Research suggests this micronutrient could help us live longer – but are there healthier ways of consuming it? Photo / Getty Images
Research suggests this micronutrient could help us live longer – but are there healthier ways of consuming it? Photo / Getty Images
From Jeff Bezos to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the world’s billionaires, and their quest for immortality, have been driving a renewed interest in longevity supplements over the past two years.
But for all their wacky investments – from stem cells to blood transfusions from teenagers – could the real elixir of life turn out to be an amino acid that is commonly found in Red Bull and other energy drinks?
Scientists have been studying taurine for 200 years, but its real potential has only been uncovered relatively recently. Last week, an international team of researchers published a study in the prestigious journal Science where they showed that giving taurine to middle-aged mice increased their lifespan by 10 to 12 per cent – the equivalent of an extra decade in humans.
Intriguingly, not only did the animals live longer, but they seemed to be healthier. Similar benefits were found when taurine was given to middle-aged rhesus macaques for six months. The supplement prevented weight gain, increased bone density and improved their immune systems. But what about the benefits for humans?
Vijay Yadav, an assistant professor at Columbia University, in New York, who led the study, told the Telegraph that the findings suggest that taurine could be a way of reversing some of the biological processes of ageing.
“With age, taurine levels in our body start to decline for reasons we don’t fully understand,” he says. “Babies are very dependent on taurine for growth, and it’s found in very high levels in breast milk, but in old age, our taurine levels are 80 per cent lower. To me, it’s exciting to see if by boosting taurine, we can alter some of the ageing processes.”
Taurine is found in oysters. Photo / Getty Images
Why is everyone so excited about taurine?
Taurine has long been popular with bodybuilders and athletes, who take it as a supplement to try and control their body temperature and reduce muscle fatigue during competition.
But more and more research is suggesting that maintaining sufficient levels of taurine may be crucial for health in later life. When Yadav and his colleagues examined taurine in 12,000 European adults over the age of 60, they found that higher levels were linked to fewer cases of type 2 diabetes, less obesity, reduced hypertension and lower inflammation.
Similar benefits have been identified by researchers at Victoria University, in Melbourne, who found that taurine shows potential for improving cardiovascular health, as well as preventing the harmful accumulation of cholesterol and fat within the arteries. This is based on various studies in animals or by studying cells in the lab.
“As well as extending the lifespan and healthspan of animals, taurine seems to target most of the hallmarks of ageing,” says Nir Barzilai, founding director of the Institute for Ageing Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York, and a pioneer of anti-ageing drugs, or gerotherapeutics. “I’m very excited for any progress in this field. We’re seeing more and more gerotherapeutics starting to emerge.”
Taurine is found in eggs. Photo / Getty Images
How does taurine work in the body?
Amino acids usually help build various proteins in the body, but taurine has a markedly different function. Research suggests that it acts across multiple organ systems, protecting the brain by regulating the amount of calcium within nerve cells – a nutrient that is crucial for memory and other cognitive functions – as well as controlling inflammation in the heart and blood vessels.
In the 1980s, Japanese doctors began giving taurine supplements to patients who had suffered heart failure, in an attempt to improve their exercise capacity. Multiple clinical trials have since shown that it can offer benefits, helping them to become more active. One of the reasons is that taurine appears to be capable of enhancing the function of mitochondria, the power factories in our cells that give us energy.
Yadav says it is notable that when taurine was given to middle-aged mice, it led to multiple health benefits. “Taurine supplementation reduced their body-fat percentage, increased their bone density and made their muscles function better – they had better muscle strength, better neuromuscular coordination and could run for longer on a treadmill,” he says. “They had more blood-glucose and insulin tolerance, and they also seemed to be less anxious and fearful in their behaviour, and their memory was working better.”
However, scientists caution that we still need to know more about the effects of taurine in humans. To begin with, the mice in Yadav’s study were given high doses of taurine – 1g per kilogram of body weight per day. He told the Telegraph that the human-adjusted version of this daily dosage would work out at between 3g-6g of taurine, although this has yet to be tested.
“We need a clinical study to show that it can demonstrate these benefits in us, as well,” says Barzilai.
Taurine is found in meat. Photo / Getty Images
How do you take it?
Taurine supplements can be bought from most health-food stores, although scientists are still trying to figure out what amount of taurine would be most beneficial for a human.
“Our research suggests that between 100mg and 500mg of taurine per day should be adequate for health benefits, such as for the cardiovascular system,” says Anthony Zulli, a professor at Victoria University, who studies taurine.
Zulli and his colleagues have also found that taking a version of taurine combined with black-pepper extract may be superior to taurine alone, enabling it to be absorbed more effectively into the bloodstream.
So far, most of what we know about how taurine makes you feel comes from anecdotal descriptions from runners and gym-goers, who say that it gives them more energy and makes them feel less anxious.
Some reports suggest that it causes slight drowsiness, meaning that it might be best to take the supplement before bedtime. This may seem counterintuitive, with taurine being found in Red Bull, but the drink’s renowned kick comes from the caffeine rather than the taurine.
Mussels, shrimps, scallops, oysters and clams are all packed with taurine. Photo / Getty Images
How to boost the taurine in your diet?
While taurine is found in Red Bull, this isn’t the recommended way of increasing your intake of the supplement. As Yadav points out, energy drinks also contain many other ingredients that are not so beneficial for your heart and health.
“I would not go there,” he says. “Energy drinks have lots of other molecules, such as caffeine, while many of them are loaded with sugar.”
Instead, taurine is commonly found in meat, eggs and particularly shellfish. Mussels, shrimps, scallops, oysters and clams are all packed with taurine. “If you look at shellfish, they have approximately one milligram of taurine per gram,” says Yadav. This means that mussels in their shells, for example, weigh about 22g each, so eating six of them will give you around 132mg of taurine.
Another easy way of getting more taurine is to do any form of moderate exercise, such as an exercise-bike session. When Yadav and his team measured taurine levels before and after a cycling workout, they found a significant increase.
Exercise can increase taurine production in the body. Photo / Getty Images
Does taurine have any side effects – is it safe?
In 2012, the European Food Safety Authority suggested you can safely take up to 6g of taurine per day. While some people have reported side effects ranging from nausea to stomach pain, it is unclear whether this was due to the taurine itself or a supplement taken alongside it.
Scientists overall believe taurine to be a safe supplement.
“To date, there are no long-term studies, over five or 10 years, to determine the safety of taurine,” says Zulli. “However, taurine is extremely unlikely to cause negative effects. Although, as taurine is cleared in the kidney, those with kidney disease should be cautioned regarding high-dose supplementation.”
