Taurine is an amino acid that has a few important roles in your body, including supporting immune health and nervous system function. Most of the time, your body produces enough taurine on its own, but supplements can also help you meet your taurine needs.
Advantages of Taurine
It supports healthy cellular energy levels;
Research suggests that taurine supplementation supports the health of your mitochondria, which power your cells with energy. As we mentioned, that's likely why it's so often found in energy drinks.
Taurine protects cells against oxidative stress;
Many studies have demonstrated that taurine plays a role as an antioxidant in protecting cells and mitochondria against oxidative stress. The healthier your mitochondria are, the more they can help you power through your day by supporting optimal cellular energy.
It supports healthy heart function;
Taurine supplementation might support cardiovascular health, particularly systolic left ventricular function. This is likely due to how taurine can support cellular health, which of course includes the mitochondria in your heart (among your other organs!).
Your brain on taurine
Early findings suggest that taurine may help promote healthy cognitive function, particularly as you age–specifically when it comes to learning and memory. In fact, taurine has been found to be crucial to brain development of infants (who don't make taurine on their own, and must get this nutrient from breastfeeding, formula and baby food);
In many ways, taurine actually acts like a neurotransmitter (molecules that transmit messages between cells). You'll find it in very large quantities in the excitable tissues of the central nervous system. Taurine's role is believed to be neuroprotective, so that your nerves and brain cells stay healthy even in the face of environmental and other stressors.
Taurine supports a healthy vascular system
Human studies have found that taurine supports already-healthy blood pressure levels and overall vascular function.
A sweet reason to supplement with taurine
Taurine won't stop you from eating that donut, but once you do, it could help you metabolize it properly! That's because taurine encourages the healthy metabolism of carbohydrates and sugars. Supplementation might support healthy glucose metabolism and insulin secretion.
It supports the healthy metabolism of fats
In an ideal world, we'd all avoid saturated animal fats (just as we should have probably passed on that donut). But if you do eat more than your share of fried eggs and bacon–say, for example, you're a devotee to the keto diet–you might want to add taurine to your supplementation strategy. One study found that taurine supplementation helped participants maintain already-healthy cholesterol levels–even when given a high-cholesterol and high-fat diet.
Taurine supports healthy eyes
See here–we've got yet another reason taurine is so important! in studies involving both humans and animals, a taurine-deficient diet impacted the health of the retina. Why? Taurine might help protect the photoreceptor–the cells in the retina that respond to light.
