 report suggests that the highest daily dose of taurine you can safely consume is 3 grams per day.
It can make your kidneys work harder. In children, single amino acid supplements may cause growth problems. You shouldn't take high doses of single amino acids for long periods of time. People who are pregnant or breastfeeding shouldn't use taurine supplements.
Due to its wide effects on the body, it has been added as an ingredient in several consumer products. However, in large doses it may have a toxic effect on the body and the current upper limit of taurine is not known.
The most common dosage of taurine as a dietary supplement is between 500 and 2,000 mg per day. However, the maximum toxicity limit is much higher and doses over 2,000 mg seem to be tolerated well. Studies with dietary supplements used 400 to 6,000 mg per day. However, additional studies are needed to confirm this.
The group of Schaffer and colleagues extensively used this model and showed that taurine deficiency leads to cardiomyopathy and cardiac abnormalities (Ito et al. 2008, 2010; Ramila et al. 2015). This was attributed to tissue taurine deficiency-induced mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum dysfunction (Jong et al.
Taurine has been shown to play a role in four different forms of kidney disease: glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, chronic renal failure, and acute kidney injury (AKI).
Are taurine supplements safe? Yes! Studies show that two to four grams divided into two or three daily doses is safe without side effects. Higher doses (like six grams daily) have shown to be safe for up to four weeks.
Taurine Supplementation Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Vascular Function in Prehypertension.
Taurine supports proliferation of neural progenitor cells and synapse formation in brain regions required for long-term memory (Shivaraj et al., 2012). Taurine stimulates action potentials in GABAergic neurons and specifically targets the GABAA receptor (Jia et al., 2008).
These results indicate that taurine reduces iron‑induced hepatic oxidative stress, preserves liver function and inhibits hepatocyte apoptosis. Therefore, taurine may be a potential therapeutic drug to reduce liver damage caused by iron overload.
Is taurine inflammatory?
It suggests that taurine may play an important role in inflammation associated with oxidative stress. Indeed, at the site of inflammation, taurine is known to react with and detoxify hypochlorous acid generated by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO)–halide system.
Taurine has a potential effect in a mouse model of anxiety. The administration of taurine supplementation increased locomotor activity, while taurine injection repressed that activity in the open-field test. In addition, taurine supplementation caused anxiety, but taurine injection prevented anxiety [80].
The highest dose used in a human trial was 10 grams per day for 6 months, and the longest human trial was 12 months and used a dose of 0.5–1.5 grams per day. Based on the available evidence, it's suggested that 3 grams per day can be consumed indefinitely without risk of side effects. How does taurine work?
Oral administration of taurine in healthy individuals gave a plasma elimination half-life that ranged from 0.7-1.4 h.
Taurine is found abundantly in healthy bodies. However, certain diets, particularly vegetarian or vegan diets, lack adequate amounts of taurine. Disease states—including liver, kidney, or heart failure, diabetes, and cancer—can all cause a deficiency in taurine.
High levels of taurine are present in the anterior part of the eye. Taurine may prevent the development of cataract and dry eye through its osmoregulatory action. Taurine dietary intake is therefore a major factor in eye health.
Taurine Supplementation Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Vascular Function in Prehypertension. From the Department of Hypertension and Endocrinology, Center for Hypertension and Metabolic Diseases, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing Institute of Hypertension, Chongqing, China.
Taurine is an antioxidant, which is important to preventing age-related vision loss such as macular degeneration and other retinal diseases. Taurine also helps the retina eliminate waste.
Treatment with taurine at 0.1% to 1.5% reduces locomotor activity by 28% to 86%, and shifts it from diurnal to nocturnal. At 0.75%, taurine also increases total sleep by 50%. Our results show that taurine increases sleep, while caffeine, as previously reported, attenuates sleep.
In addition, taurine and its analogues have been observed to exert antineurotoxic and anti-inflammatory effects, and inhibit tumour cell proliferation (10–14). Taurine has also been shown to protect various organs against damage induced by mental and oxidative stress (15–17).
What time of day should I take taurine?
Taurine Side Effects*
It can cause slight drowsiness, so bedtime might be a good time to take it. It can also reduce blood pressure, so care should be taken for those prone to hypotension or lightheadedness. It may be taken with or without food.
Medications for high blood pressure (Antihypertensive drugs) interacts with TAURINE. Taurine might lower blood pressure. Taking taurine along with medications that lower blood pressure might cause blood pressure to go too low.
If your primary goal is to feel more energized, it appears that you're better off choosing caffeine instead of taurine. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system more directly to reduce fatigue and increase alertness. Taurine may help to reduce muscle damage and fatigue.
Many individuals believe taurine is a stimulant, much like caffeine - but the truth is that it isn't. In fact, it's just the opposite, as the ingredient is added to popular energy drinks as a nervous system depressant and just has a stimulating effect on the brain.
Taurine supplementation can help to mitigate age-related losses of memory and learning functions. In addition, recent studies show that this low-cost amino acid has brain-protective effects capable of preventing at least some of the cognitive changes associated with environmental toxins.
An amino acid called taurine plays an important role in creating new brain cells. Researchers found that taurine increased the growth of brain cells by activating “sleeping” stem cells. Taurine also increased the survival of new neurons, resulting in an increase in adult brain cell creation.
Supplementation with taurine – perhaps best known as an additive in energy drinks – may help control oxidative stress during the aging process, says a recent study published in the journal Nutrition.
Of particular interest is that taurine provides protection against renal dysfunction, including hypertension and proteinuria, specific glomerular and tubular disorders, acute and chronic renal conditions, and diabetic nephropathy.
Treatment with diclofenac or taurine (50 mg/kg) markedly inhibited adjuvant arthritis as well as its associated biochemical and histological changes.
Increasing our intake of taurine, whether through food or supplementation, will in-turn increase GABA, our body's main inhibitory neurotransmitter. GABA is the chemical that helps keep our mind in a calm, peaceful state, thus helping ease any symptoms of anxiety.
What organs are high in taurine?
Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the brain and spinal cord, leukocytes, heart and muscle cells, the retina, and indeed almost every tissue throughout the body.
Taurine is a type of amino acid that aids in calming anxiety levels by supporting the function of the neurotransmitter GABA, which allows the brain to shut off and encourages rest. Supplements containing 1 to 3 grams of taurine should be taken before bedtime to see full benefits.
Taurine is vital for a person's overall health. It is one of the most abundant amino acids in the muscle tissue, brain, and many other organs in the body. Taurine plays a role in several essential body functions, such as: regulating calcium levels in certain cells.
Protease inhibitors can prevent the absorption of proteins and amino acids and may be responsible for the sudden epidemic of taurine deficiencies in dogs which can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy heart disease (DCM).
Older studies have reported side effects in people with epilepsy who took 1.5 grams (g) of taurine per day. The side effects included: nausea. dizziness.
Taurine fulfils various roles in the human body. One of taurine's functions is to maintain the balance of minerals in cells. It keeps the magnesium in the cells and the calcium out of the cells, among other actions.
- Vision impairment.
- High blood pressure.
- Hypothyroidism (overactive thyroid)
- Kidney disorder.
- Anxiety.
- Obesity.
- Depression.
Are taurine supplements safe? Yes! Studies show that two to four grams divided into two or three daily doses is safe without side effects. Higher doses (like six grams daily) have shown to be safe for up to four weeks.
Taurine vs Caffeine: Which Should You Choose? If your primary goal is to feel more energized, it appears that you're better off choosing caffeine instead of taurine. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system more directly to reduce fatigue and increase alertness. Taurine may help to reduce muscle damage and fatigue.
Stay on the safe side and stick to food amounts. Children: Taurine is commonly consumed in foods. It is possibly safe when taken by mouth as medicine for up to 12 weeks.
Will taurine raise blood pressure?
Taurine Supplementation Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Vascular Function in Prehypertension.
Although these properties are not tissue specific, taurine reaches particularly high concentrations in tissues exposed to elevated levels of oxidants (e.g., inflammatory cells). It suggests that taurine may play an important role in inflammation associated with oxidative stress.
Taurine stimulates new brain cell formation, providing a potential source for replacement of aging, damaged brain cells. Taurine supplementation may slow or prevent Alzheimer's disease by effects on toxic beta amyloid proteins, and also by improving blood sugar control.
Increasing our intake of taurine, whether through food or supplementation, will in-turn increase GABA, our body's main inhibitory neurotransmitter. GABA is the chemical that helps keep our mind in a calm, peaceful state, thus helping ease any symptoms of anxiety.
Unlike caffeine and most other ingredients that you will find in such products, taurine is not a stimulant but rather a sedative that can also be used to reduce feelings of anxiety and similar disorders.
Taurine is a type of amino acid that aids in calming anxiety levels by supporting the function of the neurotransmitter GABA, which allows the brain to shut off and encourages rest. Supplements containing 1 to 3 grams of taurine should be taken before bedtime to see full benefits.